The Heirs: Cold-Hearted

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Tate

Imogen and I sit on one sofa while Sophie and Ari sit on the other. They look guilty as fuck, and they know why.

Imogen takes a deep breath and laces her fingers together in her lap, as if calculating what she wants to say. I have a lot less self-control, admittedly.

"You could have been killed," I decide on.

"Um, excuse you," Sophie laughs bitterly, "I would never put myself in a situation I couldn't get out of, okay?"

"We were completely safe. Jemma assured me it was a friendly invite," Ari assures me. I scoff and shake my head. Imogen remains aloof.

"The guys had us wired. They wouldn't let anything happen to us," Sophie says.

"You don't know that!" I all but shout, throwing my hands up in the air. "The Sokolovs only care about one thing: themselves. You were used and you could have been hurt!"

Ari and Sophie exchange meaningful looks. Ari looks down at her feet, her cheeks pink and Sophie just rolls her eyes at me.

"Tell me more about these letters," Imogen says quietly.

"We don't know much. Just that Aleks wanted to get his hands on them. I guess they were letters Rory Farrell was exchanging with a pen pal – someone he cared about. Aleks thought the letters might hold some information on who may have been after Rory," Sophie says.

Imogen nods thoughtfully.

"...but they were gone. There was a box. But no letters," Ari says.

"Do they have any leads?" Imogen asks.

"Not that we know of," Sophie shakes her head.

Imogen stands up and starts pacing in front of the window overlooking the quad. She takes a few purposeful breaths.

"And you're sure you weren't suspected?" I ask.

"We left everything as we found it. We lingered around, pretended to have a few drinks, socialized...no one suspected a thing," Ari says.

"No one suspects anything of us. They think we're airheads," Sophie says, almost sounding bitter.

"You're not airheads," I frown. "I don't mean to make it sound like you are. I know you're more than capable. I just worry about you both."

Sophie's frown softens a bit.

"We cannot trust the Knights. And we cannot trust the Wolves either," I tell them. "We don't know who killed Rory. And we don't know what anyone's intentions are."

Ari frowns. "The Sokolovs are our allies. So are the Callahans. Chase is a Wolf, T. Josh would never let anything happen to us."

I ignore the fact that for once Ari is coming to Josh's defense when it benefits her, that is.

"I trust Josh, Eli, and Owen. I trust my brother. I do not trust the Sokolovs," I say vehemently. "They are looking out for themselves. They are hiding something from us. They have something on my brother, and I don't know what."

Imogen stops her pacing and looks at me. "I agree with Tate. We cannot trust the Wolves. Not fully."

Sophie bites her bottom lip nervously before saying, "I thought we were technically riding with them, to be honest."