“You embarrassed your university, the FBI, and yourself.”
“I’m not embarrassed. I did the right thing. I accept the consequences.”
Duke threw his hands up in the air. “If you’d accepted the consequences you would have been in prison!”
“Trial by jury, brother. No one would have convicted me.”
“Your looks and charm aren’t always going to save your ass, Sean. And frankly, I don’t find you very charming right now.”
Sean sensed more than saw someone in the doorway. He whirled around, ready to unleash his anger.
Madison.
She stared at him, worry in her eyes. “Is it true? You’re really leaving?”
Duke glanced from Madison to Sean. “I’ll be downstairs,” Duke said.
He left, and Sean looked over at the campus security guy. “Hey, Joe, can I please have five minutes of privacy?”
Security wasn’t supposed to let him out of their sight, but Joe liked him. He could tell. Joe winked and closed the door.
Madison ran to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her back. Damn, this situation was so fucked.
“Hey, sit down.” He pulled out his desk chair for her. He sat on his bed and held her hands. “You are a sight for sore eyes, Maddie.”
“I tried calling you and you never answered. I saw the police take you away in handcuffs, and everyone was saying you were going to jail and … is it true? Did you hack into the crime symposium? And expose Dr. Smith as a pedophile?”
“Yes.” It was easier not to explain everything. Madison was smart, but she didn’t understand technology. She could barely use her cell phone even though her daddy bought her the best tech out there.
“And they expelled you? Are you really going to jail?”
“Yes and no. I’m sorry I couldn’t call and explain what happened.”
“I understand.”
But he could tell by her tone that she didn’t.
“Hey, Maddie, it’s going to get better.”
“But it’s true.”
“So? Smith is an asshole. He had hundreds of child porn videos on his computer. I don’t regret what I did.”
“But you were arrested!”
“Probation. That’s it. Well, and the university didn’t really like the fact that I didn’t tell them first.”
“I—Sean, I—”
“Hey, I’m going to be okay.”
“Where are you going?”
“Duke pulled strings and got me into MIT. Banishing me three thousand miles away. What do I expect?”
Sean had probably complained to Madison far more than she wanted to hear about Duke and his heavy-handed ways. His brother had been his guardian for nearly four years—ever since their parents were killed—and Sean couldn’t wait until the end of the month when he’d be eighteen and finally on his own. Control of all his money—most of which he’d earned himself, but couldn’t access. Control of his inheritance. Control of his life.
He’d give MIT two weeks, but if it wasn’t for him, he’d walk. Liam and Eden would take him in. They were living in London now, and Liam was always telling Sean that he could use someone with his skills. Sean hadn’t even seen his brother and sister since their parents’ funeral, though Liam called him all the time for tech help.
“You don’t have to go. You can stay here.”
“Maddie—I care about you so much, you know that. But I can’t stay. Stanford expelled me. Being on the East Coast is probably a good thing. Get away from here, away from my brother.”
“But didn’t you say you hated college? That you could get a job at a start-up company in the Silicon Valley?”
He had said that, but he didn’t really hate college. He didn’t like some things about it. But he’d started school a year early. He wasn’t even eighteen yet. He had never really fit in—he’d been younger than nearly everyone, and smarter—and maybe he’d acted it. It was hard to deal with the pompous jerks on a campus filled with smart people when he knew he could run rings around most of them.
But Madison had helped. When he started dating her six months ago, she’d kind of legitimized him, in a way. He’d made friends. Found a place to belong.
Until he blew it.
“After this, I don’t know if anyone would hire me.”
And he didn’t want to work for anyone else. If he was going to work for a start-up, he was going to start it himself. He had plenty of ideas, plenty of smarts, and could raise the capital necessary or write another video game. He didn’t particularly enjoy writing game code, but he was good at it, and he could sell the code for a small fortune.
But not now. Not when he was shy of eighteen, expelled from Stanford, and on three years’ probation.
He would never forgive Duke for cutting this deal.
Madison started crying. Sean ached—he didn’t want to hurt her. He hugged her tightly. “Hey, I’ll visit.”
“You know it’s not the same. You’ll be there, I’ll be here—it’s over, Sean.”
He’d known it would be, but it still stung. “Maddie, don’t say that—”