Knowing You (The Jade Series #2) (32 page)

“No. He raped her. And left her on the side of the road to die. You didn’t know that?”

“He told me it was an affair.” Mr. Kensington says it like he’s talking to himself, his eyes glazed over. “I never understood why he was so worried about an affair. Politicians have affairs all the time. And it was so long ago. It wouldn’t have hurt his campaign. But if he raped her . . . and then left her . . . ” He wakes from his fog and shakes his head, looking even more worried than before. “Now I understand why he’s so panicked about this.”

“So what’s the deal you made with him?” Garret asks.
 

“Royce needed to make sure Jade never found out about him. He knew he’d be running for office and he wanted to get control over anything from his past that could jeopardize his campaign. That’s why you’re here, Jade. That’s why you’re at Moorhurst. I gave you the scholarship so I could keep an eye on you for him.”

I suppose that should shock me but surprisingly it doesn’t. It never did make sense that I got the scholarship without even applying for it. Then again, maybe I’m not reacting to the news because I’m still trying to get over the fact that Garret and I almost got killed in his car.

I sit there quietly but Garret’s pissed. He bursts up from his chair. “You brought Jade here so you could spy on her? Why would you do that?”

Mr. Kensington lets out a long sigh. “Because I owed him.”

“Of course you did.” Garret remains standing, his arms crossed over his chest. “So what is it? What does he have on you?”

Mr. Kensington doesn’t answer.
 

“Our manufacturing plant in Texas.” Garret waits for his dad to respond but he doesn’t. “The fire was our fault, wasn’t it? All those people died and we didn’t do a damn thing for their families. You blamed the employees. You said it was their fault, not ours. You blamed the plant manager and ruined his life! You faked the evidence, didn’t you? Covered up anything that would link it back to us.”

“I agree it was wrong. But we did what we had to do. Some of the employees started talking to reporters. We had to get control. Someone had to take the blame. You know how many contracts we’d lose if the truth got out? We’d lose the company. Our family company. Your great grandfather’s company.”

Garret shakes his head as he slowly sits down. “I don’t even know how it’s possible we’re related. Thank God for Mom. Otherwise I would’ve turned out like you.”

“That’s enough, Garret! I regret how I handled the fire. I really do. But it wasn’t just me. Your grandfather was involved as well. In fact, it was his idea. And we can’t change it now. It’s over.”

“You
can
change it! You can tell the truth!”

“It’s not going to happen. Too many people were involved in covering it up. And Royce is one of them. After he did that for us, I agreed to keep watch on Jade once he started campaigning.”

“What do you mean by keep watch?” I ask him. “Have you been spying on me this whole time? Do you have people following me around?”

“No. Nothing like that. I was just supposed to make sure you went to Moorhurst and take care of anything you needed money-wise. Royce contacted me after your mother died. At the time, he sounded like he cared about you. He wanted you to go to a good college so you could get a decent job and not end up like your mother.”

I tell Mr. Kensington Frank’s theory about my mother being drugged all those years.

“It doesn’t surprise me, Jade. That’s not uncommon when someone won’t keep quiet.”

It’s just like Garret said. It’s one of the techniques powerful people use to hide their secrets. Making people who know the truth crazy so nobody will ever believe them. I start to wonder if I should be telling all this stuff to Garret’s dad. I’m not sure if I can trust him. Garret always tells me his family does stuff he doesn’t approve of. And the story about the fire just proved that. Now I’m wondering what else his dad has done.

“When did Sinclair start threatening Jade?” Garret asks.
 

“A few months ago. But he wasn’t making threats, at least that’s not how he made it sound. He called me and said he suspected she might know about the affair. Again, he called it an affair, not a rape. And he mentioned something about a letter. Anyway he told me to keep a closer eye on her and that he would be sending someone out here to give her a little scare so she wouldn’t start digging for more information. That’s when I started to have concerns. I tried to talk him out of it. I told him it wasn’t necessary. And then I found out you two were dating and I had to stop it. I didn’t want you involved in this, Garret.”

So that’s why Mr. Kensington kept trying to keep Garret and me apart? I still think my background had something to do with it. Along with input from Katherine.

He
 
continues. “When you two showed up at the fundraiser, Royce was furious. He assumed I brought Jade there just to flaunt her in front of his wife and daughter, like I was trying to reveal his secret to his family. I assured him I had nothing to do with it, but he didn’t believe me.”
 

Mr. Kensington turns to Garret. “Later that night, Sadie made a joke, saying you picked a girl who looks just like her. Royce panicked. He was sure his wife or other people at the party would also notice the similarity and would eventually put the pieces together. That’s when I started getting even more worried.”

“So you think he’s really trying to kill me?” I almost can’t say the words. The thought that someone, especially my own father, wants me dead is too much to comprehend.

Mr. Kensington sits back in his chair. “I thought he’d just start having you followed. Listen in on your calls to see how much you knew. I didn’t think he’d actually try to harm you. But now, with this incident with the car, it’s clear he’s trying to do just that. And he obviously wants to harm you as well, Garret. He must assume you know about all of this, given your relationship with Jade.”

“So what now?” I ask him. “We hide out and hope he doesn’t kill us? Can’t we do something?”

“I’m working on it.” Mr. Kensington stands up, as if signaling that our conversation is over. “I don’t think you need to be prisoners here in the house but stay close to home. Royce knows better than to send his people to the house, or even to this town. But Garret, if you go anywhere, I want you to take your gun.”

“Yeah, I will.”

I look at them like they’re insane, but the two of them act like it’s perfectly normal.
 

We leave the office. Mr. Kensington shuts the door behind us.
 

“I guess that explains some things,” Garret says. “I’ve never seen him so worried about me. And he’s worried about you, too. He’ll take care of this, Jade. He’ll do whatever he can to keep this guy from hurting you. And me.”

“What do you think he’s going to do?”

“Call up his people. Go into full attack mode. Force Sinclair to stop whatever he’s planning to do.”

“I probably don’t want to know the details.”

“No, you don’t.” He puts his arm around my shoulder. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

I hope he’s not going to show me his gun, because I’m still trying to accept the fact that he has one. And is ready to use it.
 

27

Garret leads me beyond the foyer and around the corner to the formal living room. Standing near the window is the largest Christmas tree I’ve ever seen, at least in person. It’s artificial because Katherine would never allow a real tree in her house. It would be too messy. But the fake tree looks real.
 

It’s covered in white lights which are turned on even though it’s the middle of the day. Giant blue and silver ornaments hang from almost every branch. I notice more lights glistening off to the side and see that the staircase banister is covered in lighted greenery.

“We have lights outside in the back, too,” Garret says. “They come on when it gets dark.”

“This tree is incredible.” I walk around it. Every ornament is placed perfectly, like someone measured the distance between each one.
 

“There’s more. And it’s even better. Let’s go to my side of the house.”

We go to the game room that we hung out in over Thanksgiving break. It, too, has a tree. It’s not as big as the other one, but it’s still huge. Garret turns the overhead lights off and flips a switch that turns the Christmas lights on. The tree is covered in multicolored lights and there are smaller trees in other sections of the room, also lit up.

“I told you I’m into Christmas,” Garret says.

“Who did all this?”

“We have a company that comes in and does it. We just tell them what we want. I always pick the stuff for this room. Katherine hates the multicolored lights. She doesn’t allow them in the main house, so I put them in here. What do you think?”

“I love it. It almost makes me feel better after this horrible day. And week. I guess the whole month has kind of sucked.”

Garret comes up behind me and kisses the top of my head. “It’ll get better, Jade. Now do you want to see more?”

I turn around to face him. “There’s more?”

“Every room is decorated, but most of them just have boring white lights. Let’s go upstairs.”

He takes me to the bedroom I’m staying in. It has its own tree with bright blue lights. “I called and had this done yesterday when I found out you’d be staying here. You can keep the lights on when you sleep just like at school.”

“This is so cool. I’ve never had a tree in my bedroom. Actually, I’ve never had a tree.”

“Not even at Frank’s house?”

“I was living with two guys. They didn’t care about putting up a Christmas tree.”

“I’m a guy and I’d put up a Christmas tree.”

“Yeah, well, I guess they’re not really into Christmas.”

We go to Lilly’s room next. It has a tiny white tree decorated in pink lights. It’s so Lilly. Delicate, small, and covered in pink.
 

“She’s not even here to enjoy it,” I say.

“It’s been up for weeks. She’s enjoyed it. Let’s go to my room.”

Garret’s bedroom has a small tree with blue lights, like the one in my room, but then he has more lights strung around the window frame. He turns them on and closes the drapes so I can see them better.
 

“What do you think?” I feel him behind me, his breath by my ear as he moves my hair aside. “You like the lights?”
 

“Garret. Stop it. Your dad’s home. And it’s the afternoon.”

“We’ve done it in the afternoon before. Right in this very room.” He leaves kisses down my neck, causing
tiny bumps to rise up on my skin
. “I think it was even your suggestion.”

“Yeah, but your dad wasn’t downstairs.” I feel myself sinking into him as my whole body relaxes.
 

“My dad doesn’t care.” He moves my shirt aside and skims his lips along my collarbone. I sink into him even more and his arm tightens around my waist.

“Okay, that’s enough. Let’s get out of here before we end up doing something.”
 

He laughs, knowing he’s getting to me. He turns me around, keeping me close. “I need a kiss first. I saved your life earlier and you didn’t even kiss me.”

“Garret, don’t joke about that. We could’ve died.”

“But we didn’t. And I think I deserve a kiss.”

As I replay what happened, I
am
really amazed at what he did. The way he figured out what to do with the out-of-control car was impressive. We didn’t even get hurt, not even a scratch. I guess I’ll have to add good driving skills to the growing list of compliments I’m saving up for him.

I give him a quick kiss.
 

“You have to do better than that,” he says. “I saved your life, remember?”

I kiss him again, parting my lips to let his tongue slip past and weakening my resolve to limit this to a simple kiss. The more I think about him saving us, the more turned on I get. Maybe that’s weird, but at this moment I’m finding it extremely sexy.

He moves us toward the bed as we kiss.

“Garret, are you in there?” His dad is knocking on the door.

We break apart and I punch Garret. “I told you it was a bad idea!” I whisper.
 

He just laughs, then flips on the overhead lights and answers the door. He probably wouldn’t have even cared if his dad had walked in on us doing it. Guys. I don’t understand them. They have no shame. I would die if Frank or Ryan ever caught Garret and me together. I’d never be able to look at them again.

“I’m going into the office for a few hours,” his dad says. “Go ahead and have dinner without me. Also, I had someone tow your car out of that field. We can’t salvage it, so I called the BMW dealer. They’ll have a new one out here in the morning.”

“Okay. Thanks for doing that.”
 

His dad looks at me. “If you need anything during your stay, Jade, just tell the housekeeper. Garret can introduce you to her.”

“Okay. Thanks.” I’m sure my face is bright red.
 

His dad leaves and Garret shuts the door.
 

“He totally knew what we were doing!” I whisper to Garret.