EXILE//Grayson Hawthorne [3]

Chapter 13 - August

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"Your back
Beneath the sun
Wishing I could write my name on it
Will you call when you're back at school?
I remember thinking I had you."

- Taylor Swift

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Jess's P.O.V

We're all left in shock. My hand rests in Graysons, my eyes still staring at the computer screen. It had felt like Tobias Hawthorne had been there, like he had been speaking to us. It was like seeing a ghost, and it had affected the boys just as much.

Avery was stunned as well, Grayson wouldn't look at me, Jameson turned away, Nash shook his head and Xander didn't even look affected, though I knew he was.

"You always did say that the old man liked to kill ten birds with one stone." Avery said, speaking because the boys couldn't.

"Twelve." Jameson muttered with a painful laugh.

"We did exactly what he thought we would." Xander snapped, his reaction coming out. "All of us. From the beginning."

"That sonofabitch." Nash swore, letting out a breath. "How dangerous do we think Vincent Blake is?"

"Dangerous enough to require a decoy." Grayson's said despite knowing anything about Vincent Blake. "We're dealing with a family whose fortune, though significantly smaller, goes back a lot further than ours. There's no telling what people or institutions Blake has in his pocket."

"The old man took the four of us off the board." Jameson said. "He raised us to fight but never intended this fight for us."

Jameson looks over to Avery and her eye light up. She had an idea, one that we all knew was probably dangerous or would only get us into more trouble. But really, how much deeper into this could we get?

"Where are you going?" Jameson called to Avery as she turned to leave.

She didn't look over her shoulder . "To make a call."

...

The minute the meeting is over, Alex finds me.

My stomach is in knots as I watch Grayson leave me, though I don't tell him to stay. I know what I must do, even if it may make me uncomfortable. I owe Alex an explanation. A reason as to why I broke his heart.

"Did you enjoy your trip to Europe?" Alex asks and I give him an awkward smile.

"Yeah," I begin. "It was amazing. Like something out of a dream."

Alex smiles. "I didn't even know you wanted to go to Europe."

I bite my lip. "In your defence, I never told you." I say. Alex's smile drops slightly.