by K. G. Reuss
A muscle thrummed along his jaw for a moment. “I want you to be fucking safe, Bianca. You’re not safe here, OK?”
“Why do you care if I’m safe,” I asked bitterly.
“Because I lov… because I care, OK?”
My heart skipped at his words.
“This is so fucked up,” he grumbled, closing his eyes. “Look. Shit’s about to hit the fan. I need you to leave.”
“What?” I stared up at him, confused. “Dominic said to stay—”
“I know what the fuck he said,” he snapped. “But I’m telling you to go. I’m telling you to run and not look back. Fuck finding your old man. Fuck saving your mom. Fuck caring about us. Just run. We’re only going to hurt you.” He grew quiet for a moment. “You’re only going to hurt me. I-I need you to leave. I need it more than my next breath.”
I crinkled my brows. “What’s going on, Levin? Tell me. Please—”
“You know I can’t stand you, right?”
My breath caught in my throat, pain making it hard to breathe.
“Yeah. I had a deal with Vincent. See which one of us could fuck you first since you let Dom in so easily. You played hard to get with us.” Cruelty leaked from his mouth. “It was fun, but Vincent won. You were just a game, bumblebee. We started to catch some feelings, so we decided we’d fuck around behind your back. Now, it’s time for you to go because you’ve worn out your welcome.
“You’re lying,” I whispered, nausea snaking through my insides as tears stung my eyes. “Y-you said you care about me. Earlier we—”
He shrugged. “It’s because of my feelings—their feelings—that you need to go. You’re ruining our way of life. And I’m not lying about other women. Dom had his dick sucked tonight by some other chick. He came in her mouth. That’s why he was late. Ask him. And right now? He’s fucking Stella with Vincent just to mess with Ivanov some more. No one gives a shit about you. It’s nice to have someone around to suck our cocks and fuck us whenever we want.”
I swallowed, my bottom lip quivering. Levin’s hand moved to the strap on my dress. He pushed it aside and traced the burn scar Hail had given me.
“You’re disgusting and marked by a lord. No king will want you beyond their bed. You’re just a whore to us."
My heart ached. I shoved away from him, my chest heaving.
“I hate you,” I choked out.
“Good,” he answered softly, his expression one of pain. It didn’t belong on his face. It had no business being there after what he just said. “Now fucking leave, Bianca. Leave Bolten before worse happens to you.”
I backed away from him before spinning on my heel and rushing away, not bothering to look where I was going or who I was bumping into.
Levin would get his wish.
Fuck Bolten, and fuck the kings.
Forty-Seven
Dominic
Stella leaned against the bathroom wall in her long, red dress, her tits pushed up to the max. Vincent closed and locked the door behind us as I stopped in front of her.
“Speak.”
“Well, nice to see you too,” she said, pouting at me.
I snatched her thin arm and shook her. “I don’t have time for your shit, bitch. I said speak.”
I’d left Bianca with Levin. I knew shit was going to go down, and I didn’t want him to be outnumbered by the lords. I had to take my chances and bring Vincent with me in case I was ambushed. It hadn’t slipped past me this entire thing could be a trap. At least Levin was in a place with witnesses. The lords wouldn’t strike with so many people around.
Stella visibly swallowed. “I need your help.”
“Get fucked.” I dropped her arm and turned to leave.
“Wait. Please. I have information on Hail’s plans for Bianca. I just need you to promise to protect me from them in exchange. If things go wrong, I need to be safe.”
I paused and shot Vincent a look. He lifted a dark brow at me.
Turning to her, I spoke, “What things could go wrong?”
She fidgeted, twisting her fingers together. “I don’t know. I-I thought Hail would want me once Bianca left him for you. But I overheard his plans. He doesn’t want me. He still wants her. He’s going to take her, marry her, and then he’s going to kill her.”
I glared at her, sizing her up. Stella Monroe was a super cunt, but even super cunts had a purpose.
“Why save Bianca?”
“I don’t give a shit about Bianca. I care about me.” She composed herself and stared me down. “I care that he humiliated me, and not just once. First, he got engaged behind my back, and then he flaunted her around while keeping me on the side, making promises he didn’t intend to keep. Then, when she left him, he acted like we had a chance again. But there’s no chance for us. Not now. Not after he marries her. She’ll have it all until he kills her. Plus, I really don’t think she’s all that terrible, even if I hate her.”
“So it’s about you.”
“I’ve seen the monster he is. Even if he did marry me someday, he’d end up killing me like he’s going to do to her. My daddy has a lot of money just like her stepdad does. We’re both easy targets. Marry the daughter. Kill the father. Daughter inherits everything. Kill the daughter. I-I just hoped I was different, you know?”
I nodded. Seemed about right.
“I’ll keep you safe until graduation. Past that, you’re on your own.”
“Dom—” Vincent snarled.
I held my hand up to silence him.
“My protection comes with strings. First, you do whatever the fuck we tell you to do. Second, if you don’t do what you’re told, you die. Third, if you go behind our backs and betray us, set us up, or fuck with anything that belongs to us, you die. If you lie to us, you die. If you fuck a lord again, you die. And finally, if you don’t kiss my queen’s ass with every step she takes, you die. Got it?”
She hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. “I understand.”
“Good. We have a deal. Now tell me what you know.”
She blew out a shaky breath. “I was hiding in Hail’s closet, wanting to surprise him tonight before the dance. H-he was late, but when he came into his room, he wasn’t alone. He had the lords with him.” She licked her lips before continuing, “The plan is to get Bianca alone and snatch her. They have a priest waiting outside town at an old warehouse on the ridge. You know, that old, abandoned factory everyone says is haunted?”
I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched her. Vincent leaned against the wall, not looking interested, but I knew he was absorbing everything she said.
“Hail is going to marry her there tonight, whether she wants to or not. Once it’s over, he plans on murdering her stepfather after getting him to sign whatever plan they have in the works and leaving Bianca whatever assets he has. I don’t know the details of any of that, though. But I think you need to look into it because a man like David D’Angelou giving up everything he has is sketch, you know?”
“That it?” I grunted, silently agreeing with her.
“They’re going to create a distraction at the dance. Drake and Tate are supposed to grab her. Fallon is going to drive them. He should be waiting at the gates with the car right now. He has a black Lexus sedan. Hail already left to get things ready.”
“Are you the fucking distraction?” Vincent demanded, stepping forward, his teeth bared.
“N-No! I’m not. I swear it. I just wanted to tell you guys because I’m done with Hail after tonight, and he’s going to be so mad. I needed the protection—”
I shoved her against the wall and tightened my hand around her throat.
“You sure you’re not lying? I’ll kill you right now and put your face in the toilet with your ass up for the next fucker to find.”
“T-there’s more,” she rasped, clawing at my arm.
I cocked my head at her, noting the fear on her face. “Tell me.”
“F-Fallon. H-He loves B-Bia-Bianca. T-T-They met in the science bu
ilding. Closet. I’m s-sure they had sex. His h-hair was-was a mess when he came out.”
I loosened my grip on her throat as he spoke. So many emotions crashed through my body. I’d had my suspicions, but if what Stella was saying was true. . .
“I confronted him,” she hurried on. “He begged me not to tell when I threatened to go to Hail about it. Fallon said he’d been seeing her since the party at the dip. He said they broke up though, and it was over.”
Bile burned my throat. Bianca had lied to me. She swore she hadn’t been with a lord. Deep down, I knew all along it was a fucking lie. Hearing it for myself only made the sickness and fury build within me.
I tightened my grip so Stella would remember the moment. She let out a garbled gasp, her nails scratching against my wrist.
“Remember this moment,” I said softly. “Remember I’ll fucking finish this if I find out you wronged me or lied to me.”
When I released her, she fell to the floor, gasping and coughing as she clutched at her throat, tears on her face.
“Let’s go,” I said to Vincent.
He cast a final look to the bitch on the floor before unlocking the door and striding out.
My heart ached in a way I’d never felt before. I knew it. God help me, I knew it was a lord that Bianca had been with. Fallon was the one she’d fallen for. Fallon had touched her. Kissed her. Fucked her.
Fallon was the guy in the perfect position to lure her away from us, and he would die for it.
“What about our plan? Saving her?” Vincent’s hands shook, his dark eyes glistening.
I knew he was mad, but I knew he was hurting more than he was angry. So was I.
“Things change,” was all I said as we left the bathroom.
Forty-Eight
Fallon
It was go time.
The fuse was lit, and it was time to act. After Stella had cornered me in the science building, I’d been running high on anxiety. All that bitch had to do was spill my secret to Hail, and it was game over.
Then there was the fucking new demand from Matteo De Santis. Deliver Bianca to him. He’d put her in that hell house he’d created.
I’d pushed her at Dominic in the hopes he’d fall for her and love her as much as I did and would save her so both she and my sister could survive. It was a hell of a gamble, but I’d seen him with her. He gave a shit. Even if I died, maybe Dominic would love my princess enough to keep her alive. Maybe I could still save Natalia.
I hated the odds, but I had nothing else. I was out of ideas.
I turned the engine off on my Lexus and got out with a plan in my head. I was supposed to meet Drake and Tate by the main entrance to Bolten and then deliver Bianca to Hail. Instead, I’d parked at one of the side entrances beneath an old willow tree. If Drake and Tate got her before I did, they wouldn’t be able to leave because I was the driver.
I kept to the shadows of campus as I made my way back to the dance. With any luck, I’d be able to grab her when Drake and Tate created the distraction which consisted of cutting the power and setting off the sprinkler system.
Before I could reach the dance, I saw Bianca running from it, her feet bare and her blonde hair whipping behind her.
I sprang into action and snagged her from behind, making sure to cover her mouth. She fought and kicked as I hauled her into the darkness of a building’s shadow.
“It’s me. Shh. It’s me,” I soothed in her ear.
Immediately, the fight left her, and she turned, sagging against me.
I swallowed, hating what I had to do to her and praying she’d forgive me someday. “Are you OK?”
She sniffled and shook her head against my chest.
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
We had to get the hell out of there, but I couldn’t bear the thought of making the move to end everything. Instead, I ran my fingers through her silky hair and held her close.
God, I’d missed holding her.
“Levin,” she choked out. “They used me.”
She didn’t need to explain herself. My heart sank. They hadn’t wanted her like I’d hoped so hard for.
“It’s OK.” I kissed the top of her head fiercely.
My mind flashed to my sister and what was at stake. I had to make a choice: the girl I loved or my sister. The gun tucked in the back of my jeans reminded me if it came down to it, I’d go out with a bang. There was also the option of fighting and killing Matteo De Santis. Then Dominic would come into power. Bianca might be able to escape. I wouldn’t, but I’d die fighting to free her and Natalia.
Fuck, I hated this.
I squeezed my eyelids closed and forced the words out. “Run away with me.”
She pulled away and stared up at me. “What?”
“Me and you. Run away with me. We’ll leave here. We’ll fight them all—”
“OK,” she breathed out, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’ll go.”
The assholes must have hurt her badly for her to agree so fast. Or maybe she just trusted me that much. I hated that she did. I was a disgusting monster.
I took her hand and led her through the darkness back to my car. I opened the passenger door just as I heard the screeching of an alarm. Guessed the bastards had decided to go extra with their distraction.
“You swear you won’t hurt me?” She turned to me before she got into the car, that plump bottom lip of hers wobbling.
There were the doubts. I’d wondered if they’d ever surface.
“Swear,” I managed to say, nausea roiling through my insides with the lie.
Was it really a lie if I didn’t pull the trigger myself?
Forty-Nine
Levin
“Where the fuck is she?” Dom shoved me hard in the chest, his face twisted with rage.
I fell back against the brick wall in the darkness as people continued to dance like one of the biggest events in that school’s history wasn’t about to go down.
I’d let her go. It was my feeble, disgusting attempt to save her. Call me crazy, but I knew Stella was going to drop a truth bomb on Dom, or at least one that would make Dom think it was true.
Then Dom would react without thinking. He’d make a mistake he wouldn’t be able to come back from. I couldn’t let it happen. I’d fallen for her. I cared. I accepted that.
“She’s gone,” I said. “She left.”
“She’s fucking Vasiliev,” Dom snarled, his eyes wild.
Vincent looked sick behind him. My heart sank. I wasn’t surprised though. Hurt? Fucking wrecked. My eyes burned as I swallowed and balled my hands into fists.
“The lords are planning to kidnap her. Ivanov is going to force her to marry him tonight. Once he has his shit sorted with D’Angelou, he’s going to kill her.”
“You’re going to kill her,” I said.
A muscle popped along his jaw. “We need to find her. Fallon is a traitor to the lords. He’s been fucking Bianca. He’s going to take her to my father, not to Ivanov. I’d kill her just to save her from the hell which awaits her in that basement.”
Dom had told us what happened at the mansion earlier. He’d told us about the girl named Macy. How her brains had splattered on his lap and her blood had dotted his face. How she’d been forced to suck him off. How it was a fate that waited for Bianca.
“Have the plans changed?” I tried to steady my voice, but it still shook beneath the weight of my broken heart.
“I made a promise to her,” Dom said, backing away from me. “I never break a promise.”
He promised to kill Vasiliev and her if she’d lied. This was exactly the shit I’d wanted to save her from.
Truth of the matter was, I was ready to murder someone too. Disgust replaced the agony in my chest.
“You took a vow to stand by me through any and all things,” Dom said softly. “Will you uphold it?”
“Yes,” I said through gritted teeth, clenching and unclenching my hands.
He surveyed me for a moment. “I need you t
onight. Both of you.” He looked to Vincent.
“I’m here,” I said, steeling myself for the fucking mess we were in.
“Vincent?” Dom looked at him.
Vincent’s gaze darted between us before he spoke, “I don’t want to lose my girl.”
“She’s already gone,” Dom snapped. “She’s a traitor. She lied to us. She’s on the run, and Vasiliev probably already has her.”
“You’re thinking like a madman,” Vincent shot back. “She doesn’t deserve to die just because she likes someone else—”
“She fucked a lord,” Dom seethed.
“I know what she did.” Vincent glanced at me. “But I know her. She loves us too. There has to be another way.”
“There is only one way. My way.” Dom pounded his chest, his face twisted in anger. “Now are you going to come or will we have to kill you too?”
Vincent shook his head, pure fury twisting his lips up. “Fuck you, De Santis. I’m with you. I’m always with you. But it doesn’t mean I have to forgive you if you hurt her.”
“Then let’s hope for a miracle, huh, Valentino?” He turned to leave just as the fire alarm blared around us, a torrent of water shooting from the sprinklers.
Dom let out a feral snarl right before the lights went out, sending people screaming and running.
“He has her. Vasiliev,” Dom shouted above the din. “If the other assholes had her, this wouldn’t be happening.”
I didn’t wait for instructions. I shoved through the panicked students, knocking them aside as I cut a path to the exit.
No one fucked with what belonged to a king.
Fifty
