The Arrangement

Chapter Thirty-Four

Henley

I shouldn't be doing this, it's a complete invasion of privacy but when I noticed Blair reach for her laptop the moment, I left the room my own curiosity got the better of me. 

And well seeing as the first thing she searched was to do with Jamie, it's a good thing I have access to her device because nothing good can come of this and it's essential we get ahead of it before it becomes something more. 

Pulling out my phone and shoot off a quick message Carter. 

Henley: We have an issue. Blair is searching online about Jamie. 

It's concise, straight to the point and takes all of a few seconds before it's read. Carter's name flashing up on my phone as he calls me straight away. 

I answer the call but before I've even managed to say a single word, his voice comes bellowing through, clear agitation in his tone. 

"How the hell does she know anything about Jamie" he snaps. 

Sighing I continue to watch my screen that's mirrored with hers as she attempts to continue her search. 

"I don't know" I admit, "Maybe she heard what I said the other night." I then say knowing full well he's going to be pissed about it all over again. "She just started searching our names and Jamie's" I then go on to explain. 

"What did she find?" he snaps, his tone only even more tense and frustrated. I can hear movement on the other end of the line, and I don't doubt for one minute that he's abandoning whatever it is he's doing to come back here, the other's probably doing the same. 

"Nothing," I reply sighing. "Just a photo of the two of you, I must have missed it, but it's gone now" I then inform him, knowing full well what his reaction will be. 

"You told me you removed everything Henley" he grumbles, and I mime along, able to mimic it word for word. 

"Yeah, well I'm sorry that whilst I was lying on my death bed because of that psychotic bitch I missed one thing" I snap back to him, losing my patience which is a rarity for me. 

I'd warned them that something wasn't right about her, she gave me the fucking creeps from the get-go but no one listened to me. Carter likes to say, 'we all missed the signs' just to make Ashton feel better. But I didn't. That bitch wasn't right from the beginning, and she knew that I knew it. 

Which is the whole reason she kept her distance from me, and I kept mine from her. 

There was always something about the look in her eyes that seemed off to me. And when it came to her whole obsession with the knives, that was the red flag that had alarm bells ringing in my head. Knife play was nothing new to us, but she enjoyed it way too fucking much. 

Of course, Ashton was all for it, found great fucking pleasure in it until he took it all a little too far and she finally snapped. She went into that playroom with him and when she came back out it was like something had switched inside her. 

We've had it where the woman has become more attached to one of us over the others, but with her it was different. She wanted Ashton and she was willing to do whatever it took to keep him to herself. Me being the first obstacle. 

Yet somehow everyone seems to forget that it was me that she fucking poisoned, strung me up and was well prepared to slice and dice through my fucking skin to get me out of the way. 

She was a lunatic, plain and simple. The psych ward is the best place for her. I just wish the others had seen what I saw from the start. Perhaps then, we could have avoided this entire mess. 

I'd also been insistent that we told Blair the truth from the start, yeah it might have made her cautious but at least then we wouldn't be hiding anything from her. But of course, yet again no one listened to me. 

"Delete the picture," Carter snaps, causing me to sigh. 

It's a little too late for that now, and if she's already searching then there's no doubt, she already knows something. 

"I already have, there's no trace of her" I explain but he's clearly not satisfied with that. 

"Yeah, that's what you said last time" he notes evident disapproval in his tone. 

"You know, if we just tell Blair the truth, she might not take it as bad as you think she will" I say in an attempt to reason with him, even though I know it's useless. There's no reasoning with Carter when he's set his mind on something. 

"No" he sneers, his tone tight. "We've had this discussion, and we all decided that as long as she's out of the picture, we keep Jamie out of our lives. Move on from it" 

"Act as if it never happened," I say sarcastically. 

"Henley," Carter tone is a warning. "Don't play me for a fool, I know the whole reason you brought her up the other night was for this exact reason, and I am telling you now that it's not going to end well if you keep this up." He's not wrong. I did exactly what he's saying although I'm not going to admit that to him now. 

"Honestly, what do you even think is going to happen? That she's going to go running for the hills telling everyone we're monsters and ruin that sparking reputation you have?" I question, because this is ridiculous. "Come on, I really don't think Blair is the type." I then sigh. 

I kind of get it, she's the first one we've brought in since it all happened, we're all cautious of the reaction and the outcome but even though it's only been a few weeks, I think we've all gathered by now that Blair isn't exactly what we thought she was. 

And that's in a good way. 

None of us thought she could handle Ashton, yet he's the one she's formed the closest bond with now. She hasn't shied away from the dynamics of our relationship, and I'd bet money on it that if we tell her the truth, she'll take it a lot better than everyone thinks she will. 

"I said no Henley," he snaps back shutting me down. "Make sure everything's gone and don't even think about breathing a word of this to Lennox or Ashton, they don't need to know" he then growls cutting the call without giving me any chance to object or argue against him. 

More secrets. 

Just what we all need.