I nod even though he can’t see me and turn to Bass.

“Can your phone be tracked?”

He pulls it from my hand and tosses it under the nearest car.

A hint of a smirk ghosts my lips before it’s gone.

“I have a key to the Brayshaw mansion. We can go there while we wait.”

I shake my head. “No. We’re going to the school. I need to talk to Perkins.”

Without another word spoken, we make our way to his car.

Donley made a mistake demanding me.

Rolland made a mistake leaving me behind.

I’ll show them all, I’m more than they can handle.

Bass puts the car in reverse but pauses before his foot hits the gas. He gives a half glance at Victoria in the backseat before lifting his hips in his seat.

I hold my breath as he pulls my knife from his pocket and flips it open, not a speck of red to be found.

With a nod, I reach out and close my fist around it.

My eyes hit his.

“Ready, Bishop?”

“Ready, Carver.”

“Let’s make them regret this.”

I sit back in my seat, a calmness settling over me.

They want an obedient wife.

They’re getting a defiant queen.

School is just getting out when we pull up.

Students pour from the building, their steps slowing when they spot me, Bass, and Victoria right behind me.

Wide eyes scan the bruising on my face, but I simply give small nods to the people I pass.

I don’t want to fight with them. Before, I’d get angry when they made remarks or stared and assumed, but it’s only natural. They’ve been left in the dark which is wrong when they’re expected to stay in an order set by my name.

These are my people, and they need to feel comfortable enough to speak to me whenever they want.

Mac must have heard we were here, because he suddenly pops around a corner. He holds a hand up, so we slow to a stop, allowing him to catch up.

“Everything okay?” he asks. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“I didn’t tell anyone.”

Mac nods, looking behind him then back to me. “Perkins?”

“Where is he?”

“The gym, signing off on some new equipment that came in, but the baseball team is in there conditioning.”

“I need him alone.”

“I can help.”

Our heads snap left to find Chloe stepping up, her arms crossed over her binder. She stops right next to me.

“Go into the hall outside the gym, not the one that leads outside, but the one Maddoc tricked you into when he made everyone think you were prostituting here.” When my eyes narrow, she keeps going. “It’s the only one that has doors on each side. Mac or her” —her eyes snap to Victoria and back— “can stand behind one, Bishop behind the other in case you need someone close. I don’t think you plan on doing anything crazy, you’d have waited to get him at home if you had, but just in case, that’s where you want to be.”

“Why?”

“It’s the only place in the school out of sight, the camera position is off. There’s a three-foot, two-inch gap from the gym door down. I marked the focal point with a photo last year. You’re in sight if you’re past the frame.”

“Why is the camera off?”

“Because sometimes this place calls for moves others can’t see.”

“It was purposeful?”

“My father makes no mistakes.”

I nod.

“Go. I’ll have him there in five minutes.” She spins on her spikey heels.

“Chloe,” I call.

She turns back to me.

“Thanks.”

“I don’t know what’s happening, but something is wrong, I can sense it here and at home. I have a suspicion only you can fix it.” She tucks her long hair behind her ear. “The Brayshaws are more than three guys to us. We follow because we believe in them and what we know they can do for this town. We may be young, but we’ve seen what our parents and generations before us did to their own. We want more than that.”

“You’ll have more than that.”

Her lips twitch. “Prove it, Brayshaw.”

She walks away and I turn back to the others.

Victoria glares after Chloe while Bass and Mac stare at me with raised brows.

“Royce asked me to—”

I cut Mac off. “Do whatever he wants, we’re good.”

“You sure?”

“Go.”

With that, we part ways, the three of us heading for the back end of the gym.

“What are we doing here exactly?” Victoria asks.

“Talking.”

She scoffs. “Right.”

“Perkins has given us nothing from his own mouth, yet he turned his back on his brother for my mom. Helped watch over the boys while Rolland was away, protected—” I cut myself off.”

Zoey.

“He did all that as he stood back as the bad guy, acted as if he hated them while they legit did him.”

“He did what you did,” Bass says, his eyes sliding my way. “You went to Collins to protect them, let them think you were the bad guy, allowed them to believe you betrayed them. Let the entire school think they let their guard slip.”

I glare straight ahead. “I never should have done it.”

“No, you shouldn’t have, but that’s not the point. You did and without thoughts of self-preservation.”

“Is this your way of saying I should trust Perkins? Freely, without him having to earn it?”

“No. This is me pointing out you’re capable of even more than these grown-ass men are and without reason.”

“I love them. That’s reason enough.”

“But that’s pure, Raven. Not mixed with hatred, or jealousy, or greed. You love them, so you protected them. Period. Everyone else around here has a deeper motivation than you.”

I whip around, shoving him in his chest, but he doesn’t even budge.

He glares.

“Say what you wanna say, Bishop!”

“You don’t owe him anything, Raven.” He gets in my face. “If he deserved to know what happened, he would already.”

I go to look away, but he moves with me, staying in my face.

“I know you want answers, and you deserve them, but you do not have to go in there and tell him what’s happened to Captain, or your mom. He didn’t earn this from you, and Captain wouldn’t give him a damn word. He’s the one who told Collins about you. He may have had Ravina’s best interest in mind at one point, but you became nothing but collateral damage.”

“He knows more than he’s saying.”

“And he’s a piece of shit for not volunteering the information to you.”

“That’s why I’m here, Bass. This is his chance to tell me what he’s hiding.”

“One minute,” Victoria reminds us.

“And if he doesn’t?” Bass lifts his brow, mockingly.

I push forward, tugging the door open and stepping into the hall.

“Make sure the area is empty.” They nod and make quick work of disappearing behind the boy’s and girl’s locker room doors.