Broken Kingdom (Royal Hearts Academy #4)(34)

We all stay silent.

Dad scrubs a hand down his face as the firefighters run inside the guesthouse. “Look, Oakley, I was young once too, I get it. But I can’t have you getting so high you become reckless and start fires inside my guesthouse—”

“It wasn’t him,” I blurt out. Not only because I don’t want Oakley taking the rap for something I did, but because I don’t want him getting kicked out. “It was me.”

Three sets of eyes widen in surprise.

“What do you mean it was you?” my dad questions.

“Well,” I start. “I found Oakley’s weed and set it on fire in the bathtub.” I hold up a finger. “In my defense, I didn’t know the tub was made of fiberglass.”

That was definitely a not-so-pleasant surprise.

Mouth agape, my dad stares at me.

“Dude,” Cole comments. “Not cool.”

Jace pinches the bridge of his nose. “Why the hell did you do that?”

I shrug. “Because he pissed me off.”

Looking up at the sky, my dad sighs. “Bianca, sweetheart, you could have seriously hurt yourself and others.”

Batting my eyelashes, I put on my sweetest, most innocent face. “I’m sorry, Daddy. It will never happen again.”

My act works because he totally melts, and my brothers concede.

I can practically feel Oakley’s broody gaze boring holes into me.

Fortunately, the firefighters come to the rescue.

“The bathroom is destroyed, but the fire is out and everything else is intact.”

“Thank you,” my dad tells them. “I appreciate it.” He looks at Oakley. “I’ll be away on business this week, but I’ll hire a crew to rebuild the bathroom while I’m gone.” He takes out his phone. “In the meantime, you can take one of the spare bedrooms in the house.”

I can tell Oakley wants to argue, but he’s in no position to.



Turns out my plan worked even better than I expected.





Chapter 14





Bianca





I’m on edge as I walk into the little coffee shop on campus.

Dylan and Sawyer have been blowing up my phone begging me to meet them so we can talk, but I haven’t wanted to because I’ve been so angry.

I thought we were friends. Hell, more than friends.

I considered them my family and knowing they’ve been keeping this lie from me seriously hurts.

However, I’m willing to hear them out because I care about them and being on the outs sucks.

I find them sitting at a booth in the corner, looking as sad as I feel.

“Hey.”

Their faces perk up when they spot me.

“Hey.” Sawyer moves down, making room for me. “How are you?”

“Okay,” I lie.

The moment my butt hits the booth, Dylan pushes a steaming paper cup toward me. “We got you your favorite. Mocha macchiato with a splash of coconut milk.”

I eagerly take a sip. I might be mad at them, but not enough to turn down free caffeine.

Sawyer thrusts a small plate in my direction next, and I’d be lying if I said the yummy goodness on it didn’t make my stomach growl. “And a chocolate croissant.”

Bringing it to my mouth, I take a hearty bite and try not to moan because it tastes incredible.

However, there are more pressing issues at play.

I wipe the flakes off my mouth with a napkin. “Now that you’ve both softened me up with treats, why don’t you tell me the real reason you guys wanted to meet.”

I know why. I just want to hear them say it.

Sawyer’s face falls. “We’re sorry for lying to you.”

“Really sorry,” Dylan chimes in. “We honestly never meant to hurt you.”

I glare at her. “I take it your dad never went back to prison, did he?”

Guilt colors her pretty face. “No.” She slinks down in her seat. “Not to my knowledge anyway.”

My stare bounces between the two of them. “I know you love my brothers, but did it ever occur to either of you that keeping the truth from me would hurt me? Especially after we’ve grown so close.”

“Not really,” Sawyer says.

When my eyes turn hard, she quickly adds, “Not because we don’t care about you, but because we do. We thought we were doing the right thing. The doctors said not to push you and every time you found out something new that happened in your past, you were devastated.”

“It was hard watching you fall apart,” Dylan says. “So when Jace told us not to tell you about the accident in order to give you a fresh start and let you heal…we didn’t object. You didn’t need any more confusion in your life, you know?”

“I get that,” I whisper.

Yet, being left in the dark still infuriates me.

I take another sip of my drink. “Jace isn’t always right, though.”

Dylan gives me a small smile. “He isn’t. But he loves you, Bianca.”

“So does Cole.” Grabbing a napkin, Sawyer dabs her eyes with it. “We all do.”

Next thing I know, Sawyer’s a blubbering mess beside me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the accident. I just didn’t want to cause you any more pain.”