There was no question about it. My dad was a truly formidable adversary. I didn't want to admit my shortcomings, but, this whole time, he had been playing chess while Zac and I were still stuck on checkers. Clearly, the FBI hadn't promoted the man to his directorship position for nothing. I had to hand it to him. Even though Zac and I received his go-ahead to continue dating, the bastard was probably counting on the fact that we'd never fully let down our guard or mess around while under surveillance. He might as well have tied a chastity belt around my hips.

As much as he pissed me off, I almost kind of admired him. I wanted to learn from his genius, so that I might one day be able to outmaneuver him.

The bastard took it upon himself to help Zac and me put on our tracking devices. The box and wires stuck to my body as uncomfortably as one might imagine. He informed us that we were only allowed to remove them once a day during bathtime or showertime. Zac was only half-listening as my dad droned on and on about his expectations for us over the next three weeks.

My dad became increasingly peeved by my boyfriend's distracted attitude, but I didn't think Zac was trying to be rude. He seemed lost in thought. The troubled, faraway look in his eyes worried me.

As the insanity from the past twenty-four faded to a mind-numbing quiet, a seed of discord—the sense that not all was well in paradise—grew between Zac and me. He barely uttered a single word as we all got ready to leave. Zac and I—to school. My dad—to the airport. Our drive to Ashton Wellesley felt strained and awkward. I couldn't quite put my finger on what had changed between us. Back in my dad's study, Zac and I were operating perfectly fine as a tight-knit unit, but, now that it was only the two of us without my dad around to act as a common enemy, there was something different in the air.

Every time I tried to talk to Zac, he'd grunt a half-assed answer in my direction and then look away. I could feel him slowly pulling away.

I'd be lying if I said that it didn't devastate me.

My brain flew into overdrive as it struggled to determine what might be bothering him. His brain was probably overloaded with shock and grief. I needed a way to rationalize his extremely un-Zac-like behavior.

It couldn't be easy to learn about a parent's involvement with known white collar criminals and pedophilic sexual predators. Neither could it be easy to be faced with the reality that his girlfriend's dad had been the one who locked up his dad. Nor could it be easy to hear his girlfriend's dad call him a "criminal," threaten to arrest him, and then proceed to stick tracking devices on both of our asses.

I feared that Zac was pushing me away for all of these very valid reasons. I didn't want him to lump me into a category with my dad. I was afraid he now saw me as an outsider, maybe even an enemy, since I was the daughter of the man who ripped him from the lap of luxury and tore apart his family.

Ever since we started dating, Zac had never closed himself off to me like this before. It freaked me out. It hurt me. But I didn't want to badger him. We'd both been through hell and back in the past few days. My man deserved some time and space to clear his head. For now, I decided to take a deep breath, step back, and simply be on standby for the rest of the afternoon. I'd try to talk to Zac again later when I drove him home.

We made it to campus in time for fourth period. Not surprisingly, all the students at Ashton Wellesley were abuzz with a morbid kind of fascination over Lily's video from Bea's charity ball. My classmates offered me plenty of snide smiling commentary and empty attempts at sympathy, but they hardly fazed me. They were flies. Maggots. Mosquitoes. Annoying and gross, yes, but not at all worthy of my attention or ire.

After the nightmarish reality I'd witnessed on that flash drive with Zac, it would take a hell of a lot more than a bunch of snarky, self-entitled brats to bring down my mood. I walked fearlessly through the throngs of kids in the hallway and sat through each one of my classes like a lone wolf amidst a sea of yipping hyenas.

Perhaps, the only good to come of my day was when Amari stopped me during passing period between fifth and sixth hour.

"Hi, Cate," she mumbled nervously.

I glanced at her warily. "Hey, Amari."

She lowered her gaze. "How are you holding up?"

I could only assume that Amari was talking about Lily's video. "I'm doing alright, I guess. Surviving."

"That's... good." She grimaced. "Anyway, um... I just... wanted you to know that... I'm not mad anymore."

My heart fluttered in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah, bish... I-I missed you. Long story short, after what happened at Bea's charity ball, I just couldn't find it in my heart to stay pissed at you anymore. It felt like I was kicking a kicked puppy."

I frowned slightly. I didn't know how I felt about being described as a "kicked puppy," but I figured now wasn't the time to get caught up in semantics.

I started, "I missed you, too, Amari—"

The one-minute warning bell for sixth period chimed.

Amari placed a hand on my arm and squeezed gently. "Shit! We should get to class, but, um... let's talk more later, okay?"

I smiled shyly. "Yeah, I'd really like that."

"See ya, bish."

"Later, bish."

I sat through my final class of the day feeling happier than I should have under the circumstances. At last, it seemed as though my friendship with Amari might be back on track. Unfortunately, I'd probably need to say goodbye to her and Nat once I transferred to my new school in DC. I tried not to dwell on the future. It made my heart hurt. I just wanted to make sure to work things out with Amari before I left.

The second the dismissal bell for sixth period rang, I dashed out of class to find my man. I waited for him in our usual spot out on the south lawn. Dozens of faces walked by me, but none of them belonged to Zac. I texted him. He didn't respond. My pulse picked up a beat, but I tried not to jump to the worst case scenario. I assumed Zac had a legit reason for not being late.

Maybe his sixth period ran overtime?

As I continued to wait for my boyfriend, a fiery head of auburn hair stood out against the swarm of uniform-clad students walking around the south lawn.

Lily.

A hush came over me. This was the girl who had made my life a living hell for the past few weeks. This was the girl who had been through hell herself and never quite made it back from the darkness.

Our eyes locked.

Time seemed to stand still. In that eerie moment, something deeply feminine and almost witchy in its power drew me towards her. I wanted to confront her, not to fight or argue, but to clear the air between us. Even though I couldn't reveal too much about what I knew about her past due to my dad's pending investigation, the sudden urge to fill this girl with a little bit of Mamma's truth, kindness, and love overwhelmed me.

Her green eyes widened when she saw me approach with a steady, determined stride.

I greeted her, "Hello, Lily."

Her gaze flicked over me suspiciously. "Hello... Cate. What do you want?"

A small gathering of students pooled around us. They were probably expecting fireworks or a bloodbath of sorts. I had every intention of disappointing the hell out of them.

I smiled serenely. "Believe it or not, what I want from you isn't an apology. Even though we both know that you owe me one. Big time."

Lily rolled her eyes. "No apology, huh? How big of you."

"No apology," I confirmed. "I want you to know that I don't hate you. Not anymore. And that I hope we can stay out of each others' way from now on. Our lives are too fucked up as is. There's no need for us to keep adding fuel to the fire."

Lily glared at me. "Sweetie, this holier-than-thou act is freaking me the fuck out. Are you high or something, bitch?"

"Nope," I insisted, "I'm just trying to show you that not everyone in this world is an asshole."

Her smile was all teeth as she cooed, "I don't buy it, Cate. I know you have something up your sleeve. I can sense it from a mile away!"

I leaned in, whispering quietly so that only Lily could hear me, "I don't know your full story, girl, but, if your childhood was anything like mine, then we're both survivors in our own way. We shouldn't turn against each other when there are bigger, badder monsters out there in the real world to take down."

Her expression froze as my words hit her. A flash of panic shone from her eyes before they darkened to pure rage. "Don't act like you fucking know me, Cate! If you're too scared to come after me, then just say it! You lost! I won!"

I shrugged and turned to go. "Okay, you win."

Lily continued to shriek and rail at me as I sauntered away from her. The bloodthirsty crowd groaned and booed with dissatisfaction, which, in turn, gave me quite a bit of satisfaction. Fuck them all. They could choke on glass for all I cared.

In reality, there wasn't much I could do to help Lily make peace with her traumatic past, but I figured, at the very least, I wouldn't add to her stress and suffering. Perhaps, I could convince my dad to try to emancipate her from her dad once the investigation was over. The girl needed some serious and all-encompassing help from professionals. Otherwise, she'd just continue hurting herself and others in a vicious cycle of toxicity.

Just then, I saw Zac jogging towards me. Relief washed over me like a tidal wave.

"I'm so sorry, Cate. I didn't mean to keep you waiting," he panted. "Stupid Ms. Ardura wanted to talk to me after the bell because I was giving her some attitude in class today."

Cate?

Something irrational inside me began to panic. My man rarely ever called me anything other than 'babygirl' or 'baby.'

I attempted to keep my cool. Shrug it off. No big deal. "Is everything okay, baby?"

"Yeah, um... I kinda have a migraine, though. I just wanna go home and lay down," he muttered.

"Of course, let's hit the road," I chirped in far too upbeat tones.

Despite my gentle poking and prodding to get something, anything, out of Zac, we drove mostly in silence again to his studio. This shit was beginning to scare me. As I pulled into his apartment complex, I parked my car, and started getting out with Zac.

He stopped me. "Hey, um... do you mind if... if we don't hang out for a few days? I think I need some space. To sort through all this shit your dad just dropped on us."

My panic spiked. I wanted to scream, You dumbass! We need to figure out what we're going to do about that stupid lockbox! Keep it? Or put it back? Not to mention, we only have two weeks left before the school lets out for winter break! How can you not want to spend every waking moment with me? Who knows where we're going to end up after the semester is over?

I kept my feelings to myself, though. What Zac was asking for wasn't unreasonable. It just crushed me that he wasn't willing to open up to me about his thoughts. "Yeah, of course, but, um... call me if you need anything, okay? I love you, you know that, right?"

He nodded. "I know you do, and, thanks for offering, but... I think I'll be okay. You and me are gonna be under surveillance for the next few weeks, anyway. I'm already on your dad's shit list. I don't wanna do anything to piss him off while we're being recorded. Like perv all over his daughter or something."

My heart clenched even while he leaned over to give me a chaste goodbye kiss on the cheek.

His touch barely registered.

All I could focus on was the distressing fact that Zac, for the first time ever, didn't say "I love you" back to me.