King of Nothing: An Academy Bully Romance (Boys of Almadale Book 1)

by Jacie Lennon

I take a few deep breaths to get myself under control as I glance down the road for the hundredth time in the moments I’ve been standing out here. Mom is supposed to be picking me up today, but since I lost my phone somewhere on the yacht, I haven’t been in contact with her. I can only hope she’s still planning on coming here to get me.

  It’s weird, being without a phone. Usually, if I were standing out here, waiting, I’d be playing on an app, but now, I watch my surroundings instead. I notice the group of kids down by the boys’ dorm, cutting up and laughing, and my heart cracks a little. I’m so lonely here with only Trixie as a friend. Even she has other friends, and she leaves every so often, going to some mysterious place she won’t talk about.

  I breathe a sigh of relief when I see my mom pull up next to me. I open the door, and she takes her sunglasses off, smiling at me.

  “Hey, Mom,” I say, climbing into the car and buckling my seat belt.

  “I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer,” she admonishes.

  I nod. “Yeah, I know. I lost my phone.”

  “Why didn’t you ask one of the boys to borrow theirs?”

  Over my dead body.

  “I haven’t seen them much,” I say. Only I’ve seen them every day.

  Sharing a class with each one of them kind of makes it hard for me to avoid them. I ignore them like it’s my job though, and thankfully, none of them act like they know me either.

  “Well, I’m sure they are busy with their classes and such. Have you made some friends?”

  “Yeah, my roommate is pretty cool.”

  I thought my mom would stay in touch more than she has, but I guess with our track record, I really shouldn’t have expected it.

  “That’s good.” She nods and slips her sunglasses back on.

  I look out the window as she pulls into a parking spot to turn around, and my eyes widen as I meet the stare of Brock, Bodhi, and Corbin as they watch us. I subtly raise one hand and stick my middle finger up as I look at them, quickly taking it down so my mom doesn’t notice.

  We make small talk on the way to the restaurant. Mom picks a place that’s stuffy and rich-looking, which doesn’t surprise me. Even when she was with my dad, it was only the best for her, and I guess that hasn’t changed. Might as well get a good meal out of it.

  As soon as we are seated, Mom orders a glass of sauvignon blanc, and I ask for water.

  I wait for the waiter to walk away before looking at her. “So, are you going to tell me what this is all about?”

  “Does a mom need a reason to come and take her daughter to dinner?”

  “Well, not normally, no. But this was a little out of the ordinary for you, you have to admit.”

  She glances away, letting her eyes scan the restaurant before looking back at me. My normally composed mother looks nervous, and it makes me anxious. I watch her fingers as they twiddle with her napkin that she hasn’t bothered to put in her lap. Another sign that this is out of the ordinary. My mother is a stickler for manners, and she wouldn’t dream of leaving her napkin on the tabletop.

  “Did I ever tell you that your father cheated on me?”

  My mouth drops open at her statement. She knows good and well that she never told me that. There’s a pregnant pause before I shake my head and attempt to speak.

  “No. Uh … no, you never told me that.”

  She fidgets with the napkin some more.

  “Are you sure?” I lean in, not wanting to believe that about my dad.

  She gives me an incredulous look. “Of course I’m sure. I caught him.” Her eyes take on a faraway look, almost like she’s reliving the memory. Shaking her head, she looks at me again. “It’s why I left him. I didn’t want to be a woman who stayed because I had nowhere else to go. But that was hard.”

  The waiter returns with our drinks, and I take a long sip of my water, flushing my dry throat.

  “I’m sorry, Mom. I had no idea.” Now, it’s my turn to fidget. “Why did you bring this up?” I say as gently as I can.

  This has to be a hard subject for her to talk about, but there has to be a reason she’s doing it now.

  “I realize I haven’t always been there for you, that I left when things got tough, and I wasn’t there for some crucial growing-up years. First, I want to apologize to you.”

  I reach over and grab her hand. Encasing it in mine, I squeeze.

  “But I don’t want you to think I’m weak. I’m not weak. I’m strong. I rose above where I had been, and I did it by my merit and, might I even say, cunning. We women are smart and often overlooked.”

  I nod along with what she’s saying even though I don’t know where she’s going with it.

  “Mom, I’m not sure what you are getting at.”

  “I know, but I’m going to explain. I need your help, Landry. But I need this to stay between us.”

  I furrow my brow.

  What?

  “Okay …” I say, drawing it out. She’s never asked for my help before, and now, I think something bad is going on. “Are you in trouble?”

  “No, no. Not if you help me.” She sits back, reaching for her purse.

  I watch as she takes out a pile of papers and sets them on the table in between us. I can see the top page is full of words I can’t make out from where I’m sitting.

  “What is this? What do you need my help with?”

  She levels me with a look, not speaking. Then, the waiter comes back with a basket of freshly baked bread and a pen and paper to take our order. I stifle my groan.

  Who can eat at a time like this?

  My mother, apparently. Once we give our orders, she scoots the bread basket closer to herself, pulling out a roll and buttering it. All the while, I’m sitting on pins and needles because she’s acting as if she didn’t just tell me she needed my help. She’s never asked for my help in anything.

  “Mom?” I prompt.

  She glances up from where she’s slathering saturated fats on carbs and smiles at me. “Landry, I married Chester out of convenience.”

  Pardon?

  “Does Chester know that?” I frown, trying to follow along with the way Mom is jumping around. “I thought you were so in love.”

  “Chester thinks that as well,” she says with a sigh. “It’s sweet really. Men are so easily manipulated.”

  My brain comes to a halt. This is a different side of my mother. I’m having a hard time meshing the two together, almost feeling like I’m in an alternate reality right now.

  “I’m sorry, what? What are you saying?”

  “After my first marriage didn’t work out and then my marriage to your father, I decided the next time I married, it would be on my terms and to benefit me. No more being played for the fool. I was going to take advantage of what I could, and I have.”

  “Are you telling me, you are a gold digger?”

  She wrinkles her nose up, looking perturbed by my choice of words.

  “I wouldn’t call it that exactly,” she says.

  “What would you call it?” My voice starts to rise, and she pins me with a look.

  “I would call myself an opportunist.”

  I scoff and look wildly around the room. My mom is not telling me she married Chester to take him for all he’s worth.

  “Why are you telling me this? Bringing me into this? It’s messed up, Mom. That’s not what marriage should be about.”

  “Oh, honey. It’s adorable how you hold on to this perfect idea of wedded bliss and how you would only marry for love.”

  “Shouldn’t everyone only marry for love?”

  “People marry for all different reasons, Landry. Sometimes, love isn’t part of the equation. Life is not a fairy tale, and you would do well to realize that now.”

  My mind is reeling. All of these bombs she’s dropping on me are exploding and making my ears ring. I shake my head, trying to clear my racing thoughts.

  “I’ve opened a few offshore accounts,” she says, pushing the pile of papers toward me.
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br />   “Mom,” I say, holding my hand up, stopping her. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Like I said, I need your help. And you are my daughter, my blood. We stick together,” she says with a smile that looks almost devious, where it used to look serene.

  We are family; she’s right. More so than Chester, who I haven’t even met, and his two douche-bag sons.

  Why shouldn’t I help her?

  “What do you need from me?”

  “Your cooperation. I’ve opened some accounts in your name, using a somewhat-altered birth certificate, but for some strange reason, I wasn’t paying attention to it. You are shown as already being eighteen, so I need you to sign these documents.”

  A fake birth certificate? Needs my cooperation?

  “Would you have even told me about this if you didn’t need my signature?”

  “More than likely, no, darling. I wouldn’t want you to be implicated.”

  “But you are willing to risk that when you need me.”

  “This is for your own good, Landry,” she says, sounding angry for the first time.

  “This is for your own good Mom,” I hiss, snatching the papers and going through them. I move them when our food comes out, staring at the steaming plate of fettuccine Alfredo I ordered that I’m no longer hungry for.

  “I’m doing this for us, for your future.”

  “You are married to a freaking billionaire, Mom. Why wouldn’t you just ask him?”

  “Nothing lasts. You should keep that in mind. I’d rather be prepared and know that I’ll be comfortable on my own, if it comes to that.”

  “So, you want me to help you steal from him?”

  “It’s not stealing if it’s legally mine,” she says with a smile.

  “You didn’t sign a prenup or anything?” I have a hard time believing that a successful man like Chester Montgomery would sign away his life without any contingency plan.

  “That’s the funny thing about love, Landry. It makes people do stupid things.”

  I watch Mom calmly cut her small filet steak. She ordered it rare, and the bloody juice seeps from it—the metaphor only too real in this instance. She’s a shark, circling the Montgomery waters, and now, she’s found her way to strike. I thought I knew my mom, but how can you really know someone who you haven’t been close to in a while? People hide their true selves, painting their faces into what they want you to believe about them while any manner of horrible lurks beneath.

  I feel sick to my stomach. I’m not a thief, and I wouldn’t have taken my mom for one either. But I guess the things that happen in the past actually do shape your future. She felt scared and alone after her divorces, and now, she’s taking measures to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Illegal measures though. And ones I don’t want to be a part of.

  I wish she had never brought me to this stupid restaurant.

  “I can’t make a decision right now …” I trail off as I stare down at my food.

  The waiter comes back and asks if anything is wrong, and I ask him for a to-go box. I meet my mother’s frown with one of my own.

  “Landry, it’s simple really. I’ll take care of everything. I only need a signature. This is for both of us. So, it’s only right that you play a small part.”

  This isn’t right, and as much as I want to make my mom happy, this is too much for me. I’m not a shady person. I don’t sneak around, steal from billionaires, and hide it. I can’t have that on my conscience, and I’m suddenly angry with my mom for asking that of me.

  “No, it’s not simple.” I keep my voice down, but I’m gritting my teeth in an effort not to raise it. “What you are doing isn’t right; it’s not legal. I love you, Mom, but I don’t want to be a part of this.”

  I stand quickly, my chair making a loud noise as it scoots back in the restaurant. A few people glance our way, but I don’t pay them any attention. I grab my food and dart out the door, chest heaving. I can feel a heated flush working its way up my neck, and I put a hand to my cheek. It’s hot, and I can only imagine the mess I look right now.

  The door swings shut behind me as my mind swirls with confusion, fury, and then confusion again, only to be interrupted by an unwelcome voice.

  “Look who we have here.”

  I look up at the sharp words, seeing Corbin hanging out the back window of Brock’s vehicle. Something tells me it’s not a coincidence that they are here.

  19

  Corbin

  The guys were thrilled when I came back with Landry’s phone. But that elation quickly turned to irritation and tension when we couldn’t even get into it. None of us know how to break into a phone with a passcode, so we had to wait until Brock got it to his tech guy. Two days later, we had our answer. There was nothing on it that pointed to Landry doing any shady shit.

  “This can’t be right,” Brock groans, holding the unlocked phone and going through every single crevice of it. “She has to have something on here.”

  “Maybe she isn’t involved,” I speak up.

  He turns frustrated eyes my way. He narrows them on me, but I don’t shift or act like I’m even bothered by his mood.

  “That’s just your dick talking,” Bodhi says, another damn bag of grapes sitting in his lap. He’s going to turn into one with as much as he eats. “Oh my God,” he says, startling us.

  “What?”

  “I haven’t even asked how the sex was. Sorry, man. My friend card should be revoked with such an oversight,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.

  I roll my eyes and ignore him.

  “Come on. We need the details. I tell you mine.”

  “We don’t ask,” Brock says, not looking up.

  “I’m just that fucking good of a brother and friend to tell you without you having to ask. Especially you, bro. I know the only reason you have been such a dickbag lately is because you aren’t getting any.”

  At that, Brock’s head shoots up, pinning Bodhi with a look. The silence stretches for a moment before Bodhi jumps to conclusions.

  “You are getting some. Well, I’ll be damned. Way to keep secrets. Who’s the girl?”

  “I’m not, and there isn’t a girl,” Brock mutters. He’s lying, and we all know it, but when he wants to tell us, he will. “Shit, another text.”

  Landry’s mom has been texting her off and on the last few days. We know she’s coming today to pick Landry up and take her for an early dinner. She hasn’t said the location yet, but we are planning to follow when she gets here.

  “Looks like she’s arrived, boys. Game time.” Brock looks up with a grin, and I sigh.

  I don’t know why they won’t drop it. She can’t be involved. Brock’s guy hasn’t found anything else incriminating on Landry, but I guess getting Linda is the highest priority. Brock was hoping to use Landry in his favor.

  We walk out in time to see Linda turning around, close to the boys’ dorm. There’s something off about this whole thing, but I smile when I see Landry’s middle finger shoot up at us.

  “Come on, fucker,” Bodhi says.

  I look over my shoulder to see them already in the car. I’m standing out on the sidewalk like an idiot.

  “What’s the plan?” I ask, climbing in the back. I lean against the door, propping my legs up on the seat and crossing them.

  “Don’t have one. Let’s see where the day takes us,” Brock says.

  I raise my eyebrows. “Brock Montgomery without a plan?” I say in a shocked, falsetto voice, putting a hand to my chest. “How scandalous.”

  He doesn’t respond, but Bodhi chuckles in the front seat. I’m feeling a lot better about things after we didn’t find anything incriminating on Landry’s phone. Silence descends over the inside of the vehicle, and I let my thoughts drift, thinking about when I want to visit Abe this week.

  I’ve been checking on him weekly since school started. It’s the best thing I can do since I can’t physically be there to protect him. I learn about his life, ask questions, and try to feel out the si
tuation. It breaks my heart every time I take him to The Burger Shack and see him inhaling his food as if he hadn’t ever had a burger before.

  Child Protective Services has been called on my grandparents twice, and both times, they managed to present themselves as fucking loving grandparents, so I’m not even going to go that route. Plus, I know that if he were to be removed, it would make it that much harder for me to see him and possibly be able to win custody in the long run.

  “Hey, did you ever talk to your dad about a lawyer who could help me?” I cringe, asking for the favor.

  I’m not usually one who wants help, but in this instance, I’m going to use every resource I can get my hands on. And that includes these rich fuckers.

  “I haven’t been able to get in contact with the lawyer yet. I’m sure he doesn’t think I am as high profile a client as my dad. But I do have something in the works,” Brock says, glancing in my direction in the rearview mirror.

  I pull my legs down, shifting until my arms are bracing me in between the two front seats. “What’s going on?”

  Brock glances at Bodhi, who gives a subtle shake of his head, and I frown.

  “What the fuck? What aren’t you telling me?”

  “I can’t tell you until I hear back from someone.”

  I prod and poke, but he won’t give anything up. With a hard hit to the back of his chair, I sit back. For not wanting others to keep secrets, he sure has a lot of his own.

  After waiting for only thirty minutes, I sit up straighter when I see Landry exiting the restaurant. Her face is red, and she’s clutching a to-go box in her hand so tight that the Styrofoam is dented in on the top. She doesn’t act like she notices. Without thinking about it, I roll the window down and hang my torso out.

  “Look who we have here,” I say, feeling that ping of excitement when her blue eyes meet mine. She doesn’t look very surprised, but I can tell something has shaken her up. “Need a ride back to school?”

  “Not from you pricks,” she says, squaring her shoulders and turning to walk down the sidewalk.

  Brock quickly backs up, cutting off a car behind us, who honks loudly, but he flips them off and continues crawling down the main road at a snail’s pace, keeping in line with Landry.