Page 26 of Eat. Prey. Love.
“N-No… I j-j-just feel s-s-so stupid…,” she sobs. “It’s like I’m the w-w-weakest link and our bad guys knew it!”
I’m not going to tell her that’s likely true. For one thing, it’s not helpful, but I also don’t want to rub her naivete in. She’s having enough trouble simply admitting she might have made a grave error. “It’s never stupid tolove someone. Sometimes, we get blinded by an ideal—especially if we’re looking to escape parts of our lives that we wish were different. That’s how it was with my ex-douchebag. I didn’t know it then, but I ignored the million red flags waving at me because Ineededto. And it took me a while to forgive myself for it, too.”
“But you havefivehot ass dudes who are your mates now!”
I chuckle and shrug. “Exactly. It took Todd and the Heathers almosteatingme at prom to get in the right place where I met them. I had to go through the bad shit before I found the good. Kicking myself in the ass for not listening to my gut about him or those vapid bitches all summer didn’t fix the problem. That didn’t happen until after I’d gone all the way through the grief cycle.”
“That makes sense,” she mumbles from under the arm thrown over her face. “At least you didn’t fuck up your whole ass family for a piece of ass.”
Smacking her leg lightly, I peer down at my friend until she lifts her arm to see me. “Absolutely not, woman. We all fuck up, and we’ll continue to do so ‘cause it’s life. We havewaytoo many people gunning for us to indulge in self-pity. Now tell me what the hell you think you spilled and we’ll brainstorm some damage control.”
Cori pushes up until she’s leaning against the dorm wall and crosses her legs. “Well, obviously I mentioned the plane, destination, and who was taking us. And I think we talked about your troubles with the zombie licker.”
Fuck. For a moment, I was going to assign blame for this to my mother without fail, but now…
“What kind of things about Rockland, Coco?”
She shrugs and closes her eyes, focusing for a second. “Um, how she was bugging you about what you and the boys get up to. How freaking goddamn gross it is for some cishet fruitcake to be writing salacious garbage she knows nothing about. There was some commiserating that we don’t see enough of our preference in books and then she asked if we were going to be able to block her from publishing really badly written fanfic of your life.”
Arching a brow, I try not let my friend know that my heart is racing. If she spilled Farley’s plan to control Rockland, we have yetanother thing to re-visit in light of the planted staff on campus. The villains in our lives might not be collaborating now, but evil knows evil. If they start helping one another out, my life will get a thousand percent more dangerous very quickly.
“That’s… a lot.”
“I know!” Cori wails as she thumps her head against the wall. “But I was so angry for you and so irritated by such a fake ass ally that I lost perspective. I mean… Rufus has probably told the triplets even more than I did Gracie. He’s so damn pissed about that woman and he hides it really well.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I groan softly. My friends have been amazing and they’d risk their necks for anyone in our little family, but right now… I have no idea how we’re going to fix a leak as big as Cori’s ex. I just have to hope Fitz’s pick for my other flamboyant bestie was better than the one he selected for Cori.
Wait a tick.
Fitz picked Giselle out of his students. He’s got good instincts, but he’s a dude. Not only that, but he’s a dude with a focus issue and a really good heart. If Giselle was placed there to lure him into doingexactlywhat he did, then it would have to be someone with access to class scheduling. Lucille could have someone do that for her, but it would leave more of a trail than she’d like. This probably wasn’t my mother; she wouldn’t assume a lowly polar bear was of any use.
That still leaves a shit ton of other assholes to clear.
It’s going to be a long night in front of the computer, I fear. Fitz won’t be able to sleep until he nails down what person put Giselle in his class and when.
I may need reinforcements.
What to Do
When my angelcalled for a pickup at her friend’s dorm, she looked both relieved and worried. She shook her head when I asked if everything was okay and it wasn’t hard to suss out why when her eyes darted around us. She’s worried the common areas around have been bugged. It’s not an unreasonable thought, so I put it on my list to have Fitz do scans on his equipment to find whatever surveillance systems they have—both obvious and hidden.
“Cori is going to be hurting for a bit, but she’ll survive,” she says as we use our badges to get into the library. “That girl hit a deeprooted button about not being good enough or worthy. I’d skin her myself, but I’d rather do a little digging first.”
My lips curve up. This is why she’s perfect for my crazy tiger, but the empathy she feels for her best friend is part of why she’s also perfect for me. “I understand her trauma a little, Angel. For a long time, I was afraid Fitz would be forced to choose and he’d have to let go of me for his duties.”
“As if,” she snorts. I grin, my cheeks flushing as we walk into the chaos of the Captain’s crew working in the main area of the suite. “Fitzy wouldnever, Chessie. His heart is too big and his love too ferocious. Plus, he hates being told what to do.”
“Noooooot truuuuuuuue,” my mate sing-songs as he rushes over to scoop her up, smacking her ass as she drapes over his shoulder. “Ilovewhen you order me around, Baby Girl. My dick’s hard just thinking about it.”
“Fitz, your dick gets hard thinking about garlic bread,” Felix retorts from his spot at the counter.
The tiger shrugs, carrying our girl into the kitchen. “I can’t resist the cheesy goodness and tangy flavor, man. Food gets our bunny going, too, you know. Give her a hard time.”
“I’d be delighted,” Felix mutters and I burst out laughing.
Fuck, it’s good to see him so unbuttoned and relaxed again.
“Felix, tell him to put me down,” Dolly grumbles as she wiggles. “We have lists to make.”