by Ivy Clyde
“Relax,” I said. “I am just going to clean you up.”
She sat there, watching me without blinking. Paris was usually shy. She would blush even when all I did was get too close to her. I didn’t even have to touch her intimately to get a reaction out of her, but tonight, she seemed distant.
“Let me take off the jacket too,” I said, proceeding to get the vintage overcoat off her small shoulders. She wore a long-sleeved lace shirt underneath. “Maybe you should just change out of the whole costume and wear something comfortable. You need to get to bed and have some rest.”
She nodded and got to her feet. “Thanks for tonight,” she said in a low voice. “Do you know how Zoya is doing? I am worried about her.”
I sighed internally. She barely had her own shit together and she was worried about my stepsister.
“Zoya got too drunk on an empty stomach. All that dancing made her puke. She’s back in her dorm with a headache. You should worry about yourself first.”
She chuckled nervously. “Guess you’re right.”Going to the corner, she picked out some clothes from her hamper and stepped inside the bathroom.
While she changed, I took the opportunity to take a closer look at the cabin. Overall, it looked neat and cozy. Books were stacked tidily on her desk, her laptop was at full charge and a complicated schedule was stuck to the wall over the table. There were no photographs of her or her mother anywhere.
I was reminded of the day of her mother’s funeral. She couldn’t even get through the ceremony. It was unusual of me but I’d insisted on accompanying my stepmother that day. As far as I knew, Emily Johnson was the only family Paris had. As I looked around for signs of mourning, I realized Paris may not have fully accepted that her mother was gone.
Just as I mused about her loss, the door to the bathroom opened.
Paris stepped out, wearing a tiny black satin dress with spaghetti straps. With her indigo-dyed hair flowing past her shoulders in gentle waves, she looked utterly ravishing. The wolf within me howled at the sight of her, clawing away at my insides to grab her and mark her as mine.
“Sorry, this isn’t too decent,” said Paris in a hesitating voice, tugging at the hem of the nightdress. A faint pink blush bloomed on her pale cheeks as she read the intentions in my smoldering gaze. “Clara bought these for me. So, I’m just using them.” A nervous chuckle escaped her as she stood rooted on the spot, instinctively knowing not to approach the hungry beast that lay in wait within me.
Clara Davenport was one tricky woman. Why would she buy such provocative nightwear for Paris? Did she want her son to look at her in a different way? My fists balled together tightly, wondering if that was truly her motive. After all, who would let go of a warm-hearted girl like Paris? She was a rare gem in our fickle society.
Liam had been severely depressed after his old girlfriend, Vanessa, left the Davenport household. The girls at the academy took it as an opportunity to grab him but he was too hung up on the girl to even care for anyone else. Did Clara Davenport want to use Paris as a distraction?
“I’m going to bed now,” said Paris from her spot.
“What?”
“I want to sleep,” she said, looking awkward and shy.
“Oh, right,” I said, struggling to pull myself together. “I am going. Make sure to keep the doors locked.”
“I will,” she said with a determined nod.
There wouldn’t be any need since I had my men guarding the cabin. Anyone coming in would deal with them first. I’d posted them there since the day she got here. There was no way I would let her sleep in that lonely cottage without any protection. If there was one thing I knew about the academy, it was that predators lurked in every corner.
“Bye,” she said, peeking through the gap in the door. “Thanks for everything.”
“Close the door,” I said, pulling at the knob until it shut closed. I didn’t want any of those men to catch a glimpse of Paris in that sexy, black lingerie.
I gestured at the men who’d gathered close to the cabin while I was there.
Even as I walked past the drunken kids on my way back to the dorms, I knew I had to talk to Liam Davenport. I may have just started a war with Lucien Bettencourt tonight. The prized trophy was Paris Johnson and even if it irked me, I was going to gather every ally on my side to protect her.
22
Liam
I watched two girls dressed in skin-tight Catwoman costumes twine themselves around Gabrielle’s half-asleep form. He didn’t stir as they smoothly lay their palms on his chest. Gianna’s fingers crept over the gap in his open shirt. A small noise of discontent escaped him and he swatted at her.
I chuckled softly, watching the two girls try their best to seduce Gabrielle.
We were in our den, a coveted underground room located in the basement of the academy. Furnished with plush couches and sofas, it catered to the elites of Knightswood. Even the teachers weren’t allowed to come down here. It allowed us to drink and party as we pleased without worrying about the consequences. Drugs and booze flowed without any restraint here.
“That Gianna is a complete slut,” said Brianna from beside me. “She knows Gabe belongs to Holly but she won’t stop hooking her claws into him.”
“It’s not like Holly has any luck with him,” I added. “Gabe is into mature women. He doesn’t give two shits about Gianna or Holly.”
“And what about you, Liam?” said Brianna, sliding beside me on the sofa. She wore a figure-hugging black mermaid-gown. The sleek lengths of her jet-black hair fell down to her waist. With a white dusted-up face, Brianna was in a Morticia Addams costume tonight.
“Me?” I paused for a moment, my mind conjuring up an image of an indigo-haired girl in an academy uniform.
“You’re going to be my date to the New Years Eve ball, aren’t you?” she asked directly.
I shrugged. “It’s Halloween,” I replied. “How about I think about it when the time comes for it?”
“What’s there to think?” she asked with a pout. “Who else is good enough to walk beside you at such an event? None of the girls here can ever match me.”
I sighed internally. Brianna was so self-assured about her “worth”, it was off-putting.
Placing a hand on my cheek, she moved close to me. Her hot breath fanned my face as her crimson lips hovered over mine. It was unintentional but a large yawn escaped me. Brianna’s dark eyes flashed angrily and she pushed me away from her.
“I wish you’d try harder, Liam,” she chided.
“Stop forcing something that isn’t there.”
She glared at me. “I thought you’d be more clearheaded once Vanessa left. It’s been two years. You should’ve moved on by now.”
“I have moved on,” I said through gritted teeth.
“That’s not the reaction I saw when you pushed Charity Case into the swimming pool.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, unwilling to let her see the pain the memory brought me. I hadn’t intended to hurt Paris that night. My emotions went out of control when I saw the dress on her. It was Vanessa’s. No one else had the right to it. I’d spiraled so out of control I didn’t even realize what I had done until it was too late.
“How did you get a hold of that dress?” I asked, staring at Brianna.
“What?”
“That dress. You gave it to Paris.”
“Is that what the bitch told you?” she demanded.
“That’s what my butler told me,” I said, making sure she couldn’t put the blame on Paris. “Paris didn’t even know what she did to make me angry.” I took a deep breath, willing to control the rage that throbbed through my veins. “I tolerate you and your friends, Brianna. But if you fuck with Vanessa’s things or Paris, I will make you pay. My mother is her legal guardian and my family owes a debt to her mother. Keep these things in mind before you target her again.”
Gianna had managed to completely unbutton all of Gabrielle’s buttons. Her crimson talons lightly grazed along
the planes of his hard chest.
“He’s asleep,” I said, raising my voice irritably. “Stop mauling him.”
Gianna winked at me and laid herself against his chest while the second girl licked his earlobe.
“Sluts,” scoffed Brianna. “So, how about we talk about us?” She placed a hand on my chest and drew closer.
“There is no ‘us’,” I told Brianna, throwing her hand off me.
I knew Brianna was trying hard to get me to like her but it wasn’t working. She looked at her own best friends with disdain. Not only that, she’d always been against Vanessa, driving her to the edge which led her to flee the academy and go off to France. She was doing the same thing to Paris but I was determined to stop her.
Guilt weighed in my gut every time I thought of Paris.
I’d been the one to feed her to the wolves without knowing a thing about her. I assumed her to be a gold-digger who entered my family as soon as her mother passed away. Back then, I didn’t even know her home had been burned down and she had no place to go, that it was really my mother who brought her there. I took her to be like Vanessa, someone who came into my family when she needed us and then left without a backward glance when an opportunity showed up.
Ever since Paris stepped into my home, I’d imposed my assumptions on her, never bothering to know her intentions.
“Why do you have to play so hard-to-get?” she fumed. “Do you have any idea how many guys want to be with me?”
“You should be with them,” I said.
“Liam! You’re mine,” she hissed. “If it’s time you need, take it, but when you’re over Vanessa, it’s me you’ll come to. I can be your only woman. No one else!”
Brianna’s obsession with me was getting out of hand. There was no heat between us. I found her to be an absolutely rotten human being and was always honest about it. Unfortunately, she never listened, believing the world revolved around her and whatever she wanted was within her reach. That I was the one playing the “hard-to-get” game. I tolerated her for the sake of the relationship between our companies which we would someday take the reins over but she mistook it for actual interest. Her delusion kept her from seeing that I didn’t even like her as a person.
I pretended to check my watch. “It’s late,” I said, getting to my feet. “Better get Gabe out of here before he gets raped.”
A shriek of laughter escaped her. Shaking my head, I moved towards Gabrielle and shook him roughly.
“Hey! Get up! I am leaving the party.”
He groaned, not bothering to open his eyes. Gianna had plied him with drinks all night to get him into bed with her. Too bad she didn’t know too much booze made him fall asleep.
I was about to shake him awake when a heavy hand came to rest on my shoulder. Expecting it to be Brianna, I turned around with a disinterested expression. However, it was someone completely unexpected.
Nikolai Ivanov stood before me, his icy silver eyes fixed on me. “We need to talk.”
Gianna was up on her feet in an instant and ran into Nikolai’s side. “Come on, Nik! Party with us.”
“Don’t touch me,” he growled, baring his teeth.
Dressed as a Victorian-era count, he looked imposing. Gianna took a step back from him but kept gazing at him with dreamy eyes. On a normal day, she wouldn’t dare approach Nikolai but the alcohol must have been pumping her with liquid courage. Nikolai Ivanov rarely visited the den. Even though the girls would love to get to be with him, his frosty nature kept them at bay.
“Don’t be like that,” crooned Gianna, grasping his arm. She looked up at him with puppy eyes.
“Fuck off!” He jerked his arm, the force enough to throw the skinny girl.
Gianna’s eyes filled with tears at his reaction but Ivanov ignored her, turning his attention to me.
“Can we talk?” he asked again.
Gabrielle’s eyes were open now. He watched us from his spot on the couch. Brianna’s dark gaze was also upon us.
“What do you want to talk about?” I asked, focusing my attention on him.
He motioned for me to follow him. Glancing to the corner, he said, “You can come too, Romano.”
Surprise flitted through Gabrielle’s eyes but he stood up at once. Ivanov was a loner, preferring to keep to himself. While the girls craved to get closer to him because of his looks, the boys wanted to get friendly with him to get him on their side. His family’s wealth and ties to the underground Russian mafia would make him a powerful ally.
Gabrielle walked toward us. His eyes were clear now. The drunken haze was lifted off him as soon as he saw Nikolai talking to me.
“Can I come too?” asked Brianna.
“No.” Ivanov’s prompt reply made her frown. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at us.
“Lead the way,” said Gabrielle.
We followed him up the stairs to the hallway above the basement. A single bulb hung from the ceiling, hiding every corner in shadows.
“This way,” said Ivanov, opening a door to the right.
We entered a smaller room. Gabrielle lit a lighter, bathing the place in its dim glow. Ivanov found the light switch. A fluorescent tube flickered to life overhead.
“It’s about your charity case,” said Ivanov without preamble.
“Paris?” said Gabrielle with a cocked eyebrow. “What about her?”
“She painted a target on her back tonight.” A low sigh escaped him. “Actually, it started since the day she spoke up for Lucas Bettencourt in front of his cousin.”
A low groan escaped me. It was a well-known fact in the academy how Lucien Bettencourt tortured his cousin on a daily basis. The family had broken over the fact that Lucas was gay. While his parents didn’t renounce him, his grandfather made a pariah out of him, blaming him for the rift in the Bettencourt family.
Lucas often sported evidence of cruel beatings but so far, he’d kept his mouth shut, taking his cousin’s torture silently. While many of us were concerned, it was an unspoken rule not to interfere in anyone’s family business.
Over the past few months, Paris had gotten close to Lucas. They shared the same classes which naturally had them hanging out together daily. I just never thought she would come to harm because of her friendship with him. Since he was gay, I never worried about her being close to him, but I should have been more vigilant. I should have known she would attract Lucien’s eyes if she stayed too close to Lucas.
“What happened tonight?” asked Gabrielle in a grim voice.
“He hurt her,” said Ivanov. Blood pounded in my ears as cold spread through my chest at his words. “Not badly,” he added, looking at the turbulent expressions on both mine and Gabrielle’s faces. “I got there in time tonight but I know things will get worse. She needs to be protected.” Anxiety overcame his features as he glanced between me and my friend. “Will you help?”
“Of course,” said Gabrielle at once.
I nodded, too lost in my own anger and regret.
“But why do you want to help her?” asked Gabrielle. “Is it because she’s your stepsister’s best friend?”
“That’s one of the reasons,” said Ivanov. “I also happen to like her.”
“Whoa! Back up, dude,” said Gabrielle, putting up his hands. “I had dibs on her the moment I saw her. This was before she even entered school. Ask Liam.”
Ivanov’s mask of cold indifference was back on his face. “I saw her when we were twelve. She is mine.”
No, I wanted to say. Paris is mine to protect.
The thought took me off guard. The last girl I felt this way for was Vanessa. Over the past two years, I kept hoping she would come back to the States. No matter how many girls threw themselves at me to help me move on, I was stuck with Vanessa in my mind and heart. Part of me hated her for it.
It was only after Paris entered my life that I started forgetting about her little by little. Like the wind chasing a mass of black clouds, my feelings for Vanessa was gradually diminishing.
These days when I closed my eyes, it was Paris’s innocent face that came to my mind.
“We need to work on gathering evidence on Lucien,” I said in a loud voice. Ivanov and Gabrielle stopped bickering at once. “He’s already crossed the limits when it comes to beating up his cousin. The teachers have been ignoring the issue but I don’t want to any longer.”
“Yeah,” agreed Gabrielle. “We should have done something to stop him. I thought he would give up once he realized you can’t beat the gay out of someone, but I’m guessing he’s enjoying his sadistic little tortures way too much.”
“You both want to go up against Charlie Bettencourt?” asked Nikolai in a low grim voice. He was right to question our intention. Lucien’s grandfather was one of those people even our families feared. He was known to be ruthless to his enemies, knowing no boundaries when it came to establishing his business. Going up against him would paint targets on our families’ backs too.
“How about we don’t involve the elders?” said Gabrielle. “Let’s get evidence on him, disclose it to the whole academy anonymously and leave the dirty job of ridding him with Thorne and her professors. Our girl and boy will be safe and we can escape Charlie Bettencourt’s eye.”
“If you’re going to be kicking people out of the academy to save Paris, then you’re going to have to kick a lot of people to protect her,” said Ivanov, glancing at me. “Playing all those cheap shots against her has gotten most of the school to bully her. I know that’s exactly what you wanted so she would leave this place. I wanted her out of here too but everything has backfired.”
Gabrielle rubbed his forehead. “I kept telling Liam not to go overboard.”
“It’s my fault, so I’ll be the one to protect her from both Lucien and Brianna,” I said in a determined tone.
“You can’t be everywhere at all times, can you?” asked Ivanov. “I have my men guarding that cottage you forced her to live in. They’re there since the day she came into the academy. Unlike you, I have been protecting her ever since she came here.”
“Thank you.” Surprise flitted through his pale eyes.
