Reign (The Sainthood - Boys of Lowell High #3)(41)

“Actually,” Lincoln says, stepping inside the house. “My brother set this up, and you can trust him. Trust me.” His face pales as he notices the marks and injuries clearly visible on Mom. “Jesus Christ, Giana.” He drags a hand through his dark hair. “What has that bastard done to you?” Lincoln’s anguished eyes meet mine briefly before flicking back to Mom. He takes her hands in his, drawing closer. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. I promised Trey, and I didn’t do enough.”

“I’m not your responsibility,” Mom says, squeezing his hands. “And you’ve nothing to apologize for. You’re here now. That’s all that counts.”

He nods, releasing her hands and turning to me. “My brother said you were safe, but if anything changes, you know how to reach me.”

“I’ll be fine. Just look after Mom.”

“I’ll guard her with my life.”

“I’d like a word with my daughter. Alone.” Mom glances at the guys and Lincoln.

“I’ll put your bags in the car and let you say your goodbyes, but don’t take too long. We shouldn’t delay.” Lincoln swipes Mom’s bags and exits the house with my guys in tow.

“I know we need to have a long talk, and I promise we’ll do that soon. For now, I need you to promise me that you won’t do anything reckless. Don’t go after Sinner for this, Harlow, and stay out of his way. Let your boyfriends protect you.”

It sounds so weird hearing Mom say boyfriends, as in plural, but I guess I’m lucky she’s accepting of our unusual relationship. “I could say the same to you about Sinner. Whatever you are planning, don’t do it. Trust us to deal with this. We are going to handle it.” I hug her gently. “He’s going to pay for what he did to all of us, Mom. He’s not getting away with it.”





CHAPTER 15


“WHAT HAPPENED TO my Lexus?” I ask the following morning as we exit the barn and climb into Saint’s Land Rover, heading for school.

“There was extensive damage, but it wasn’t totaled,” Caz explains. “I dropped it into a buddy’s garage, and they’re working on it. We should be able to pick it up sometime next week.”

I swivel in the passenger seat, turning around so I can blow him a kiss. “Thanks, babe.”

Caz pokes his head through the gap between the two front seats, angling his head toward me. “I wish I had the time to work on it myself.”

“You fix cars?”

He nods. “I used to work at the garage part-time after school, but my grades dropped, and Mom insisted I focus on school this year.” He barks out a laugh. “Which is laughable, because it’s made no fucking difference.”

“I’d like to meet your mom,” I say. “We should drop by sometime.”

“She’d like that. She’s always getting on my case because she hardly sees me these days.”

“Then it’s decided. We’ll visit her soon.”

He leans forward, pecking my lips. “I already know she’ll love you.”

I mess up his hair, and he pokes his tongue out at me before settling back in his seat.

“Have you heard from your dad?” Theo asks, lifting his head from his tablet and eyeballing Saint through the mirror.

“No.” Saint’s tone is clipped.

“Concerning,” Galen murmurs.

“I know.” Saint sighs. “He’s got to know he’s been locked out.”

“And he’ll know we helped with that.” I turn up the heating in the car and snuggle into my warm sweater ’cause it’s fucking cold today and my bones are chilled.

“He will, and he’ll want blood,” Galen adds.

“We stay away from him at all costs,” Saint says. “We can attend to Sainthood business and use school as an excuse to avoid going near him.”

“He won’t buy it,” Galen says.

“I don’t fucking care!” Saint grips the steering wheel hard as we near the school, and it’s obvious he’s wound up tight, and ready to explode, so we drop the conversation—even though we all understand Sinner will be itching to take us down a few pegs for helping his fiancée dump his perverted ass.

Entering the familiar building without my bestie by my side is a heart-wrenching experience, only made bearable by the guys cocooning me on all sides. The crowd parts to let us pass, and a deathly hush descends.

“Fuck off,” Saint snaps, glaring at everyone as we pass. “Go about your usual business. Now.” It’s clear he’s not asking, and it’s amazing how quickly everyone scurries off, at least pretending like they’re not gawking at us.

A lump the size of a bus lodges in my throat as we approach my locker. Sariah’s was directly across the hallway, and the sight of all the cards, gifts, and flowers adorning her locker almost undoes me. I stop, rooted to the spot, staring at her locker, while pain slices across my chest. I should probably be happy people cared enough to leave gifts and notes, but I’m mostly angry. The majority of these people ignored Sariah when she was a student here, and the hypocrisy astounds me.

“Lo.” A familiar voice has me whipping my head around, and I close the distance to my locker. Sean is standing there with Emmett at his side, both towering over me.