14

After we finished all the orders and all the extras were sold out, everyone was exhausted. We got the word from all the locations that it went well and there weren't any problems besides a few here and there bitching that there weren't extras and they thought we'd just said that for social media.

Well, that was their stupid.

I was giving all my employees Easter Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off paid. We were always closed Tuesday, but we needed more than that to recover from all of this. Even if it had gone smoother than Halloween when there had been fewer orders, it was still a lot and everyone busting their asses.

So they more than deserved it.

The factories too. They would have to work to make their own food, and I made sure they had what they needed for some nice Easter hams or whatever they wanted to smoke but yeah, we were all taking a much-needed break.

We brought Jamie with us to run for the full moon which was normally just the twins and me. They gave me a look that they weren't a fan of him intruding, but they understood he was on the outs with his family—his pack.

I was glad I got the chance to meet Jamie's wolf. He was just as handsome as his human and was very snuggly after his run. He wanted belly rubs and ear scratches, totally playing up his cuteness.

He even used his paws to cover his eyes when the twins came back and changed forms. We realized he needed more time in his wolf form than they did. He wasn't like the infected wolves where they had to be in that form until they basically passed out from exhaustion and their wolves took over, but he needed more than a couple of hours.

Probably because he was on the outs with his pack. They were more understanding then, and when I made food appear, they were tossing him slices of pizza.

Mary simply shrugged. "He's like a cute little brother."

"Please change that mindset some when he's in my bed," I drawled.

"Yeah, that's weird," Kary drawled. "I mean, it's weird you're with someone so young, but—"

I threw a garlic knot at her, but she caught it in her mouth and winked at me. Brats. They were such fucking brats.

Jamie ignored it and just showed me his belly and wanted more cuddles. He really was my golden retriever and I adored that about him.

The next day, we had a huge Easter brunch for our family. More nephews showed this time and a few nieces. The one that shocked me most was Ares. He had always been Zeus's most beloved and hated me for ever arguing with his father, saying I was a beast for demeaning the god of the gods by showing my disrespect.

He looked almost like the little boy I remembered when he showed up with a huge bouquet of flowers in varying shades of yellow. "I'm sorry, Aunt. I was very, very wrong. About so much. Dion told me the truth and—I'm sorry."

It was hard, but I let him inside. He had been as brutal to me at times as his father had and always believed his mother's lies even when the truth was right in front of his eyes. I could forgive that when he was a boy, but when he was older… It was harder to excuse. If he was old enough to be a man with his own designation as a god, he had to do better and see the truth.

"Have you apologized to your uncles as well?" I asked quietly.

"I'd like to, but Uncle Hades said I was just as responsible for chasing you from Olympus and should die as well as my father," he mumbled. "I have lived in your realm for many centuries in fear of them both."

I nodded, accepting the flowers. "Not today then, but we should discuss what all happened and try to fix our mistakes."

"I'd like that." He blinked back tears. "My own mother tried to kill me when I said she was undeserving of being the queen of gods when she was so jealous of you and chased you out. It was like the truth was so apparent to me then, and I hated myself for being a fool."

I kissed his cheek and dropped it for the time being. I wondered if Hera had done something to her own children as she had Zeus.

I glanced over and saw Hades watching our discussion and saw in his eyes he was thinking the same. We needed more answers, and he would probably get them from Hera since he still had her in his custody.

But not for much longer.

Another day. Today is about joy.

We had a great time and everyone simply got to have fun, eat too much, and not have the past burden us. We still felt it and things were strained, but it was better.

We could hold onto the days when things were just better and keep going.

I took Sunday night after everyone left to deep clean everything—the bakery, the factories… My head? It felt cleansing and cathartic. Even the new place that had been purchased in Vermont that was going to "make" the meringues.

Oh, and the three other new factories that would be handled next in Nashville for our scone production, Charleston for cake donuts and donut holes, and Knoxville which would be brownies.

There was a lot on the horizon and everyone was excited.

So why was there such a knot in my stomach?

I found out the answer the next day when I had a group text from my three high school workers asking me to meet them at the bakery. They went to public school but still got the Monday off after Easter even if it wasn't their spring break.

Fair enough.

I told them I would meet them immediately and bring breakfast, worried something big was going on and that was my anxiety the night before. They were waiting for me when I pulled up, and I hurried them inside, setting everything out for them and then giving them a look to spill.

Except no one knew where to start and they were scared.

"Has someone hurt you?" I asked gently.

"No, but I'm worried they will," Megan blurted, gesturing to Grace and Emily. "And my mom believes me, but he's not my guidance counselor, so she can't really get involved and maybe make things worse for all of us. But now something else happened and—we didn't know what other adult to come to."

I nodded, glancing from Grace to Emily. "And you both have talked to your parents?" They seemed hesitant to bad-mouth their parents to another adult. "Tell me how it started."

"He's super fucking creepy," Grace blurted. "Like super creepy, Arabella. Like makes my skin crawl and I want to be anywhere else besides in the office with him alone. I asked for the door to be left open when I have to meet with him, and he likes that I'm uncomfortable like that. I saw it in his eyes like…" She swallowed loudly.

"So he's the guidance counselor for certain juniors?" I checked, wondering how he wasn't Megan's.

"The AP students and ones that need the most attention," Emily mumbled. "Something—I think he did something to my friend on student council. She's changed. I didn't get it. She said her parents got divorced and with college—it made sense. Except I just saw her before the holiday with both of her parents. They didn't get divorced."

"Okay, or—what led you to it being this counselor?"

"You don't believe us?" she demanded. "You of all people?"

I gave her a stern look. "I believe you enough to take this monster out on Isiah's boat and shove him in the ocean so he never touches you. I would do it gleefully, but I should ask these questions and get the whole story, right? You would want that if someone brought accusations against me? Like some have?"

"I'm sorry," she rasped, trying to choke down a sob. "My parents said I was making leaps and being sensitive because I wasn't Harvard or Ivy League material and already cracking. I'm not cracking! Something is wrong, and I don't want to be raped. I don't—he's gross, and I don't want…"

"To be hurt like I was." I moved over to the sofa she was on and hugged her. "I know. I know, love." My heart broke as she broke down sobbing.

Megan took over while Emily let it all out. "She saw her friend react when Mr. Fuller bumped into them in the hallway by the student council office. She started shaking and looked like she might piss herself. That was two weeks ago. She thought something might have happened or maybe he threatened to pull his recommendation after she got in."

"But then you learned her parents really didn't divorce and put the pieces together that he is the reason she changed," I surmised, sighing when Emily nodded. I looked at Grace. "Your dad?"

She looked away from my gaze and focused on her hands. "He totally brushed me off, said I couldn't be some wilting flower who is mean to men because of vibes I get. That he's not touched me or said anything outright. I think complimenting a teenager's looks constantly is over the line. It's grotesque, especially when he enjoys that it makes me uncomfortable."

I was so furious with Irene's brother that steam practically came out of my ears. What the hell was wrong with him?

"He blamed you," Grace rasped. "That because of the horrible incident you suffered that was real, now I'm seeing monsters everywhere and going overboard."

"Unfortunately, your father is an idiot, and there are monsters everywhere," I seethed. "Two out of three women say they have been sexually assaulted by the time they are in their early twenties. And the truth? The third woman has been and probably doesn't understand that she has. A slap on the ass. A grope. A grab. All assault if it was her face, but it's sexual."

"We don't know what to do, and if we make a scene about it and the school sweeps it under the rug, our college is gone," Emily whispered. "My parents will disown me if I don't get into a good school. I'm out on my ass, and they've always been clear on that. If I embarrass them, I'm not theirs."

"First of all, I own a mansion. It has lots of rooms, and you could move in today if you needed to. So I don't want you to ever worry about that," I told her firmly, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "And there is life besides Harvard or even college. I didn't go to college and I'm rather successful. Cora didn't either and I pay her salary, so I know she makes good money."

"Yeah, that's why I keep thinking maybe I don't want college," Megan admitted. "But I think my mom's head would explode because she sees it as a better life than hers. She says being an assistant blows and to be the boss instead."

"I fully understand where her head is, but she needs a different boss too," I interjected. "We can talk later because culinary school with the connections you have now is better if you have talent. Si-Woo is proof of that too." I winked at her so she knew I wasn't brushing her off and we could have a real discussion later.

"I'm sorry we bothered you, but we didn't know what else to do," Grace whispered. "I thought we should talk to my Aunt Irene, but she's…" She gave me puppy dog eyes to understand.

"You did the right thing. Your aunt is—it's almost a year since she lost your uncle and she's struggling. Getting her own place and away from—she's struggling, but there's hope. I'm still going to pull her in because she is the mom figure you have, and she can beat your dad's ass as he deserves."

"What do we even do? How do we—" Emily asked, breaking down crying again.

"He's touched her hair a few times, and he's worse with her than me," Grace explained. "I think if he's touched my hair, my dad would jump in and really hear me, but…" She shrugged.

"I will handle it, love," I promised Emily as I hugged her back to me. I kissed her hair and soothed her a bit with my power. I kept petting her hair as if I could take away the memory of that disgusting man touching her. "I will figure something out and handle it. First of all, you will record anything—"

"He makes us put our phones on his desk when we come into his office," Grace told me. She nodded when rage filled my eyes. "Yeah, that's not sus or anything. I told my dad that was a red flag, and he said it sounded like a man tired of the antics of teenagers. Maybe, but why face-up to see we're not recording? That's sus."

"I will get something actionable today and until then, I will get you second phones in case you have to meet with him so you can record it." I kissed Emily's hair again. "Do you think your friend will go on the record?"

"I don't think—I don't know—I don't know if I could," Emily choked out.

I nodded but met Grace's gaze. "I want you to get names of recent graduates from yearbooks or however you can. Mary and Kary can find these women and talk to them. We need to build a case and they're already in college—"

"And won't have their recommendations or spots to lose," she gasped, getting where my head was. "Yeah, I thought we should go to the twins, but they would go to you anyways, so it just seemed smarter to—" She swallowed loudly. "We both have meetings with him at the end of the week before spring break."

Shit. That meant we had a clock.

"I will not let this monster touch you. I swear it. Trust me now, loves." I was glad when they nodded and all seemed relieved.

I got on the phone with Kary and told them what was going on, and she admitted she knew something was going on with the high school workers after spending time with them Saturday but wasn't sure what. So she was glad they told me and we could help.

She promised to go get what we needed and would come right over. She said to call Justine to start digging into their rights as students and what they can legally ask for.

Even better.

"Oh, and remind them that one school counselor's recommendation doesn't mean shit compared to the people we know. Colton went to Harvard for grad school. Didn't Jamie go there undergrad? We know a ton of Ivy League everyone now."

Right, we did, and the girls were thrilled to hear that.

Good.

I let Justina know, and she promised she was all over it. All she asked for was any sort of handbook that the students received or any code of conduct. Emily said it was on the school's website, and they had to sign something that they read it the first day of school. They were in charge of gathering it all as student council, so she was familiar with it.

Perfect.

That left me with a predator to find and make prey.

Sounded like fun.