by Alex Grayson
Malicious
Copyright © 2020 by Alex Grayson & Melissa Toppen.
All rights reserved.
Cover Design by Melissa Gill Designs. Interior Formatting by Alex Grayson. Editing by Rose David Editing.
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All characters and events appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Epilogue
Chapter One
Acknowledgments
Other books by Alex
Other Books by Melissa Toppen
About the Author
About the Author
To everyone who loved Treacherous and demanded Oliver and Savannah’s story. We hope you enjoy!
1
OLIVER
With a growl of frustration, I drop my phone on the table beside my bed and kick a stack of books across the room. I rake my fingers through my hair and lean my elbows on my knees.
Why the hell isn’t she answering my calls? When we last spoke two weeks ago, we made plans for me to come visit her for Thanksgiving. It pisses me off because that was my excuse to avoid going to my father’s for the holiday. To say things are tense between him and me is putting it mildly. We’ve always had a strained relationship, but when shit went down with him and my mother, things got worse. My and my father’s relationship went into the bowels of hell the night I overheard them arguing over his affair, the same night he asked for a divorce. And what do you know, the ink wasn’t even dry on the divorce papers before he brought his mistress home as his new wife. My resentment toward him has only manifested since then. How the fuck could he go from being married to my mother for twenty years, to demanding a divorce, and then marrying another woman so quickly?
To add the rotten cherry on top of the moldy cake, he not only brought a new wife into the house he shared with my mother, but also a stepdaughter my age. Those first couple of months were bad. Angry at my father, but unable to take it out on him, I directed my wrath at Rylee, my new stepsister. It was her mother who fucked up my parents’ marriage. I was miserable, and I made damn sure she was too.
Call me a whiney little bitch and see how many fucks it produces. Yes, I was an asshole for all the shit I did to Rylee, and I now regret taking my anger out on her. She was the one innocent person in all of this, and it was wrong of me to assume she wasn’t. Even her mom, Evelyn, isn’t who I thought she was. She actually seems like a decent person. No, it’s my father who’s at fault here. He’s the asshole who cheated on my mother. The one who tore our family apart. It’s something I’ll never forgive him for.
And now, on top of all that shit, my mother hasn’t answered any of my phone calls for the last two weeks.
When she and my father divorced, my mother moved in with my aunt in Utah. She’s only come back home to visit a few times. I’m supposed to spend Thanksgiving with her and Aunt Rina, but fuck if I know if that’s still the plan. I’ve tried calling my aunt, but she always says my mother’s busy and will pass along the message to call me.
Thanksgiving break starts tomorrow, and I’m tempted to just fly there without confirming with my mother, but the last thing I want to do is spend a week alone with my aunt if my mother won’t be there. My aunt’s a major bitch that I can barely tolerate with my mother present. There’s not a chance in hell I’ll be able to without her around.
My father’s been up my ass about coming home, something I try to avoid when possible. Now that I’m in college and don’t have to put up with his shit, the less I see of him, the better. With my mother not answering my calls, I have no good excuse to not show up. And knowing my father, if I don’t come home, he’ll recruit Zayden, my best friend, to come get my ass.
The only silver lining is Rylee and Zayden will be there. I still feel guilty as shit for what I did to them, and what almost happened to Rylee because of my actions. Our relationship is still on rocky ground. I’ve got a lot of making up to do. Thankfully, she’s coming around better than I would have in her shoes.
My and Zayden’s friendship was shaken too, something else I regret.
Yeah, I know. I was a bastard.
Any chance I get to show Rylee and Zayden I’m over my rift with Rylee, I take it. This week will give me another.
There’s a loud bang against my door, followed by a shout of laughter. Why I thought moving into a dorm would be a good idea beats me. Oh yeah, it was my dick that convinced me. Co-ed dorms meant plenty of girls at my disposal. And while that’s still the case, most of the girls here don’t interest me. Or they don’t anymore. When I moved in at the beginning of the term, I had a new girl in my bed every night. It was fun at first, but it soon turned lackluster.
The image of stunning green eyes and soft blonde hair comes to mind. Shaking my head, I force away the thought before the rest of her can fully form in my mind. I’ve got no business thinking about Savannah. She’s a bitch who thinks I’m the scum of the earth and would love nothing more than to squash me beneath her fancy heels. Rylee’s best friend and protector. Because of my prior treatment of Rylee, who has mostly forgiven me, Savannah’s hated me from the start. I’ve tried talking to her, being nice and all that shit, but she won’t have any of it.
Evidently, my body doesn’t care if she’d rather eat slugs than put her gorgeous eyes on me, because if she’s near, or I get even a hint of her unique scent, I grow hard.
Stupid fucking dick.
Whatever.
I stalk to my door after there’s another thump and yank it open. Belamy catches himself on the door frame before he ass plants on the floor.
“Do you fucking mind?” I growl.
He steps away, holding his hands up in the air defensively. “Shit, Oliver. Is that your door? I wasn’t paying attention.”
“It’s the same door I’ve had since I moved in, you idiot.”
“Sorry, man. It won’t happen again.”
Shooting a glare from him to Brett, who’s holding a football, I slam the door. Heading toward my closet, I pull out a duffle bag to pack my shit for the next week.
As a freshman, I shouldn’t have as much pull as I do here, but having the last name Conley has afforded me many things. Ruling the roost at Seattle University is one of them. Having a dorm room to
myself is another.
Dropping the duffle on my bed, I start pulling clothes from my closet and stuffing them inside. As I’m zipping it closed, my phone rings. I grit my teeth when I see Zayden’s name instead of my mother’s.
“Sup, Z?”
“Rylee and I are hitting the road in the morning. You wanna hitch or are you still going to your mom’s place for the week?”
My bag thumps on the floor when I shove it aside and take a seat on the bed. “My mother’s place is out. I still can’t get her to answer my calls. But I’m taking my car in case I need to ditch for a while.”
Zayden knows of the tension between my father and me, so my warning comes as no surprise.
“If you need to, you know you can come to my dad’s place for a day or so. Dani would love having you around.”
Danielle, Zayden’s little sister, had a lung transplant a few months ago. Fucking emphysema took hers out. The girl’s sweet and deserves so much more than life has given her. It was touch and go for a while because her insurance wouldn’t approve the transplant. My father offered to pay for the procedure, but Zayden and his dad, both being pridefully stubborn, refused. Thankfully, the insurance company got off their ass in time and Dani got a new set of lungs.
“I could do with some Dani time,” I say, tossing a box of Red Hots on top of my duffle and pulling open another box. I drop a few in my mouth and chew. “You staying at home or your dad’s place?”
Zayden snorts. “You know damn good and well your dad won’t let me stay with Rylee in the house. Not to mention, her mom may cut off my junk in the middle of the night to make sure I can’t touch her daughter under her roof. She’s terrified I’ll get her pregnant.”
At one time, it would have pissed me off to hear my house referred as Evelyn’s, and while I still may internally bristle a little on behalf of my mother, I’ve come to realize it’s my father who I’m really angry with.
“With the way you two go at it like jack rabbits, it wouldn’t surprise me either.”
“Fuck you. I keep my shit wrapped and she’s on the pill. Besides, Rylee’s already threatened to castrate me if I get her pregnant before she has her degree. I like my balls just where they are.”
“I bet you do. You’d be useless to Rylee if you no longer had them,” I jest good-naturedly.
“I’d still have my mouth and hands,” he boasts. “She wouldn’t be going anywhere.”
I laugh, the tight knot in my chest loosening. It’s damn good to be able to joke around with Zayden again. I damn near irreparably fucked things up between us in my quest to break up my father and Evelyn. Zayden’s a better man than me. It took a while, but things are getting back to normal. I have Rylee to thank for that. I have no doubt had she wanted to hold onto her grudge against me, Zayden would have stood by her side.
“There’s another reason I called.”
I tense at Zayden’s quiet tone. “What?”
“Savannah’s going home with Rylee this week.”
A whole slew of curses fly through my head. This is not what I fucking need. Now I not only have to deal with my father, but Savannah on top of it. For a whole fucking week.
Instead of outwardly showing my irritation by the news, I bottle that shit inside.
“That’s great,” I say calmly. “And you’re telling me this why?”
“Come on, man. You aren’t fooling anyone. You’ve got some kind of beef with her. I, being the good friend that I am, was giving you a heads up.”
“I’d have to care enough about the girl to have anything against her. She’s the one who’s always on my ass anytime I’m around.”
“You keep telling yourself that. One day you might believe it.”
“Whatever, Z. I appreciate it, but the warning wasn’t necessary.” The lie slips easily from my lips.
Someone hollers in the background on his end. “Be there in a minute, baby,” Zayden yells back. “Listen, I gotta go. Just do me a favor and help make my life easier by being nice to Savannah.”
I grunt. “Maybe you should be having this conversation with her.” I toss another Red Hot in my mouth. “I’ve tried being the nice guy. She shoots me down any time I do.”
“Just ignore her.”
“Kinda hard to do when she’ll be staying in my house.”
“Shit, Oliver, throw me a fucking bone here. You and her get into it, I’ll have Rylee bitching about it in my ear.”
I laugh. “That’s bullshit and you know it. Rylee has no qualms about coming to me when I’ve somehow pissed Savannah off.”
“Just stay away from her as much as you can,” he grunts with aggravation.
“Trust me, I plan on it. Looks like I’ll have even more of a reason to visit little Dani.”
“I’ll give Dad a heads up. If I’m lucky, I’ll manage to sneak into Rylee’s room a couple of nights, so you’ll have my room at home to yourself.”
I shove my feet into my shoes and get up from the bed. “You’re a ballsy fucker. My father will have your ass if he catches you.”
“It’ll be worth it. It’s gonna suck not having Rylee in my bed at night.”
Rylee and Savannah have an apartment together off campus, while Zayden chose to utilize the free housing that came with his scholarship. Even so, ninety percent of the time, one is at the other’s place. It won’t be long before they both say fuck it and Zayden moves into her apartment. Which is really going to be a bitch, because if I want to hang out with him, I’ll be forced to be around Savannah even more. But then again, pissing her off has sort of become a sport for me.
“I’ll catch you tomorrow evening,” I say, hearing Rylee in the background asking Zayden what’s taking so long.
“Yep. See you then.”
I hang up and shove my phone in my pocket.
After throwing a few more Red Hots into my mouth, I toss the box on the table and snatch up my wallet and keys. I shrug on my coat next. Daffany’s is a couple of blocks away, and it’s a hell of a lot better than what this school offers. Another reason dorms are a bad idea is because of the crappy cafeteria food.
The hall is mostly clear when I leave my room. Almost everyone has already left for the holiday, with the exception of a few stragglers who’ve decided to stay here instead of going home or are leaving tomorrow.
I ignore the chill of the cold wind as I make my way across the quad to the parking lot. As soon as I’m close enough, I press my key fob to start my car. Thank Christ my car warms up fast. I slide inside and sigh when my ass hits the already warm seat.
As I pull out of the parking lot, my thoughts wander back to the hell my life’s about to be for the next week.
Six days.
I can last six days.
2
SAVANNAH
I shift in the backseat of Rylee’s Audi, staring out of the window as we make the relatively short trip to her mom’s house. I hadn’t planned to spend Thanksgiving break at the Conley’s, but after my parents announced they were spending the holiday with my mom’s sister in Iowa, I knew it was either this or stay home alone, which I seriously considered. Of course, there was no way Rylee was going to allow me to be alone.
“So, V.” Rylee clears her throat from the passenger seat, her hotter than sin boyfriend, Zayden, behind the wheel. Moments later, she turns and by the look on her face, I can tell I’m not going to like what she has to say. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” She kneads her bottom lip nervously between her teeth. “Don’t get mad, okay?”
“You know, when you start a sentence with don’t get mad, I’m already gearing up to be mad. You get that, right?” Rylee knows me better than anyone. Whatever she’s about to say has a high probability of pissing me off, otherwise she wouldn’t be trying to brace me for the impact.
“Oliver’s going to be there this week,” she says, almost too quickly for me to process her words. I stare at her for a full ten seconds before I’ve grasped what she said.
“Come again?�
�� I blurt, hoping that maybe I heard her wrong. Oliver Conley is the absolute last person I want to spend the holiday with, or any other day for that matter. After everything he put Rylee through last spring, he’s lucky I haven’t stabbed him. He may be her stepbrother, but that doesn’t mean I have to forgive him for what he did, even if Rylee has.
“I had no idea when I insisted you come. I guess his plans changed last night. He was supposed to spend the week at his mom’s. Not really sure what changed.” She shrugs.
“And this is something you couldn’t have shared before we left?”
“No, because I knew if I did, you would use it as an excuse not to come, and I’m not leaving my best friend all alone on Thanksgiving.”
“So you purposely withheld the information to get me to do what you wanted me to do?” I bite back in frustration.
“Yes.” Her face scrunches in apology. “Listen, I know you don’t like him, but over the last few months he’s really been trying. Do you think maybe you could cut him some slack? For me.” She pops her bottom lip out, giving a slight pout.
“You are the only reason I don’t knee him in the nuts every time I see him,” I point out. “That’s about as tolerant as I get when he’s involved. Honestly, Rylee, I don’t know why you think a person who did all the things he did is even remotely redeemable.”
“He had his reasons.” Her defense of him causes my blood to boil.
“The fact that he’s a spoiled, entitled prick who thinks he can throw a tantrum every time something doesn’t go his way being one of them,” I grumble loud enough for both of them to hear me.
