by Liv Reid
Dread instantly floods through me. Whatever this is, it can’t be good.
“I think we’d be great together, you and I,” he finally says while looking deep into my eyes. “You should marry me.”
“HUH?” I blurt out. My eyes bug out of my head, and my mouth drops open. “Have you gone crazy??”
“Think about it. We’d be perfect together. There’s always been something between us, you can’t deny that. We’ve had a rocky past, but we came back together. It’s meant to be, Violet. You can’t fight fate.” He tries to take my hand, but I pull it away sharply.
“What the hell are you even talking about? What you’re saying is insane.”
“That wasn’t a ‘no’,” he purrs quietly and steps closer to me.
I step back, and say firmly, “No. No. No. A hundred times no. I would never marry you.”
He seems surprised, and a dark look passes over his face that chills me to the bone. It’s the same look he got when I turned him down in high school. When I told him I didn’t want to sleep with him, and that I didn’t think we should see each other anymore.
“Why?” he asks, as if it isn’t obvious. “You’d be set for life. I know how poor you are, and if you married into my family, you’d never have to worry about money ever again. Do you know how many bitches at this party would kill to marry me? And they all have way more money than you could ever dream of having on your own. This is an incredible deal for you, and you’d be an idiot to pass this up… just like you did when we were in high school.”
I’m slowly backing up, and he’s walking towards me. His large size dwarfs mine. I don’t think he’ll do anything since we are in public, but I’m not completely sure.
“I don’t give a shit about your money,” I hiss at him venomously. “I would never sell my soul just to be a part of your evil family.”
“You’re an idiot, Violet Miller. You’ll regret this.”
He hasn’t changed at all. He’s still the same psycho I left with blue balls in the back of his sports car. The one who then bullied me mercilessly for the next year.
“Go to hell.” I turn away from him and storm off.
“Guess you don’t need our help paying for your school anymore, Violet,” he calls after me.
I make my way through the crowd, barely paying attention to where I’m going. My mind is reeling. I think I just lost my scholarship—and with it, my chance to become a doctor. My future is going up in a cloud of smoke right before my eyes, and I’m helpless to stop it.
Marrying Heston was never an option—and is never going to be one. Why would he even propose to me in the first place? What’s his angle? I always knew the Astons were up to something and not just helping me out of the kindness of their hearts. Was this their plan all along? Get me to marry Heston? But why?
A sudden thought flashes through my mind and fills me with so much anguish I almost let out a sob. What if Logan was in on it the whole time?
I’m not paying attention to where I’m going, and I almost run head first into Bethany. I come to a sudden stop and look up at her. She’s significantly taller than me already, and even more so in her five-inch heels.
I don’t like the mean look on her face, and she’s flanked by three equally beautiful model-looking girls. I move to go around them, but she takes a step to block my way.
“What do you want?” I ask her.
She’s barely spoken one word to me all year, and this is the very worst time for her to start. My world is falling apart, and I feel like I’m about to get a migraine.
“You don’t belong here,” she says cruelly.
I just snort and let out a disbelieving laugh. After everything that’s happened to me tonight, and now this? When it rains it pours.
“I know,” I say, and she looks taken aback. She didn’t expect that.
She collects herself and then tells me the mean things she came to say. “You’re just a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks who lucked into a spot here. You don’t belong, and you don’t deserve it. You may play the part.” She motions to Everly’s dress I’m wearing. “But it’s like a child dressing up in their mother’s clothes—or in this case, an employer giving their maid clothes out of charity.”
The thing I hate the most is that she isn’t wrong.
“You will never be at Logan’s level,” she hisses with finality.
“Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?” I snap back.
That catches her off guard, and the look of shock on her face is satisfying—so is slamming my shoulder into hers. I push her to the side and continue on my way out of the room. I smile when I hear her cry out in pain. Delicate, coddled beauty. She’d never survive a day in the real world, never survive working a shift at Ricky’s Diner.
I tell myself what she said doesn’t bother me. It’s not like she was telling me anything I didn’t already know. I need fresh air.
I maneuver through the halls packed with people and make my way out to a dark courtyard. I just need to be on my own for a moment to catch my breath and collect my thoughts.
I’ve been in this courtyard before between lectures, so even though I can barely see I know what it looks like. There are a couple of old oak trees, a few benches and the ground is covered in cobblestones. The best part of this courtyard is that there is no one else out here.
I walk over to one of the benches. I breathe out a stressed sigh as I sit down. This evening sucks.
I take my phone out of my purse. Everly sent me a message asking where I am. I’ll head back in a moment and find her. I need to tell her everything that just happened. She’s not going to believe it—I barely believe it myself.
I sit for a few minutes, collecting my thoughts. When I feel ready, I take my phone back out to ask her where she is, but then I freeze.
The courtyard is full of shadows, but I think I just saw one of them move. Oh no. Not again. How could I have been so careless and gone off by myself?
My eyes are glued to the dark corner, willing myself to see into the blackness. Is anyone actually there or is my mind just playing tricks on me?
I squint, and then I see it. There’s a person staring right back at me.
They are just as frozen as I am.
I know I need to move, but I can’t make my body obey my mind. I know the second I run the person is going to burst out of the shadows and try to get me. I need to get the head start. I need to move!
But the guy moves first. He explodes out of the darkness and runs straight for me. He looks just like the guy who chased me across campus almost a month ago. The dark figure that has haunted my nightmares ever since.
I don’t think, I just run.
I spring off the bench, but my heels twist my ankles painfully on the cobblestones. With all the adrenaline surging through my body, I barely notice the pain, but it slows me down and gives him the advantage.
Before I can make it inside, he grabs me around the waist and drags me back into the shadows.
31
V
I start fighting with everything I have. If this guy wants me, then I’m not going to make it easy for him. He’s a lot bigger than I am and is holding me around my waist, pinning my arms against my body, but I kick at his shins as hard as I can.
I start screaming, but he quickly covers my mouth.
“Shut the fuck up,” he grunts.
With one hand on my mouth, it means he only has one arm around my waist, and suddenly I have a free hand. I reach up and try to claw at his face. I feel my nails drag across his skin, and I push them in harder. I search around for his eyes, and when I find them I shove my finger right into a socket.
He drops me with a yell, and I run.
But the cobblestones trip me up again, and I fall painfully to my knees. He grabs me and drags me back. This time he keeps both of my arms pinned to my body with just his one, while he uses the other to cover my mouth. His big, meaty hand is so large it’s covering my nose too, and I can’t breathe.
I try to wriggle out of his grasp, but I can’t move. I try to kick him but I can barely move my feet. He’s too strong, and I realize I’m trapped. I can’t stop him as he drags me towards a door on the opposite side of the courtyard from where I entered.
If he gets me in there, then I’m screwed. I redouble my efforts to escape, but he has the advantage. We get to the door, and I think, that’s it, I’m done for.
He pushes me through, and into the pitch-black darkness inside. No!
Suddenly, there’s a loud thump and glass shattering. The meaty arms wrapped tightly around me go limp. I push him off and jump back into the courtyard.
He’s on the ground and rubbing the back of his head. Logan is standing over him, about to deliver another blow. Logan looks furious. I’ve never seen someone so angry before.
I notice Logan’s hand is bleeding and realize he must have hit the guy in the back of the head with a glass he was carrying. Just then, I hear quick footsteps coming towards us from the dark doorway where the guy was trying to take me.
“Logan!” I shout and grab his uninjured hand. “We have to go. There’s more of them coming.”
He hesitates for a second, clearly wanting to continue kicking my attacker’s ass, but he reluctantly lets me drag him away, and we run.
He pulls me against his body to help me stay upright as my shoes trip me up on the cobblestones again. I curse them. They were almost the end of me. I feel even more justified in my hatred of heels now.
We run back into the building. This wing is dark and empty, so there’s no one around. We can hear the guys coming behind us. I’m not sure how many of them there are, but it’s at least two, and they aren’t going to stop until they get us. We didn’t have much of a head start so they are close on our heels.
Logan suddenly grabs me and pulls me into an alcove under a staircase.
We both try not to breathe as we hear the guys rush by, their heavy boots striking the marble floors. They didn’t see us.
We hear their footsteps fade into the distance, and both of us breathe out a sigh of relief.
“Thank you,” I whisper so quietly it’s barely audible, but he hears me.
“Don’t mention it,” he whispers back.
“You keep saving me.”
He turns to me. In the dark, I can barely see him, but there’s a sad—but resigned—look on his face. Like he doesn’t want to but can’t help himself.
“Do you know why they wanted you?” he asks.
I think for a moment. Should I tell him my theory about who I think they are? I’ve thought it ever since that night when the guy chased me across campus.
I decide to just be honest. I don’t have much to lose anymore. I’m pretty sure tomorrow I’m going to be kicked out of school, and I’ll have to head back to Ricky’s Diner. I also won’t have Logan’s protection there, so if these guys keep coming after me, I’m screwed.
“I think it’s your family who sent them after me,” I whisper.
Even in the dark, I can see his brow furrow into angry lines, and he whispers back, “What are you talking about? My family wouldn’t do that.”
“They are trying to get me out of the way so your dad can come home.”
“Yeah, but they wouldn’t do it that way. They are trying to get you with Heston so you’ll agree to withdraw your accusation.”
What?? He knew? My heart drops painfully, and my stomach clenches. Logan knew the whole time. He was in on their plan. How could I have been so stupid?
Logan continues, “Firstly, my family wouldn’t do that. We aren’t perfect, but we aren’t evil either. And secondly, they already had a plan, so why would they send these guys after you too? Overkill much?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I know I sound pathetic, but I can’t help it. I need to know.
He seems surprised by the question. “Because we aren’t friends. You’ve actually told me on multiple occasions that you hate me.”
“I know, but I thought…” I can’t finish my sentence around the lump in my throat.
He sighs and rakes his fingers through his hair, which is what he does when he’s frustrated and at a loss of what to do.
“Maybe I would have told you if you hadn’t been avoiding me for weeks,” he finally says.
“You’ve been avoiding me too!” I hiss.
We are immediately falling back into our old dynamic. He just pushes my buttons so easily, like he’s a classically trained button pusher. He makes me want to strangle him—and also kiss him so I don’t have to hear him speak.
“Hey, I don’t owe you anything. You’ve tried to ruin my family for years. Just because we fucked a couple of times doesn’t mean suddenly all that’s forgotten and we’re soulmates or something,” he hisses at me, and it feels like he just stabbed me in the gut with a knife. “And besides, I thought you’d be happy. You’re finally getting exactly what you wanted since high school. You get to marry Heston and get your hands on my family’s fortune. That’s why you lied about what he did to you. Lied and tried to ruin his life, just because he wouldn’t date you.”
I’m dumbstruck.
“What are you even talking about? I broke up with Heston in high school because he wanted to sleep together and I said no. I didn’t want to date him anymore and that’s why he made my life hell for the rest of high school.”
Logan looks surprised, and vulnerable, for a second, but then he shakes his head and closes himself off from me again.
“I can’t trust what you say because I know you’re a liar,” he says, almost sadly.
“I am not a liar!”
Our voices are rising, but we are oblivious to the danger. We are so caught up in the fire burning between the two of us that the rest of the world just disappears when we’re together.
“I know you lied about who killed your father because I was there too, and I saw the whole thing.”
My mouth drops open in shock. During the entire investigation, Logan had never come forward to say that. If he was there, then why wouldn’t he give his testimony and save his father?
Also, could I have been wrong about what I saw?
I don’t have time to think about it because suddenly two guys appear next to us. They reach under the staircase and drag us out.
32
L
We start fighting the two guys. They are massive, but luckily they haven’t pulled out any weapons yet.
I hit one of them right in the nose. He grabs it as blood gushes around his fingers. I take advantage of his momentary distraction and bring my knee up to hit him in the chin. His neck snaps backwards satisfyingly, but he doesn’t fall down. He quickly recovers and comes back at me.
Fuck, these guys are tough. I look over anxiously at Violet, but shockingly she seems to be holding her own. I don’t know if she’s ever been in a fight before, but she’s a spitfire. The guy is literally twice her size, but she’s faster.
She finally managed to take those stupid shoes off so now she’s able to dodge his blows. She leaps in and delivers a swift kick to the nuts, and the guy groans in pain. The way she’s handling herself is insanely hot.
We are both at a disadvantage, her because of her size, and me because I badly injured my hand when I smashed my scotch glass over that guy’s head. I probably should have figured out a smarter way to stop him, but when I came into the courtyard looking for her and saw some big guy carrying her off, I just snapped. I saw red. Seeing her like that awoke a protective part of me deep down, and I would have done anything to save her. I would have died trying to help her.
Out in the main foyer, I had watched her talking with Heston, and when she rushed off I had a bad feeling and decided to follow her. That girl is a lightening rod for drama and trouble, and I just knew something bad was going to happen. Thank God I followed her otherwise who knows where she’d be right now.
The thought of almost losing her sends a jolt of anger coursing through me, and I punch even harder. I want to beat
this guy to a pulp for ever trying to hurt her.
I kick him in the stomach, and he goes down. I turn to the one fighting Violet, and see that despite holding her own for a while, he’s overpowered her and now has her wrists in his hands.
I wind up and punch him straight in the jaw. Pain shoots up my arm from my injured hand—I forgot not to use that one. Luckily, it works, and he drops Violet. She doesn’t hesitate and crouches down while spinning with her leg sticking out. It catches him behind his knees and he collapses to the floor. I stare at her in awe. She’s fucking incredible.
She jumps to her feet, just as someone tackles me hard from behind. He gets me on the ground and starts pummeling me in the face. I try to bring my arms up to protect myself, but it doesn’t do much against the blows raining down on me.
I dimly think, “This is it”. And I curse myself that I wasn’t strong enough or smart enough to protect her.
Everything starts to go black. But just before I slip away into unconsciousness, I hear Violet.
“Get off him or I’ll shoot!”
The blows immediately stop. I use the last of my strength to push him off of me. I can barely open my eyes because they are already swelling shut, but I hear two pairs of footsteps retreating down the hall.
When they are gone, I try to sit up, and I feel a gentle, small hand helping me.
“Thank God they didn’t call my bluff,” she whispers. “I have no clue how to shoot a gun.”
I laugh. That’s my girl.
“Are you ok?” I ask. Even though I think I’m about to pass out, the most important thing is whether or not she’s ok.
“Both my ankles are badly sprained, and I think I’m going to have a black eye, but other than that I’ll just have a lot of bruises. How about you? You look pretty bad.” I can hear the concern in her voice, and it touches me.
“I’ll be ok,” I mumble, but I don’t feel like I’m going to be ok.
“You really had no idea who those guys were,” she says in surprise, and it kills me.
