BULLY KING Page 3

  If I had known what the consequences of last night would be, would I have thought twice about what we did?

  I crack a smile as I climb the steps to the admin building.

  Nah.

  CHAPTER FOUR - CADEE

  I swallow hard as I walk into Chairman Valcourt’s office.

  “Close the door, please.” He’s a very tall man. Nice head of thick, silver hair. Broad shoulders filling out his expensive dark gray suit. Straight posture, hands in pockets. And a nice face that is very reminiscent of his oldest son, Jack. He’s not looking at me. He’s standing in front of the window gazing out at the central gardens of the college campus that end at Monrovian Lake.

  Or maybe his expansive mansion directly across the water?

  When you picture a huge mansion in your head you probably see a large white home with columns. Very symmetrical. Maybe some black shutters and a grand semi-circular porch.

  But that’s not what his home looks like. It’s a Tudor, made of dark gray stone with severely pitched rooflines. There are more tall, skinny windows and arched doorways than I can count, and there’s even a turret for added effect.

  I’m pretty sure it has historical value because important people, like himself, have lived in it for nearly two hundred years. Long before this school even existed.

  I close the door quietly and the bustle out in the reception area recedes, creating an uncomfortable silence in the room.

  “Um…” I don’t know what to say. “Hi… you wanted to see me, Chairman?”

  He turns around slowly, his mouth a flat line of… I dunno. Lack of interest? Anger?

  Mona Monroe did just leave here. She lives to piss people off. Just my luck to get the appointment right after hers.

  “Sit,” he says, pointing to a small table in the corner of the room that appears to be set for tea.

  I walk over to it and take a seat, feeling self-conscious about not touching any of the beautiful china or tableware laid out on the white tablecloth. He watches me do this with an intense focus that immediately makes me uncomfortable.

  I let out a long breath and wait.

  “Would you like some tea?” He doesn’t give me a chance to answer, just stabs a button on his phone and says, “Laurie. Pour us tea, please.”

  Moments later Laurie appears, smiling. She pours me a cup, then fills the other cup, even though the Chairman has taken a seat at his expansive desk.

  “Thank you, Laurie.”

  She smiles at him as she leaves the office, pulling the door closed behind her.

  “Go ahead,” the Chairman says, motioning to the table. “It’s good tea. I don’t really care for tea but people buy it for me all the time. I’m a hard man to buy gifts for, I suppose.” He pauses to contemplate this idea. “Still, I do enjoy serving it.”

  “O…kay.” I use the tiny tongs to drop two raw sugar cubes into my cup, and stir it up with an equally tiny spoon. Then I take a sip. “Mmm.” I fake-smile at him. “I like it.”

  Not a lie. But not entirely true either. I’m just… why am I here?

  “Good. I’m glad.” He folds his hands on his desk, smiles at me.

  This is so weird. There are dozens of students out in the reception area waiting their turn for a meeting with him, and yet we’re in here just staring at each other.

  His smile falls. And then he’s frowning at me.

  “I’m sorry. Did I do something wrong? Is that why you wanted to see me?”

  “Wrong? Dear, God, no. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m so sorry about your mother, Cadee.”

  “Oh.” I shrink a little. Kinda go inside myself with the reminder of my recent loss.

  “I wanted to make sure you were OK. You have a place to stay?”

  And here we go. I knew this was why I was here.

  “I know you’re living in the attic apartment. But you and your mother were getting ready to move today, so I just want to make sure—”

  “Wait. What? What did you just say?”

  He looks confused for a moment. “Moving?”

  “We weren’t moving out today.”

  He cocks his head at me. “I’m fairly sure you were. Your mother put in notice two months ago.”

  “Notice for what?”

  “She quit.”

  “She… quit?” These words do not make sense to me.

  “Oh.” He pauses, frowns sadly at me with tight lips. “You didn’t know.”

  “No. I had no idea.”

  He draws in a breath and squints at me. “There are movers at the inn.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “No!” I say it forcefully. “I was literally just at home an hour ago. We weren’t packing. We’re not moving!”

  “I…” He hesitates. “I got a call from campus security. The movers arrived thirty minutes ago and no one was there, so he let them in. They are packing up your apartment as we speak.”

  “What?” I stand up.

  “Sit,” he commands. “We’re not done here. And as you can see by my reception area, I have a lot of other issues to deal with this morning.”

  “But my stuff is—”

  “I’ll make a call.” He slides his hand inside his suit coat, pulls out his phone, and taps the screen. “Yes. Can you please tell me what is happening at the Hunter apartment?” He nods to whatever the other person is saying. Looks at me. Looks away. “Thank you.” He ends the call. “I’m afraid it’s all loaded on the truck. They just pulled away.”

  I laugh. I can’t help it. “That’s not possible! No one can pack up an entire apartment in thirty minutes.”

  “You didn’t own the furniture. It was just clothes and such?”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “I’m afraid it’s gone. Your mother did have plans.” He shrugs. “I’m sure it will all arrive safely.”

  “Arrive where?”

  “I don’t know.” He must see the panic on my face because he says, “I’ll make a call and find out for you. Don’t worry.”

  “What? No! This is not happening!”

  He holds up a finger. “Give me a moment, please.” He makes his call without waiting for my approval. “Sheriff, can you run down a truck for me? It just left the Alumni Inn with Cadee Hunter’s things inside it.” He listens for a moment. “Oh.”

  “What?”

  “Oh. I see.”

  “What? What is he saying?”

  The Chairman hushes me with a sharp look. “OK. I will let her know. Thank you.”

  “Let me know what?”

  “Well, apparently you were moving to North Dakota.”

  I laugh. There is simply nothing else to do.

  “I’m serious, Cadee. That truck is on its way to North Dakota. The sheriff already looked into it. He thought it was suspicious as well, but they produced paperwork. Your mother bought a house there.”

  “In North Dakota?”

  “Yes.” He looks concerned for a moment. “It’s an odd choice. Isn’t it?”

  “Odd? No. This is crazy. None of this is happening. Tell the sheriff to make them turn around.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t. There is no legal reason.”

  “The legal reason is that they stole my stuff!”

  He frowns at me. “Cadee, I have to say, I wasn’t expecting you to be so… combative. You’ve never been a problem before.”

  “What?” I just blink at him.

  But before I can string together some sort of cognizant response to that completely bizarre statement, he says, “Your things were not stolen. The movers and packers had a work order. It was all done in good faith.”

  “Chairman Valcourt, respectfully, my mother is dead! Her orders don’t matter anymore.”

  He walks across the room and takes the seat across from me at the tea table. “I didn’t want to bring this up, but this move was spelled out in the will.”

  “What?” I just stare at him. “No. It wasn’t. I went to the reading a few days ago. I was there. I inhe
rited… well, nothing. We didn’t have anything. But—” I shake my head, trying to gather my thoughts. “That doesn’t even make sense. Why would—”

  “Listen, Cadee.” He makes one of those smiles that is nothing but clenched teeth. Like he’s got something to add to that, but he doesn’t want to. Then he inhales quickly and reaches across the table and takes both my hands in his. I’m so startled, I pull away. But he just grips them tighter. “I’m not sure any of this matters.”

  “What are you talking about? Of course it matters! You’re telling me that my life was just packed up in a truck and it’s now on its way to North Dakota!”

  “Perhaps you have relatives there?”

  “I do not!”

  “Stop it now, Cadee.”

  A chill runs down my arms. I don’t like the way he’s saying my name.

  “You’re going to work yourself up into a frenzy, Cadee. And there is no point in that.”

  “I’m—”

  He lets go of my hand and the next thing I know two fingertips are touching my lips. I’m so startled that he did this, I go quiet immediately.

  “Shh. Stop talking, Cadee. I’m telling you, this doesn’t matter. You will not be leaving for North Dakota. In fact, you will not be leaving this campus.” He pulls his fingers away.

  “I won’t?”

  “No. I called you here to make you an offer.”

  I blink at him. Stunned. Desperately trying to catch up with this conversation because I feel like I’m still stuck on the words ‘North Dakota.’ “What kind of offer?”

  “School, of course. I heard some rumors that you were having trouble getting accepted into the community college?”

  “Oh.” I sigh, then look down and realize he’s still holding one of my hands. And his thumb is caressing my wrist. I swallow and look up. What the hell is happening?

  “You don’t need community college, Cadee.”

  “I don’t?”

  He’s still caressing my wrist and I’m trying to come up with an idea to make him stop when he says, “No. You’re going to college here.”

  “I am?”

  “Yes. We have a special scholarship program. A summer internship. In the kitchen of the Glass House.”

  “The what?” I’ve never heard of this place. And I’ve lived on this campus my whole life.

  “There is a lake across the lake.” He smiles at me. I want to pull my hand out of his, but it’s like he’s reading my mind and grips just a little tighter. “Behind my mansion. You’ve probably never been over there.”

  “I haven’t,” I admit.

  “And a really interesting club house for the residents of Monrovian Lake Estates. We call it the Glass House because, well, it’s made mostly of glass. That’s where the job is. Would you like it?”

  “The job?”

  “All of it.” He finally lets go of my hand and leans back in his chair. Smiles at me. “The job, the scholarship. The education that will propel you into a completely different life.”

  “Well… um. I guess? I mean, I wasn’t expecting this when I came up here, so I don’t quite know what to think about this.”

  “Say yes.” He smiles again. “And then we’re done here. Your life is settled. I’m truly sorry for your loss, and I know this won’t make up for it, but anything I can do, just ask. I feel like you’re… one of mine. I’ve known you since you were born.”

  Hmm. I think about that for a moment. It might be true. I have lived here all my life. But… before this meeting I can’t say that I have ever even been in the same room as the Chairman. He feels like a stranger to me.

  “Now,” he continues. “The only thing left to settle—”

  But he’s cut off when his office door swings open and crashes against the polished wood paneling behind it with a bang.

  And Cooper Valcourt—his fuck-up son—stands in the doorway.

  He throws up his hands. “I’m sorry, OK? Is that what you want to hear? My apology? Happy now? Can you just… please be a decent fucking human being for a moment and give us back our cottage for the summer? We’ll do your stupid job, all right? I’ll get it done. And you don’t have to hear from me at all.”

  “Cadee,” the Chairman says, standing up and buttoning his coat. “This is my son, Christopher. Christopher, this is Cadee. She’s going to be living with us this summer.”

  “What?” Cooper and I say it at the same time.

  “Escort her over to the mansion. Show her into the southeast guest suite and help her get settled.”

  “What?” we say again. This time, Cooper and I are looking at each other with a mixture of confusion and fear.

  “And the answer is no. You will not get that cottage back. You will live at home like your brothers did when they were in school.”

  “But—” Cooper makes to protest.

  The Chairman stabs the phone and barks, “Send in the next one, Laurie,” even though the door is wide open and everyone in reception just heard that entire exchange.

  He turns to us. Frowns at Cooper. Says nothing to him and instead redirects his attention to me. “Cadee.” He walks over to me and offers me his hand.

  I don’t know what to do except take it and allow him to help me up.

  He kisses my knuckles and I hear Cooper breathe, “What the fuck is happening right now?”

  I wish I had an answer for him, but I don’t. And he just saw his father—a man I do not know. Like at all!—just kiss my hand and invite me to live with them.

  Like… is that… what basically happened here?

  “Once again,” the Chairman says, “I’m truly sorry for your loss. I’m sure we’ll get that truck back eventually. In fact, I’ll make it a priority.” He holds my hand in both of his. Pats it. “We’ll get your stuff back. But in the meantime, you make yourself at home in our guest suite and Cooper here will fill you in on your new job. In the fall, my dear Cadee, life will look completely different than it does now. And you will be getting ready for your freshman year at one of the most elite private colleges in the world. Congratulations.”

  Then his smile disappears just as quick as it formed. He turns to Cooper and growls the words, “Get the fuck out,” between clenched teeth.

  I don’t even know what’s happening, but I’m so done.

  I’m trying to leave, but there’s a girl waiting in the doorway for her… meeting? Hell, maybe she’s getting an invitation to be the Chairman’s… what? What was that?

  Did he come on to me? In front of his son?

  Oh, my God. No. Oh, my God. This is not happening.

  I almost knock the waiting girl over as I push past, and then I have to jostle my way through the crowd of kids—who just heard everything after Cooper entered the office!

  I’m so… I don’t know. Humiliated? I’m not sure.

  I just head for the stairs and start down them, trying to make my escape as quick as I can.

  I’m just about to head for the doors that lead outside when Cooper Valcourt grabs me by the arm, swings me around and pushes me into a little alcove under the stairs.

  “Oh, no, you don’t. Fuck that.” He pushes me against the hard, stone wall and leans down into my face. “You’re not walking out of here until we have a little chat, Cadee.”

  CHAPTER FIVE - COOPER

  I seethe down at her. “What did you tell him?”

  “Nothing!”

  “You lying little bitch! You told him!”

  “I did not!”

  “Then why was he all over you like that?”

  “I don’t know! He called me in for a meeting and… there was tea, and talk of North Dakota, and then…” She throws up her hands. “He invited me to live with you guys!”

  “Why?”

  “He didn’t say!”

  “Jesus fucking—” I turn around and scrub my hands down my face. Can this day get any worse?

  “He gave me a job. That’s it. A job, and a scholarship at the end.”

  “No.” I’m sha
king my head as I turn back to face her. “This is not happening.” Calm down, Cooper. You don’t have any of the facts yet. Let’s get the facts. “What job?” I growl.

  “Some… lake house. Glass place?”

  “Fuck.”

  “What?”

  “What did your mother know?”

  “Nothing!”

  I lean down into her face and hiss, “Liar. You’re such a little fucking liar! You told her, didn’t you?”

  “Cooper.” She grits her teeth and sneers at me. “I did not. Tell her. Trust me. The last thing my mother would’ve wanted to know was that I got a secret abortion when I was fifteen! It would’ve devastated her. I did it for you.”

  I hate Cadee Hunter. “I wish I’d never fucking met you.”

  She slaps me. Hard. I reach for her, but she ducks under my arm and starts running for the door.

  I chase her. But she pushes through the doors and by the time I’m outside, she’s already down the stairs, sliding into a crowd.

  “Over here!” Lars calls from off to the left.

  “Grab her!” I call, pointing at Cadee, not even caring that there are dozens of people around. They are all busy with their own move-out day problems, anyway. They pay no attention to me, or the fleeing Cadee Hunter, who now finds herself running straight towards Lars and Ax.

  She either doesn’t believe that they will grab her for me or she didn’t hear me. Because she practically walks right into their waiting grips.

  “What the hell!” She whirls on them, like a ferocious little rat.

  God, I hate this girl. She almost ruined everything three years ago. It took me weeks to convince her to shut her fucking mouth and do what I said.

  “Let go of me!”

  But they don’t let go. Lars grips both her arms behind her back and Ax gets that gleam in his eye that means he’s found a target. Someone to unload on. He leans into her ear as I come up behind them and says, “Be a good little girl now, Cadee. Or I’ll put a leash on you and walk you through the gardens like a bitch.”

  She recoils from him.

  “All right,” I say, knocking him off her. “That’s enough.” But then I take Cadee’s hand and squeeze it. Hard. As I drag her into the gardens with me.