“The table. The meeting. It’s yours. You’re in control of this, Jaci.”
I swallow hard.
I nod.
Now I have even more power.
Islowly sit down.
They’re all staring at me.
Cullen sits next to Laz.
He’s not even close to me.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to say or do right now.
“Birdie is close to me,” I say. “She’s my best friend. She and Maz. What happened… it’s unacceptable. I don’t know what you all think of it. What your little games are. Or you private policies or family policies…”
“Listen,” Ronan cuts in. “That’s not how it works around here. For anyone. This needs to be handled properly.”
“Properly, yet no cops?” I ask.
“You don’t want that here, Jaci,” Laz says.
“And why not?” I ask. “Because of your families?”
“It’s not just about us,” Gabriele says. “Everyone here…”
“I get it,” I say. “We’re all tied to bad stuff, right?The mafia. The mob. Organized crime.Whatever you want to call it. And you’re telling me that leaving the police out of a situation like this is for the better? What about telling Dean Tahg?”
Mattia slams his fists to the table. “That’s worse than the cops!”
“Calm down,” Cullen says. “She’s talking. This is her meeting. We do whatever she says to do.”
Mattia is pissed.
“Hey, Jaci,” Laz says. “You get anything like that involved and it becomes something huge. They’ll shutdown campus. Everyone will get interviewed. It’ll bring attention to us. On top of that, poor Birdie will be plastered everywhere as this victim.”
“She is a victim,” I say.
“Does she want her name and face all over the place?” Ronan asks.
I sigh.
They’re right.
So this is a keep quiet and plan kind of ordeal.
I’m not used to this.
I am used to having no help though.
Where I grew up, we weren’t priority.
But we took action. And quick.
Then again, we weren’t part of the mafia or any powerful families.