The Hawthorne Legacy (The Inheritance Games #2)(60)

“So your dad was Toby’s father?”

Rebecca shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m not even one hundred percent sure my dad knows there was a baby.” She looked down. “My dad loves my mom, that fairy-tale, all-encompassing, even-our-own-kids-will-never-compare kind of love. He took her name when they got married. He let her make all the decisions about Emily’s medical treatment.”

I took that to mean that if Rebecca’s mother had doted on Emily and ignored Rebecca, her father had backed that decision, too.

“I’m sorry,” Rebecca said softly.

“About what?” I asked. As messed up as the Laughlin family secrets were, I wasn’t the one who’d grown up in Toby’s shadow. This had affected Rebecca’s life more than mine.

“I’m sorry about what I did to you,” Rebecca clarified. “About what I didn’t do.”

I thought about the night Drake had tried to kill me. After a disastrous make-out session with Jameson, I’d ended up in a room alone with Rebecca. We’d talked. If she’d told me then what she knew about Drake and Skye, there would have been nothing to forgive.

“I’ve been trying so hard to be okay.” Rebecca wasn’t even looking at me anymore. “But I’m not. That poem Toby left? The William Blake one? I have a copy on my phone, and I keep reading it over and over, and all I can think is that I wish I had read it sooner, because when I was growing up, I buried all my anger. No matter what Emily wanted or what I had to give up for her—I was supposed to be okay with it. I was supposed to smile. And the one time I let myself get mad, she…”

Rebecca couldn’t say it, so I said it for her. “Died.”

“It messed me up, and I messed up, and I’m so, so sorry, Avery.”

“Okay,” I said—and to my surprise, I meant it.

“If it’s any consolation,” Rebecca continued, “I’m angry now, finally—at so many people.”

I thought back to her fight with Thea on the plane, and then I thought about the absolutely infuriating message Toby had left me.

“I’m angry, too,” I told Rebecca. “And for the record: I like your hair.”





CHAPTER 60


When Oren picked Eli and me up after school, Alisa was in the passenger seat—and Landon was in the back, tapping furiously away on her phone.

“Everything is fine,” Alisa assured me, which was pretty much the opposite of comforting. “We’ve got this under control, but—”

“But what?” I glanced over at Landon. “What’s she doing here?”

There was a beat of silence. That was all it took for Alisa to craft her reply. “Skye and your father are offering themselves as an interview package to the highest bidder.” Alisa expelled an aggrieved breath. “If we want to quash the story, Landon is going to have to make it worth the high bidder’s while to bury it.”

I’d had enough on my mind these past few days that I’d barely thought about Ricky Grambs. I tried to read between the lines of Alisa’s statement. “Are you saying you’re going to pay off whoever buys their interview?”

Landon finally looked up from her phone. “Yes and no,” she told me before turning her attention to Alisa. “Monica thinks she can make the network pony up, but we’re going to have to guarantee them Avery and at least one Hawthorne.”

“They’ll pay for exclusivity from Skye?” Alisa asked. “Complete with an NDA preventing Skye and Grambs from taking their story elsewhere?”

“They’ll pay for it. They’ll bury it.” Landon pinched the bridge of her nose, like she could feel a migraine coming on. “But the latest they’ll agree to for a sit-down with Avery is tomorrow night.”

“Good lord.” Alisa shook her head. “Can she handle it?”

“I’m sitting right here,” I pointed out.

“She’ll have to.” Landon spoke over me. “But we’re going to have to crunch.”

“Crunch what, exactly?” I asked. Everyone in the car ignored the question.

“Avery’s interview is nonexclusive,” Alisa told Landon, “and they have a deal.”

“They’ll want an embargo on other interviews for at least a month.” Landon’s reply was automatic.

“Three weeks,” Alisa countered. “And it applies only to Avery, not any of her surrogates.”

Since when did I have surrogates? I wasn’t running for president here.

“Which Hawthorne am I offering as part of the package?” Landon asked, all business.

My brain was struggling to keep up, but I was pretty sure that what was happening here was that we were giving my first interview to whoever bought Skye’s, under the conditions that the interview with Skye and Ricky never aired and whoever bought it contractually prevented the duo from talking to anyone else.

“Why do we even care about their interview?” I said.

“We care,” Alisa said emphatically. Then she turned back to Landon. “And you can tell Monica that we’ll guarantee a sit-down Wednesday evening with Avery and… Grayson.”





CHAPTER 61


Grayson, move a little closer to Avery. Tilt your head toward her.”