Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
A long, unending scrollable list appeared.
“Becca Savage sent a private message to Natalie Burgess in the amount of one thousand dollars,” he read. “It’s all here, Luna. Everyone in the club and all the terrible things they’ve been daring each other to do.”
“How far back does it go? Do we have the dares she gave to those monsters who hurt Winter?”
“That was a year ago and...” Victor scrolled down and down. “This is just this week. We’d need time to go through it all.”
“We can’t stay here forever.” I chewed my lip, thinking. This was it. This phone was Everleigh’s leverage over the Royals. It was proof the T.O.D. Club was behind Winter’s torture and who knew how many other crimes. In our hands was the key to exposing the club and putting things right for a lot of people. The next move we made had to be perfect.
“Everleigh wants to keep her good rep, but if she comes in here, screeching to the dean that we stole her property, we can’t defend ourselves.” I blew out a breath. “I know what we have to do.”
I took out my phone and dialed a number that she refused to give me, so I had to get it from Katie.
“What?”
My brow twitched. I was already annoyed. “Good evening, Saylor. How are you this fine day?”
“I’m hanging up.”
“Wait,” I snapped. “Fuck’s sake, you make it impossible to be nice to you.”
“I was about to say the same thing to you, Tambourine.”
“Tambourine?”
“Everyone gets a turn banging you.”
I dropped the phone and counted to three. I didn’t call to trade insults with her. I would not rise to her bait. Putting the phone back to my ear, I said, “Fuck you. The price for solving all of your problems just went up.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Everleigh used her all-access, behind-the-scenes pass to the T.O.D. Club to make the Royals turn on you. That pass... is mine now.”
Something crashed on her end. “Give it to me.”
“Of course. What else would I do?” My smirk was wicked. “But like I said, there’s a price.”
“What do you want?”
“I’m on my way to the ancestral home right now. You’ll put me back on the list and let me talk to William. I’m giving you the key to bringing the Royals back under your control. Now he helps me find something on Everton that I can use against Everleigh.”
“You just will not quit, will you? We can find dirt on Everton without you dragging Grandpa into this.”
“My other demand,” I plowed on, “is that we go through it all together. If we find any more rapes, murders, or any other evil, violent shit like that, we turn in both the darer and the daree. They’re sent to jail and removed from the Royal line.”
“Obviously. Why would I say no to that?”
“I’ve read your texts,” I replied. “Any time you got dirt on someone, you used it to your advantage. You sure as fuck didn’t help them, tell them the truth, or save them from the blowout. You’re not doing that again. These victims will get justice.”
“You don’t know me,” she snapped. “I never found out about any rapes or murders and covered them up. I would never do that. I’m not some sociopath.”
I scoffed. “Could’ve fooled me. A guy dares to end your hookups, and you sabotage his relationships and spread around that he has a kid. A girl beats you out for valedictorian, so you destroy her family. Sociopath sounds like the right word to me.”
“Course it does because you’re clueless. A no-nothing Dreg that got the name Burkhardt without any of the responsibility. You don’t know what it’s like for me!” The sudden shout pounded my ear. “I have to be perfect all the time. Every day. The slightest weakness is used against me, not just by the Royal line but the whole country now that it’s an open secret that my father wants to run for president.
“You’re so worried about precious Shane because I told girls he had chlamydia and a kid. Ever think I was trying to help them? That bastard pressured and pressured me into sending him nudes. When I refused, he called me a frigid bitch and dumped me. It turned out his friends were bidding on the pics, and he was pissed I cost him thousands.
“And yeah, I did tip off Lizzie Duke’s mom about her cheating husband because I didn’t know what else to do. I had to be valedictorian. Second place wasn’t an option.”
I shook my head. Saylor would burst into flames before she ever admitted responsibility for the pain she caused. “What about Ahmed and Piper? What’s your sob story for lying and telling him Piper cheated on him, then throwing it in Katie’s face when he hooked up with her out of revenge?”