On the Edge (The Grange Complex Book 1) novel Chapter 34

Sasha

“Harry, I’m not sure about this. What if she won’t come with us?” I asked, feeling like my stomach slowly wanted to empty itself, heaving with nerves. Harry was crazy and his idea was risky. Jenny was still only a child and I didn’t want to use her to catch Victoria in her slimy lies.

“She has a huge crush on him. When I chatted with her yesterday, she wouldn’t shut up about him,” he argued, looking at me with his clear blue eyes. We were in his car outside Jenny’s college in the north side of the city. Harry had managed to track Jenny down. I didn’t ask how, but he had his ways, his dodgy contacts. My hatred for Victoria grew with each passing moment, but I was still reluctant to approach this girl. I knew that Dexter couldn’t go to the police. Our choices were limited.

“I don’t know about this. What if someone sees us?”

“That’s why you need to speak to her. She’ll believe you… right, there she is,” he hissed and nearly enough pushed me out of the car. Indeed, Jenny was coming around the corner. She was alone, and she didn’t even notice me. Her eyes were glued to her smartphone. She still had her school uniform on and I was surprised to see her without a bunch of girls. Everyone in high school had friends.

I rubbed my damp palm over my jeans and approached her from the opposite direction.

“Hey, Jenny. Hey, hold on. I need to talk to you.”

She stopped and glared at me with mistrust, putting her phone away. My heart was accelerating and all of a sudden I had no idea what I wanted to say.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m a friend of Dexter’s. We live next door to each other. Harry said that you were dying to see him. I thought that we could chat for a bit,” I said, not quite sure if this approach would work. She was a child, but she wasn’t a freaking idiot. Excitement glittered in her eyes, but it was quickly replaced with reluctance. She was fifteen, but with his looks and that arrogant mouth, Dexter Tyndall was able to charm anyone, even a naive girl just past puberty.

“Aunt Victoria was supposed to organise our date, but she isn’t answering her phone,” Jenny complained.

“Victoria is your aunt?” I asked, losing my breath. Damned Victoria and her manipulative games. She needed to be hospitalised. She was using a child to bend Dexter to her will, to make sure that he was under her complete control.

Jenny made a face. “She isn’t my real aunt, but my mum knew her for years. Victoria always insisted that I call her auntie.”

I had to remember to try and look like I wanted to help her. This wasn’t the time or a place to freak out. “All right, listen,” I began, trying to stay calm. “I can take you to Dexter tomorrow. There is a small party in the complex and he’s going to be there. What do you think?”

“Really? Oh my God, he’s so gorgeous! Victoria promised that he would date me, but since that night she hasn’t been in touch. I don’t even have his phone number.”

Nausea hit me and my stomach heaved with disgust. I didn’t want to believe that Dexter had had sex with this girl and that Victoria had no qualms about using Jenny’s innocence to get what she wanted.

“So it’s true then—you slept with him?” I asked quietly, trying to keep the strain from my voice.

“Yes, of course. He was so passionate and loving. It was the best night in my life!”

I really was ready to throw up then, but I couldn’t risk Harry’s carefully prepared plan. I had to keep it together if I wanted to help Dexter in any way. I glanced at Harry, who was watching us from the car.

“All right, I can pick you up from town tomorrow around seven and take you to him. What are you going to say to your parents?” I asked.

She smiled, waving her hand. “Dad is away and Mum will be out, so it’s fine. Am I really going to see him tomorrow?”

“Promise, but remember—it’s between you and me. No one must know.”

“I’m not an idiot,” she snapped. We exchanged our numbers and then she strolled back towards the centre. My heart was pounding and I felt guilty. This girl was really enraptured with Dexter, and I wasn’t capable of breaking her heart. This was cruel, but she was too young to be mixed up in this sort of company. We just needed to get a confession out of Jenny. In order to get anywhere, we needed to have this on tape.

“And?” Harry asked.

“You’re right, she is completely blinded by his gorgeous face,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t know, Harry. He did sleep with her, so they will arrest him anyway.”

“Victoria has too much to lose. She won’t let this leak to the media or press. This will work, trust me.”

“I hope you’re right,” I muttered.

Harry drove me straight home. Dexter wanted to see me this evening, had insisted, but I needed to clear my head, to think about what I’d committed myself to doing. We were going to meet tomorrow at the party. The plan was straightforward, but I had a bad feeling about this. Dexter was really trying for me. We had attended a meeting with a support group for bipolar disorder a couple of days ago and I was still amazed that he actually had gone through with it.

I went to bed anxious and really worried about tomorrow. Even Dexter’s sexy phone call didn’t take the edge off my mood. He described in detail what he was planning to do to me, once this whole thing was over. I was frustrated, but dark thoughts overshadowed all my emotions.

When I finally fell asleep it was late, probably around two. The next day I was exhausted and then the day was very hectic. Harry came to visit, going over and over what he wanted me to do.

The time dragged until four in the afternoon. Dexter called a few times, asking me if I was ready. In the end I hung up on him and then texted him, saying that he needed to chill the fuck out. Jenny rang exactly at seven, telling me where she was waiting in town. I took the car and drove over fifteen miles to pick her up from the centre of Edinburgh. On the way to the complex, she started telling me that her mother was constantly out, partying with friends and leaving her alone most of the time. Her father didn’t know; he travelled around the world, trying to make up for his absence with expensive and lavish gifts. Deep down I felt sorry for her, and kind of understood that she wanted to find love anywhere she could.

“Are you really taking me to him?” she asked after some time. “This isn’t any sort of joke?”

“No, of course not. He lives in the Grange complex,” I assured her, feeling like I was committing a crime myself.

“So you live next door to him?”

“Yes,” I lied.

“I bet his apartment must be gorgeous. I can’t wait to see it,” she sang. My stomach was churning badly and I was dreading the moment when I had to tell her why exactly I’d brought her to the apartment. She was going to hate me.

Dexter

“Hello?” I snapped into my phone, standing in the middle of Harry’s apartment. His guests were already there, chatting and drinking, searching for the perfect partner for one glorious night of fucking.

“Dex, we need to meet,” Ronny said, sounding on edge. I glanced at the phone, realising that he had called from different number. This wasn’t like him. I’d tried calling him a few times in the past few days, but his phone was constantly switched off. Sasha was already in my place with the girl, trying to prepare her for what was about to happen. Ronny couldn’t have picked a worse time.

“I can’t right now. I’m in the middle of something.”

“This can’t wait—that guy Adamson, he isn’t as clean as I thought, but I have to run this shit by you first. The sooner the better.”

“All right, give me a couple of hours,” I said and hung up. Maybe this was my lucky day. Ronny usually didn’t talk in code, but I was hoping that he had found something that would send that asshole right down. It was time for him to be punished and pay for what he’d done to my Barbie. Payback was a bitch and I hoped he found that out soon.