He sat himself at my dining table, daring more entry into my house. I followed him over out of pure curiosity about this interaction. Part of me wondered if his grandfather sent him over to size me up, seeing if I was capable like my mother.

“No one could believe that you were Fallon Montgomery.” He set his elbows onto the table and steepled his fingers.

Kelly cut in; her mouth full of candy. “That was the point of her keeping her head down.”

“Sure. That’s fine to not cause a scene, but what I’m hearing is that he’s using her as a meat shield for the upcoming legal issues facing his family. Did you not know that he’s one of the six families being targeted?”

Kelly sat at the table with us, fully ready to enter the drama herself. “I did tell Fallon that when we talked with him that he mentioned a lot more than what that text said.”

I sighed. “Since you’re offering up information, I’ll fill you in on my end. We went to the field today to watch the boys practice when that text was sent to everyone. You showed up shortly after and you know what happened there while you were there, but when you left, we went to go talk to Garrett since the guys practicing looked done after the scandal hit everyone. All the guys were acting suspicious and Garrett said that ‘money laundering, embezzlement, and organized crime’ was involved when the text never said that.”

I needed something to eat if this was how the evening was going to go. Leftovers were in the fridge and were calling my name while my stomach grumbled. I just snatched a pack of sour gummy worms I left on the table instead.

“Then we left,” I continued. “We had a moment of ‘that was weird as hell’ before theorizing that he, or someone there, might be hiding something. Whatever it was, he knew more than we did and wasn’t forthcoming with the information. It was just generally odd.”

He let my words sink in with him for a moment, looking around my house like he’d never seen it before. Like he didn’t force his way in not that long ago. “Do you know his family at all? The Bradfords?”

“No. Why would it matter?”

He looked concerned. “You know absolutely nothing about being wealthy, do you? You are in the top one percent of everyone in this country, Blondie.”

“My mother raised me right if that’s what you’re asking.” I sat back, challenging his accusation.

He placed his palms flat on the table. “In this life that we all share,” he looked between Kelly and me. “Status is everything. Who you associate with is everything. What benefit does Kelly’s family have for you that makes you friends with her?”

She looked shocked.