The Cousins(36)

She rolls her eyes. “You never do. See you, Efram.”

“Later, cousins,” he says, settling his headphones over his ears.

I follow Milly and Aubrey into the hallway, but wait until we’re in the stairwell with the door closed behind us to ask, “Does this mean you’re not gonna tell?”

Milly faces me, eyes wide. “Tell what? We don’t know anything about anything. If something strange is going on around here, we’ll be just as surprised as the rest of the world once it comes to light.” Her lips press into a thin line. “Which it will.”

She turns and heads down the stairs, and Aubrey pats me on the shoulder. “You’re not very good at being our cousin,” she says, not unkindly. “Go ahead and keep trying, though.”

She follows Milly, and I’m at her heels with a growing sense of relief. “But you guys aren’t gonna say anything?” I repeat. Just to be sure. “To Carson, or your parents, or JT, or…anyone?”

Milly makes me wait until we’ve made it all the way down the stairs before she lets me off the hook. “Your secret is safe with us, Jonah North.”



* * *



—

Milly drives the resort-loaned Jeep while I scroll through the latest texts from JT. I hadn’t told him about Milly catching on to us, hoping for a reprieve like the one I just got, but I did keep him in the loop about Mildred’s invitations. He’s not happy, at all, about the prospect of me hanging out with his grandmother. I can tell from his increasingly irritable messages that he never thought things would get this far.



You should pretend you’re sick for brunch

And the gala

Lie low till she gets bored

This is all just a game to her anyway

I feel a rush of bitter satisfaction when I put my phone away without answering. Because here’s the thing: if Mildred isn’t playing a game—if she’s actually interested in letting her grandchildren be part of her life—then JT is one degree of separation from a Bruce Wayne fortune. I go to school with a few people like Milly, who have the kind of money that pays for a big house, nice cars, and college. But Mildred Story is next level. She has fuck-you money and then some. If JT gets ahold of even a little of that, his entire family will be set for life.

And I promised myself, when I agreed to do this, that I wouldn’t let that happen.

I didn’t tell Milly the whole truth when she confronted me with my license. If I had, she would’ve sent me packing immediately. The reality is, I didn’t go along with JT’s plan for the bonus payment, or the free vacation. I agreed because it’s not every day you get to screw people out of becoming megamillionaires, especially when those people are the Providence branch of the Story family. Nothing personal against JT, who’s an ass but mostly harmless. He dangled this job like the privileged little prick he is: a consolation prize for what my family lost because of his father. No hard feelings, right, Jonah? Shit happens.



Shit doesn’t happen unless it’s stirred. I can give JT a pass. But his father?

I fucking hate that guy.

Which JT has to know. The fact that he asked me to take his place anyway proves that he’s book smart, not people smart. He saw a cushy summer job for a guy who needs the money, and I saw the chance to make sure Anders Story stays cut off from his family fortune forever.

I’d have done that for free.

As soon as JT and I shook on this plan, I started dreaming about what I’d do if I ever got in front of Mildred Story. How I’d be a complete and utter asshole, so insulting that whatever door she might’ve been thinking about cracking open to the Providence Storys would slam shut. How Anders Story would know it happened because of me, and would wish he’d never messed with our family.

When I met Mildred that first day in Carson Fine’s office, I was too caught off guard to say anything before she dismissed us. Then I blew my cover, and thought I was done for. Now it looks like I’m getting another chance. Except…

Some of my satisfaction ebbs away as I watch wind from the half-open window loosen strands from Milly’s ponytail. I wasn’t counting on having to worry about her and Aubrey this summer, because I didn’t think I’d care about them. But Aubrey is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and Milly…well. She’s given me nonstop grief since I met her on the ferry, but I can’t blame her for that, and it hasn’t stopped me from liking her a little too much.

I don’t want to mess things up for either of them. What if my selling out JT and Anders ruins their chances with Mildred too? What if they hate me for it?



“Oh my God.” Milly sounds so startled that for a second, I’m sure she’s read my mind. Then she slows the Jeep and says, “I think that’s Catmint House.”

I look up as Milly pulls the Jeep to a stop, giving us a clear view of the curving seaside road we’re on and—holy hell. There’s a huge house built at the edge of a steep bluff rising directly out of the ocean, its clean white lines a sharp contrast to the jagged black rocks. The part we’re looking at is practically all floor-to-ceiling windows that sparkle in the summer sun. A shimmering metal widow’s walk surrounds the roof, and a metal rail runs in front of a flat section to one side of the house. If I had to guess, I’d bet there’s an infinity pool there. The view would be unbelievable.