Fallen Crest University (Fallen Crest High #5)(91)
Mason showed the photographs of Sebastian talking with his dad, his grandfather, and other men outside of a large house. “The private investigator found this.”
Logan shot forward from the couch, grabbing the photograph. “What the f*ck? Is that a basketball player?”
“Dude.” Nate leaned over to see.
Logan shouldered him back. “Space. I’ve got broken bones here.”
Nate scowled at him.
Logan rolled his eyes and handed the photo over. “It pains me to know that one of my basketball faves is a slimeball like Park Sebastian. Seriously,” he patted where his heart was, “it hurts me right here. He took away my healthy bones. He took away my, probably, deluded thought that I could take five fraternity *s at once and walk away still swinging. And,” he shot a finger in the air, “if my ego hasn’t been wounded enough, I’m in pain from knowing that I will not be able to go to that house to see all those celebrities. Can you imagine? I could get everything autographed, sell it online, and use that money to buy a shit machine. I’m talking a literal shit machine—where it goes and then flings that shit at the target. That’d be my revenge against Sebastian. Mount that crap on his front lawn and put, like, circling tigers around it, so no one could remove it. Best plan ever.” He pretended his hands exploded like a bomb and fell back slowly against the couch cushion.
“Really?” Mason lifted an eyebrow. “That’s your plan for revenge?”
Logan didn’t care. He folded his arms over his chest, winced, and then let them drop back to his sides. “Whatever. I should trademark my ideas. I bet someone will do it. Hashtag revenge shit machine. That video would go viral.”
“Oh my god.” I groaned from next to Mason. “Can we please get back to all these people Sebastian is connected to? Because that’s really concerning.”
Sebastian wanted me to look at the walls, so I did. The entire room was set up in a circular layout. The room was square, but the couches were positioned to form a circle, and the walls were covered in portraits. I hadn’t considered them when I first came in. All eyes and focus had been on Sebastian, but now that he’d pointed them out, I started putting names to faces.
A senator.
A celebrity—no, a couple of celebrities.
Wrong again.
I recognized more and more of them. Actors. Producers. Singers.
My gaze fell on one in the back corner. My father. Garrett was smiling at the painter. My gaze slid over to the painting beside him. Sharon. And on the other side of her was my mother. This was how they knew Analise.
I murmured, “You said it all starts in college.”
“It does. You’re starting to figure it out, huh?”
“What happens in college?”
Sebastian chuckled. The sound sent chills down my back.
He said, “You do anything and everything. You screw each other. You don’t screw each other. You get drunk. You don’t get drunk. It’s a normal college experience, but that’s where you make the mistakes. And you’re supposed to make those mistakes with, who else? Your best friends. I mean, say, for example, if someone raped a girl, who else is going to have your back to cover it up?” He pointed at a portrait of a young man and then to another one of a well-known actor. “Your best friend gives you the alibi. There’s no way you could’ve raped that girl because your buddy is vouching that you were at his house. If you want to cheat on a test,” he crossed the room to a portrait of a singer and pointed to another portrait of a senator, “your best gal pal, who’s the teacher’s assistant, will either get the test for you or cover your back. If a professor gets suspicious, the teacher’s assistant will let you know to do a few wrong answers on purpose. And so on and so on. That’s what this all is. Connections.”
He swept his arm around the room. The walls were covered in the paintings. There was no empty space.
“No, we’re not some cult group or anything. It’s not blood in and blood out. It’s just…blackmail and IOUs. That’s what it is, and my family holds all the keys. My great-great-great grandfather started everything, so that’s how I’m in the unique position of knowing what the hell is going to happen after each class graduates.”
“So…” I frowned. “My mother…”
“No, no.” Sebastian shook his head. “Your mother is the mistake. She was considered to be inducted. She was initiated, so she knew of the connections. That’s what you’re told in the beginning. You and Summer would’ve gotten the same speech. We’re all here for each other. Everyone will support you. If you need money, we’ll give it to you. If you need a house, here’s a mansion. If you need a mistress, we’ll get you two who will do anything you want. The speech is custom-made. You and Summer are both girls, so you probably would’ve been promised success in whatever career you chose. If you wanted to be famous, they would’ve made you both famous. If you wanted a business, they would’ve had one ready and waiting for you once you graduated. Hell, if you wanted a husband, they would’ve introduced you to other members of The Network. And all of it would’ve been sold with the statement that we’re all family. We all love each other. We all take care of each other—along with our mistakes, too. We take care of those, so don’t hesitate to reach out if something happens. No matter how horrible the crime is, they’ll take care of it.”