I stop myself from disclosing Quinton’s drug dealing. It’d be stupid to talk to Christopher because he’ll call his brother to give him a heads-up as soon as I leave here.

Before I turn around to leave, Christopher, with a voice brimming with snark, says, “Might want to be careful. You wouldn’t want to go back to prison, would you?”

This smug motherfucker.

“I’ve already been there once,” I sneer at him, my lips curling into a cold smile. “What’s another sentence? Especially if it’s punishment for beating the shit out of the guy who put his hands on my girlfriend.”

That smugness falls to the ground along with the leaves. “I’ll talk to my brother.”

Without a word, I turn around and return to my car. He stands in his drive, watching me, before hastily shoving his hand into his pocket and dragging out his phone.

I do the same and dial Rex’s number as soon as I return to my car. “That’s his brother’s address. I need Quinton’s campus addy.”

“On it.”

Just in case Christopher gets slick and calls the police for my trespassing, I drive off, and Rex has a new address for me as I’m pulling out of the neighborhood.

“Text it to me,” I demand.

“You’re not doing this alone,” Rex argues. “We don’t want you to get in any more trouble.”

“I got this. You just go to Cassidy in case Quinton tries to get to her.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Cassidy

“Hey, sis,” Rex says over the phone. “I need to come over. My Wi-Fi is down, and I have some work to do.”

Even though he can’t see me, I roll my eyes. “You’re going to make a thirty-minute drive to my house to use Wi-Fi when you can go to any coffee shop or to another sibling’s—who all live much closer to you, by the way? Seems legit and not at all suspicious.”

He chuckles. “Someone needs to be there with you. Maliki has to go into work, so I’m clocking in.”

Clocking in.

I hate that I’m like a job to them.

“Look, I’m fine here on my own,” I say, chugging the rest of my water. “Plus, Grace is here, so I won’t be alone when Maliki and Sierra leave. Problem solved. Go fake need Wi-Fi somewhere else.”

“The Wi-Fi is down everywhere else.”

He hangs up, and ten minutes later, there’s a knock on the door. I answer it to find Carolina and Rex standing in the doorway. Since he lives a good half hour away, no way was he sitting at home, struggling to connect to Wi-Fi.

“Oh, look,” Sierra says, gasping dramatically. “What a surprise.”

“Shush,” I grumble, shooting her a dirty look. “You knew the surprise was coming.”