Prep School Experiment Read Free Page B

then assessed the room with shrewd eyes.
    Rhys sat back down. The melt-in-your-mouth pot roast wouldn’t be better for waiting. He shook off his tension and cut another bite.
    “Sorry to disturb your dinner,” the newcomer greeted everyone. He turned to Rhys with his hand out. “No, no, don’t get up. I’m Bob Jones, the senator’s right hand.”
    Rhys shook his hand and hoped he’d never have to identify himself as someone else’s body part. “Rhys Zukowski.”
    Bob grinned a toothy smile. “Nice to meet you. Call me Bob.” He sat in the empty chair beside Rhys and waved off the senator’s offer of dinner. “Tell me what’s going on, on your end.”
    The senator summed up the events and then said he’d have his father, the CEO of Wentworth Laboratories, send over a lab tech in the morning. “He’ll take cheek swabs from us, and once the fire crew finishes up at the school, he’ll run the contestants’ drinking glasses.”
    Bob drummed his fingers on the table cloth and nodded. “Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. Thank God no one was hurt.”
    The senator nodded his agreement.
    “Could have been catastrophic, what with the election so close. Catastrophic.” Bob shook his head but his eyes gleamed. “Now, on the plus side, this baby-switch situation could work for us. Stir up some press. Really bring your emergency-preparedness platform into focus.” He made a blowing it up gesture with his hands. “I’ll schedule some interviews and get this ball rolling before the results come back and it becomes a non-issue.”
    The librarian put her hands flat on the table. “Rhys is our son. The paternity test will prove it.”
    The possibilities flickered through Bob’s eyes, and a grin edged his thin lips. “The public will love it. Love it. Baby raised in poverty.” His gaze roamed over Rhys. “Good looking kid too. We’ll set up some interviews with the residents where he lives.” He pulled out a computer tablet and then glanced back at Rhys. “Anyone there got an issue we can highlight? Prison recidivism? Addiction? The market hit their 401Ks?”
    All the freaking above, and he wouldn’t have them exploited. Rhys crossed his arms over his chest and gave Bob his best just got out of prison for addiction and found out my retirement fund hit a snag glare.
    Bob blinked and coughed.
    The librarian rubbed at a frown between her eyes and got a protective look. “The press will be relentless.” She turned to her husband. “Steven?”
    The senator smiled a smooth smile, continuing to humor her. “Here’s what we’ll do. If the test comes back positive, we’ll ship Rhys out of town.”
    Mrs. Wentworth pushed her plate away. “But…”
    The senator touched her arm in a placating gesture. “Only ’til after the election.”
    “No,” Mrs. Wentworth said.
    Bob held his palms up. “Missed opportunity.”
    “We’re not using the kid.” The senator stared fixedly at his assistant. “Arrange it.”
    “Where would he go?” The librarian’s voice wavered.
    Rhys got enough drama at the trailer park. He didn’t need uptown drama too. Tired of them talking about his life like they had a say, he got up and strode to the door. “Thanks for dinner, but he’s going home.”
    “No.” The librarian stood, visibly shaking. She touched her husband’s arm. “Stop him.”
    Rhys grabbed the handle.
    “Rhys, please.” The librarian’s voice cracked and broke.
    That stopped him. She’d only ever been nice to him. She didn’t deserve this. He went back, took her arm, and urged her to sit—the same way he did after one of Mom’s rants wore down long enough for her to stop pacing and throwing things. “This isn’t real. Hayley made that speech up because she couldn’t use the one she’d planned. She really didn’t mean it to be an exposé.”
    She stared at him with conviction. “It is, Rhys. You’ll see.”
    At least she’d stopped calling him Braedon .
    Rhys assessed the big, blond-haired,