A thought for another day, I headed over to my grandpa.
“Grandfather,” I said, the man touching my shoulder as he hugged me. He played it off that he wasn’t pissed to fucking hell about having to come here in the middle of the night and cover up a suicide, but even in his navy evening jacket, he was simmering. I knew because this man, for all intents and purposes, was my dad. I’d lost my own father early, my mom basically not close behind, and Grandfather had been there to pick up the pieces. His expression was stern when he pulled away.
“A Coventry? Really, boy?” he said to me, but did nod at Royal when he pulled away. Grandfather braced Royal’s hand. “I take it you haven’t been able to keep my grandson out of trouble with your arrival this term?”
Royal liked my grandpa. We all did. He seemed like the one sane one out of all Court fathers and grandfathers despite being so stern. With a short but genuine smile, Grandfather pulled Royal in as well, his hug firm.
“When have I ever been able to control him?” Royal stated, and truth, I said nothing beside him. I did what the fuck I wanted to do, end of story, but I hadn’t wanted this tonight. Royal frowned. “The first I’d heard of what happened was shortly before you.”
“Mmm.” Grandfather tapped a cane, only partially needing it. The other was just to intimidate on the days his arthritis wasn’t bothering him at all. A hand and he led Royal and me through my own house, our destination the lower balcony out back to talk candidly. No one was really around, and though I wasn’t surprised, still my grandpa’s capabilities astounded me.
“I take it everything has been handled?” I asked, leaning against the wooden railing. Scenic, the frat house looked over a valley of trees and wilderness, a winding hill on the way down to Pembroke U’s campus. The quad could actually be seen a little bit from here, at least the steeple of the administration building.
Grandfather eased himself into a lounge chair, and barely a minute out there, another one of my frat brother’s joined us. He had a cup of something hot in his hand, steaming in the night, and he handed it off to my grandpa, basically fucking bowing after.
“Good to see you, Mr. Reed,” he said. “And thank you again for tonight. Keeping all this quiet? My father would have handed it to me if I’d had to call him.”
I was sure of a lot of them would, none of our dads, uncles, or grandpas down for scandal.
Another previous Court member, my brother bumped a fist against mine, Royal’s second, before excusing himself.
“I take it that answers your question?” Grandfather stirred what was no doubt black tea, his favorite. His sip slow, he stared out into the abyss of trees and stars, something he most likely did around my age as well. This college and this frat were legacy, the ivy league closest to our hometown. A lot of power ebbed and flowed from within these four walls. Grandfather’s lips pursed tight. “Though not without a significant amount of labor on my part. I owe the county police department new uniforms and gear for all their officers.” He frowned. “Then there’s the Coventry boy’s family.”
Both Royal and I cringed. My shoulder lifted. “Will it be an issue or…”
“Of course not.” His spoon stopped in his tea. “The boy’s father is a close business partner of mine and any thoughts of an attempt at retribution was easily swayed with a few calls and nice settlement in the man’s favor. He also gets to keep all his businesses so, of course, he was very reasonable about it.”
Of course. Gotta love blackmail.
Grandfather sighed. “But none of this should have been an issue. What happened tonight shouldn’t have happened, and I shouldn’t have had to be here to clean it up.”
“How was I supposed to know the guy was crazy? That he’d kill himself?” I scrubbed my hand through my hair. “We were just talking, and shit escalated.”
Bryce Coventry offed himself in the end because of pure guilt, only. Sure, it’d been guilt I’d accidentally gotten him to admit to but that hadn’t been on me. I’d just wanted him to stay his sick ass away from Greer. When it came to looking just at those facts, I’d been in the right and had no regrets. Bryce Coventry’s blood was on his own hands, and as far as I was concerned, I was good.
Grandfather’s lips worked after taking a sip. “And that’s all? A heated discussion and self-admittance? At least, that’s what you told me. That he admitted to something… disturbing, and when he thought you knew, well, you know happened next.”
As far as what my grandpa needed to know to clean this up, then put the matter to bed? Yes, that was all that went down. “That’s all.”
Grandfather leaned back. His lips pursed again. “And it was just you two boys upstairs in the room? I have to say, Knight. It wasn’t easy getting people out of here, making sure no one actually saw anything. Knew about anything but the need to know in our circle.” Grandfather
