She raised an eyebrow and looked over at me before responding to him. She was just as shocked to see him here as I was. “Good...evening.”

I bit my lip to hold back a smile and she shrugged at me. Our own little secret exchange happened right in front of him.

“Since you’re here, I’m hoping it’s on the life-or-death clause I mentioned earlier. Care to tell us what is such an urgent matter that you’re here after bedtime?”

He looked over at Kelly before turning his attention to me as if he was asking to talk alone. His eyes darkened and his jaw set firmly. “Garrett. It’s more of a private conversation.”

My hand went to my hip, knowing I wouldn’t be keeping things from her anyway. “Whatever you tell me will immediately be relayed to her, but with a more dramatic flair. If you want to save me the time of re-explanations, just spit it out.”

He sized me up to gauge my level of seriousness. We had a close friendship. We were sisters in every way but blood, and I made sure people knew that loud and clear. There was nothing kept secret between us, and I didn’t expect it to start now.

Before he could explain anything, I realized he mentioned my love life. What an asshole. He always poked his head where it didn’t belong. “Wait. Garrett? What are you doing coming around my house in the middle of the night telling me it’s life or death and that it’s about my boy– Garrett?”

Of course, I almost said boyfriend. Good going.

His nostrils flared and he took a deep breath. Annoyed with me. “There’s word going around on campus. I was trying to mind my business, but I couldn’t help but overhear the many, many whispers about the text that went out. Your name caught my ear, and it was all about you and him. Fallon Montgomery and Garrett Bradford.”

He paused, waiting for me to say something. He had the nerve to tap his foot at me.

“So?” I threw my hands up and gestured to say what’s your point?

“As in The Montgomery Group. As in, you conveniently left out that you’re the heir to Maria’s throne, and I had to find out from a third party.” He crossed his arms, waiting for me to answer his interrogation-style questions.

While it was true I didn’t boast my name and legacy, it’s not like I kept it a secret from everyone. People had every opportunity to look me up or check into who I was. My mother kept a lot of it a secret from me most of my life; I never wanted to have that same level of secrecy. That didn’t mean I had to flaunt myself everywhere like it made a difference.