The Truth About Kian

08. Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!

"Too late," said Jules as he pulled into an empty parking spot in front of Shenanigans. As we walked inside, I spotted Maurice sitting at a corner table. Her hair was curled and hung in perfect coils around her face, and a forest green trench coat was draped over her long-sleeved jade dress. She looked lovely and perfect, and Jules' face darkened as we took a seat across from her.

She flushed when she saw his glare, her mouth opening in a startled "o," cheeks flushing a bright pink. "Hello," she finally croaked as Liam slid into the chair beside her.

"I hope everyone likes coffee!" He was beaming — a strange expression to see on an Inheritor's face. Scowling, I dropped my eyes to the cardboard container holding four large cups in his hands.

"You wouldn't take my calls," Liam said to me. "So Maurice agreed to be my secretary."

I looked at the Inheritor girl warily. She wasn't as cruel as Meg — although Jules would disagree with me — but she wasn't an angel either, and I wasn't terribly excited about spending my Saturday morning with her. "Did it occur to you that I didn't want to talk to you?"

"Everyone wants to talk to me," he said, taking a gulp of scalding coffee. I watched, amused, as he choked and spluttered on the hot liquid.

"How did you get my number, anyway?" I snapped.

His cheeks darkened. "I asked around," he said, carefully avoiding my eyes.

"Where. Did. You. Get. It. Sinclair?" I ground out.

Maurice glanced up from her coffee. "He asked Meg. Happy?"

I sat back in my seat. "What did you tell her? That it's all for some big prank?" I shook the cup, coffee sloshing over the edges. "Is there Ex-lax in here? Rat poison?"

"I'm not cruel," he said, stung.

"You're just not trustworthy," I snapped. "But no big deal, right?"

"Enough!" Maurice shook her head, sending her curls flying. "We came here to talk about Kian. Not to argue over who has wronged who."

"Yeah," Jules said spitefully, his untouched coffee steaming in front of him. Up until now, he had been silent. "I'm sure you don't want to talk about your pranks in front of someone like me. I might steal your ideas."

Her eyes widened. "You know it was an accident, Jules," she pleaded.

"No," he said bitterly, shaking his head. "You knew exactly what you were doing. It was easy for you to screw my family over, wasn't it?"

"I had no idea that my dad would do that," she whispered, burying her face in her hands. "Jules, I had no idea."

"Stop calling me that!" he snapped, his chest heaving. "It's Julian. Only my friends call me Jules!"

"I was your friend once." Maurice lifted her head, and I saw that her eyes were glittering with tears. "You know that, Jules—Julian—right?"

"I don't know. Were you?"

Liam and I exchanged wary glances as the other two continued fighting, but we made no move to stop it. Jules and Maurice's history was short and brutal, and it was a reminded to everyone why it was never a good idea to fall in love with someone from the other side.

Maurice's father and Jules' father had been accused of embezzling millions from The Dawson Group, the financial firm where both of them had worked. But Maurice's father had managed to swing a deal from himself, thanks to a fancy lawyer. The charges against him where dropped, but Jules' father went to prison.