Page 40 of Buried Betrayal
“I don’t know,” Bri murmured. “He seemed plenty interested in you.”
“I’m going back to the house,” I told them, slipping River’s phone into my purse. “I’ll see you guys later.”
They both studied me for a moment before nodding. I wasn’t worried about them wanting to come back with me. We were on campus, and there was security everywhere. Walking alone at night around here wasn’t a big deal. I muttered a goodbye and kept an eye out for River as I made my way to the front door. The second he realized I had his phone, he’d come looking for me.
Stepping out into the cool night air, I decided to walk the twenty minutes back to the house instead of calling for a ride. It would give me time to see if I could get into River’s phone before he caught up to me. I was curious about what he’d been up to since we’d last seen each other. He had been evasive about it when I brought it up five years ago.
I wondered if I wasn’t the only one who had an ulterior reason for coming back home.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
“Damn it,”I muttered when River’s phone locked me out from trying to guess the password too many times. I thought maybe it would be something I could figure out easily, but apparently not. The only thing I saw was some girl named Marissa who texted him. Only her name popped up; I wasn’t even able to read the text. I wondered if it was the girl he’d been sitting with at the campus bar.
Putting the now useless phone back in my purse, I continued down the sidewalk. I’d been walking maybe ten minutes, and I was surprised River hadn’t caught up yet. Unless he was already at my house, waiting for me to show up.
“Didn’t we tell you not to walk around by yourself?” a voice asked from behind me.
My heart sank as I spun around and watched Eli step out from the shadows. His hands were in his jeans pockets as he stopped a couple of feet away from me.
“I’m still on campus,” I replied, turning back around to keep walking. “I know to avoid the Estate.”
He quickly fell in step with me. “You think you’re safe from William here? Have you been gone so long that you forgot about their reach?”
“Why do you care? It’s abundantly clear you don’t give a fuck about my well-being,” I snapped, keeping my eyes straight ahead. “You and West are the ones who dragged me back here.”
He grabbed me above the elbow, halting my steps. I turned my glare at him, getting tired of the three of them thinking they could touch me whenever they felt like it.
“Next year, I do not want William to be the one controlling you,” he said, his voice cold. “If he gives you those pills, that’s what’s going to happen. He never wanted you to be the head of the family. He wanted it to be Noah.”
A slice of pain hit my heart. “I know. You and West made sure that didn’t happen.”
“Don’t try guilting me, Kat,” he murmured, his eyes flashing with warning. “Even if you’d been home when that happened, it wouldn’t have changed the outcome.”
“Yes, it would,” I almost yelled, feeling tears prickling my eyelids. “He wouldn’t have been there. I’m the oldest in the family. I should have been the one with you that night. Not him. He shouldn’t have been brought into it at all.”
“He messed it up. Everything would have been fine if he did what he was told—”
I shoved him away. “Seventeen, Eli. He was only seventeen. Not even a legal adult. Why the hell was he running around with you and West anyway?”
“It was William who wanted him to come with us that night.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I know he’s your brother, but Noah is a dick. It only made it worse when William kept trying to make us get along.”
My nails dug into my palm as I stood stock still. It was taking everything in me not to hit him. Eli was the same as he’d always been. Blunt as hell. He didn’t hold back when it came to what was on his mind. River wanted to bury the past while Eli would throw out all the truths, even when it pissed him off.
His gaze traveled down my body as he smirked. “Careful, Kat. You try and hit me again, and that’s going to be your second strike.”
I scoffed. “What happens when I get to three? Going to make my life hell? Sorry, asshole, that’s already happening.”
“Honestly, I hope it takes you a while to get to three.” His eyes gleamed dangerously. “It’ll make the buildup that much more fun. I know you’ll get there eventually. You never were good at following rules.”
My stomach flipped as I attempted to keep my face blank. “I’m not scared of you.”
“You were never good at lying either.”
With a roll of my eyes, I started walking again, my guard rising when he stayed right next to me.
“I saw you take River’s phone,” he told me as I sped up my pace.
“Good for you.”