I stood abruptly from his lap, my hands flying to my hips. “Jude, be serious!”
He smiled at me. “Baby, I am being serious. Why work when we can spend all our time doing this together instead?” His hand reached around my hips, grabbing a firm handful of my ass.
“Jude, enough.” I smacked his hand away. “I don’t have that luxury. And no, I’m not just going to live off your family money while I sit on my ass all day.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He finally seemed to focus on the conversation. “You saying all I do is sit on my ass all day?”
I rubbed a hand across my eyes. “I’m not saying anything about you, this is about me. And I can’t live without a job, I can’t live off of your money. It’s just not going to happen.”
“Well you’re not working here as my maid. I can’t live that way, it’s ridiculous.”
“So you’re just going to fire me?” I hated this job, but what other job would pay this well? Plus, Margeaux had thoroughly smeared my name all across town, as I had already learned. Who else would hire me?
“It’s not firing, I’m just saying that my girlfriend is not gonna be my fuckin’ maid!”
I sighed. “Then how am I supposed to earn money?”
We were shouting at each other on his little balcony. The echo of our words ringing back at us seemed to snap us both out of it for a minute. He took a deep breath and lowered his voice.
“We’re arguing in circles, Red. What do you want me to do here? You want to keep coming into mine and Lila’s rooms, cleaning up after us? And then we’re just supposed to fuck and fall asleep together? Is that not demented?” He shoved a frustrated hand through his hair.
He had a point. “Okay, yeah, maybe it is. But I have to work, Jude. I have to make a living, to support myself.” I softened my tone some. “And thank you for offering to help, but I’m not that kind of girl.”
When I said that, his eyes snapped to me, and he looked at me for a moment, as if considering something.
“What? You know I’m not, Jude. I think I’ve made that pretty damn clear.”
“You’re right, you have,” he said quietly. “You really have.”
“Margeaux made sure I’d never work anywhere in this town, purely out of spite. Even if I could work somewhere else, I’d be taking a huge pay cut. You know your mom pays so highly to keep us all quiet and loyal. Yeah, dealing with Janey is a pain but she’s been easier to deal with now that your mom’s gone.”
At this, he smiled slowly. “I’m glad you mentioned her. I was going to save this for after dessert, actually. But maybe now is better,” he said, pulling a flat gift box from his back pocket.
“Jude, not now-”
“It’s not what you think it is. Open it.”
I sighed, pulling the thick satin ribbon. I lifted the lid of the box to see… a piece of paper? I shot him a confused look. He nodded at me encouragingly.
“Go on. Read it.”
I scanned the sheet. “Jude… what the hell is this?”
“It’s Janey’s pink slip. A carbon copy of course, she’s got the original. I thought you’d want to have it.”
I looked up from the piece of paper slowly, my hands shaking. “Why would you… what…” I couldn’t string my words together. “What did you do?”
“I fired her,” he said, his voice smug. “For you. As a gift. She was always a bitch to you, so I showed her the door.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah, I know, babe. You don’t have to thank me. Just doing my job as your guy, looking out for you.” He crossed his arms with a grin. I looked at him, so clearly waiting for me to heap my joy at him, to throw my arms around him in gratitude, and I felt my head begin to pound.
“This is exactly what I was worrying about, just earlier today,” I said, my voice low. In my hand, I crumpled the piece of paper. He glanced down at it in surprise and confusion. “Are you kidding me?”
“What? What’s this now? I thought you’d be happy.”
“You thought I’d be happy that you fired someone, you took away their livelihood on a whim? For no other reason than she was kind of a bitch?”
He looked between me and the paper. “Red-”
“This is exactly the problem between us. Your rich boy attitude makes you think shit like this,” I waved the crumpled sheet at him, “is okay. Do you know how long Janey worked here? Do you have any idea?”
“How the fuck should I know?” he yelled. “I’m not her fucking boss.”
“Yeah, you kinda are,” I snapped. “She’s been here 15 years, Jude. Fifteen years of her life to your family, and you repay her with this shit.”
“You’re standing up for her? Seriously? After the way she treated you? She acted like you were a piece of shit stuck to her orthopedic shoe, Brooklyn!”
“This isn’t about her,” I groaned. “It’s about all of it. Our differences, the way you think, the way you do things.”
“You’re really going to stand here in my house, on my balcony, shitting on how I live my life? Are you fucking kidding me with this? Maybe my mother was right about you this morning.”
That stopped me in my tracks. “What?”
“Nothing.” He backtracked. “Forget it.“
I narrowed my eyes. “No. I’m not going to forget it. Did you see her this morning? Is that why you came back acting so strangely?”
“Just forget it, okay? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it. Look, you’re right, I fucked up with Janey, I shouldn’t have done that. Can we just go back to our dinner date? Please?” He was nearly tripping over his words, he was speaking so quickly.
“Oh no you don’t.” I crossed my arms over my chest, my heart suddenly ice cold. “Tell me.”
He cursed quietly. “Look, I shouldn’t have let it slip that way. It was the heat of the moment, I was angry, I fucked up. Can we please just let it go?”
I stared at him, not giving an inch.
He sighed, massaging his temples. “Fine, but will you sit, please?”
We both returned to our seats at the table, though I was at the very edge of mine. My heart was thundering in a mixture of fear and anticipation about what he was about to tell me.
“I didn’t mean to see my mother this morning, but I did. The idiot detective was leading me to an interrogation room to sign those papers, but the room he brought me to had my mother in it. And when I tried to leave, the door was locked from the outside. He said it was an accident.”
I frowned. “How could something like that happen by accident? I don’t believe that for a second.”
He lightened at that. “That’s exactly what I thought too!”
“It wasn’t an accident. But the question is why he did it.”
“Good point, maybe-”
I cut him off. “But that’s a question for another time. What did she say that you’re suddenly agreeing with now?”
He grimaced. “She warned me off of you. She said you were just wanting to use me, that we were bad for one another.”
Each word he said was worse than the last. Inside, I could feel a helpless fury building. “And I guess you agree with her? Since you basically kicked me out this morning and now you’re using her words in the middle of our argument?” I clasped my hands together tightly so he wouldn’t see them shaking.
“I don’t! I swear, I don’t! After you left this morning, I talked to Lila and spent a lot of time thinking, and of course she isn’t right. You’re not just with me for my money,” he laughed. “Look at you tonight even, you wouldn’t even consider letting me support you just for a few months.”
I thought about the strange face he’d made when I had refused his offer of support earlier, and a sick understanding dawned. “Tonight was like some kind of test?”
“No, it really wasn’t. I swear to God. It just helped prove her even more wrong. I shouldn’t have let anything she said hit me at all. I was being an idiot, okay?”
“So you needed
Lila’s support to figure that out?” I stood now, too angry to continue sitting.
“No! I just needed confirmation, I guess, that our mother is a sociopath, that nothing she said would be for my benefit, but hers!”
“Maybe she was right,” I spat, throwing the crumpled pink slip on the ground. “If you needed so much proof that I wasn’t a liar or some kind of gold digger, we should just end this now.”
“Come on, Brooklyn. Even you have to admit that the way we met was suspect! Things were never truthful between us until now! Can you really blame me for doubting you?”
I just stared at him, at a complete loss for words. “Yeah, you know what, I guess you’re right. Why don’t I just save you the trouble, Jude? I’m out of here.”
I whirled on my heel and stalked to the door.
“Brooklyn, I didn’t mean it like that! Come on!” he roared as he followed.
I spun around and jabbed a finger at his chest. “Don’t you dare follow me,” I hissed. “You needed your alone time this morning? Well fine, I need it now.” I threw open the door and took the stairs down two at a time, my face on fire.
“Dammit, Brooklyn at least eat your dessert!”
Arriving home after driving like a madwoman in an action movie, I slammed the door to my apartment so loudly it received an answering chorus of shouted complaints from my neighbors.
“Fuck off!” I yelled, ripping off my clothes. I knew I was acting like a maniac, but couldn’t seem to make myself calm down. All of the anger and frustration from Jude’s words were stabbing me repeatedly, like little, targeted knives.
I grabbed a beer from my fridge and took a sip, hoping it would calm me down. It did, some. I’d take a shower and hopefully be even calmer after that.
I stepped out of the shower much calmer, even a bit shamefaced. Pulling on my ratty old cotton robe, I took my beer and sat on the ground of my balcony.
“I really need to get some balcony furniture out here,” I mused to myself, looking at the gray sparseness of my little outdoor space. The landlord had listed it as an “outdoor feature, lovely to take in the fresh air from!” on the Craigslist post. He’d been right about one thing, it was a nice place to sit, but I don’t know how fresh the air was from this particular spot of town.
“I’d buy you some, but it might get us back into another argument,” the silky voice behind me should have startled me, but I think part of me knew he’d come.
I sighed. “Jude, I just can’t do this right now, okay? I’m—I’m hurt, and I’m--.”
I felt his hand on my shoulder. “I know you are. And I know that’s my fault because, yet again, I’m being an idiot.”
Without thinking, shutting my brain off completely, I whipped around and threw myself at him. He caught me at once, and we were kissing, a desperate, wild kiss. All of our emotions funneled through it, and our bodies responded with a passion.
He carried me inside and dropped me on my bed, leaning over me with a burning fire in his eyes. I ripped his shirt off and then mine. And in response, he sank down over my body, kissing my breasts, my stomach, my hips.
Then, his head slipped beneath my robe, and he kissed my thighs, higher and higher, until…
“Oh,” I breathed, my arms stretching out beside me.
He kissed and tasted, flicking his tongue devilishly until he found just the right spot, pushing me higher and higher until I was at the cusp, and then he stopped. I went to move forward in protest, but his strong hand pushed me back down as he moved back on top of me and with one smooth thrust, entered me.
We moved together, frenzied, desperate, our skin burning between us. And with a rush, we finished, one after another in a trembling gasp of passion. He dropped into my arms, rolling onto his back, and pulled me close so I was resting on his chest.
“That was some fight, huh?” he asked lightly, still a bit out of breath.
I rolled my eyes but didn’t answer.
“You know I can’t see you roll your eyes from here, right?”
I couldn’t resist the smile, and in response I felt his laugh rumble through his chest beneath me. I sat up, leaning on one elbow to look down at him, my still-damp hair trailing across his chest. But even though I didn’t want to admit it, the spark of anger was still there. The hurt of betrayal still burned like needless embers in a dying fireplace.
I settled my chin against his heart. “Where do we go from here?”
He looked at me seriously, taking one hand and trailing across my hairline, resting it against my cheek. “To dinner?” He smiled his heartbreaking smile. “I’m starved.”
I didn’t return the smile, but I did lean into his hand.
His smile faded. “I don’t know, Red.” He sighed. “I really don’t. I guess we need to figure out trusting each other first. I’m new to this shit, too, so that doesn’t help. I mean yeah, I was engaged, but you and I both know that was bullshit. I have no experience with this.”
I laughed. “Neither do I.”
“So I guess we work on trust then. We figure out how to deal with each other.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll try not to be an arrogant prick.”
“And I’ll try to look at your motivations when you are.” I traced circles on his chest with my finger. “I see what you were trying to do with Janey. I know you were just trying to protect me. I’m sorry I flipped out on you about it. But I still wish you hadn’t done that.”
“I emailed her and offered her job back,” he said. “You were right, I didn’t know anything about her before. I just took away her livelihood.”
I kissed him as I slid off to the side and curled against his warm form. He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close, my leg slipping in between his. And even though his cock was still rock-hard, ready for another round if I so much as kissed him, I felt my eyes fluttered closed.
Before long, his soft snores lulled me straight to sleep.
3
Lila
I decided to take it as a good sign that Jude hadn’t come home. Hopefully he’d quit being an idiot and had spoken to Brooklyn. I was about over him screwing up with her every chance he gets. Brooklyn and Jude were clearly meant for each other, but you wouldn’t know it by how often they had their stupid fights.
Worse, it was usually me who ended up dealing with the fallout. A grouchy, silent Jude sulking around the house and Brooklyn either disappeared or went around slamming cleaning products. No thanks.
Enough about them. I was putting the final touches on my outfit before my date with Aiden. God, he was sexy. Tonight would be our third date, and I was looking forward to it immensely. I gave myself an appraising look in my full-length mirror, tugged down the v-neckline of my little black dress, and was just swiping on another coat of lip gloss when I heard the doorbell ring.
I popped my lips in the mirror, checked the keyhole back with lace edging of the dress to be sure it wasn’t askew, and ran downstairs.
Aiden was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me, a grocery bouquet in hand; when he saw me, he let out a long, low whistle.
“Damn girl,” he said as I walked into his arms for a kiss. “You sure know how to make a guy’s knees weak.”
I took the flowers and smiled at him, looking around for Janey to pass them off to. Shit, Jude had fired her. I grabbed the arm of a passing maid and handed them to her. “Put these in a vase in my room, please.” Turning back to him, I used my thumb to wipe the gloss from his bottom lip. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve.” I leaned in and whispered, “And you’ve barely seen any of them yet.”
He caught my hand in his and raised one eyebrow. “Aren’t you feisty?”
I tossed my hair over my shoulder and walked to the door, feeling his eyes on me as I did. “Keep up if you can.”
But when I walked outside, I stopped short in the driveway. “Is that your car?”
Parked up near the door was a sleek, matte black Mazda. Definitely not the car I would have expected a young cop in small-town New Eng
land to have. I felt his hand rest on the back of my neck.
“The RX-8,” he said in tones of reverence. “I just got her. I’ve wanted one since the first time I saw it. And isn’t she a beaut?” He went to the passenger side door and pulled it open, extending his hand to take mine. “My lady?” he asked with a grin.
I took his hand and let him help me in. When he closed the door behind me, I took a second to look around. Nice. Not a car me or my family would ever own. I mean, I could tell just by sitting down that the seats were leatherette. Plus, we tended to spend at least six figures on our rides. It was certainly nicer than I would have expected from Aiden, though. I had mentally prepared myself to act nonchalant about riding to dinner in some Honda, or perhaps, God forbid, a pickup truck.
So, this was a nice little surprise.
Aiden got into the driver’s seat and looked at me with a smile. “When you’re riding with a cop, you better buckle.”
I rolled my eyes but strapped the seatbelt across my lap, and with an overly dramatic engine rev, we were off.
“How was your day?” He looked at me briefly before turning his eyes back to the road.
A careful driver, how sweet. “Nothing particularly interesting on my end. Just the usual. You know, the guy I’m casually dating fucked up and led my twin brother into a locked room with our psychopath mother,” I said, looking out the window as the town flashed by.
From the corner of my eye, I saw him wince. “You heard about that, huh?”
I decided not to favor that stupid question with an answer.
He reached over the middle console and took my hand in his. “I’m really sorry about that, Lila,” he said, his voice soft. “I was horrified. You can’t imagine how I beat myself up over it later. I owe your brother big-time. Even the guys down at the station were bothering me about making such a rookie mistake. My boss called me in and gave me a warning!”
I turned to him, suddenly feeling a hint of guilt. “You got in trouble?”
“Kind of,” he said. “He took me to task on it, made me swear I’d never do that again.”
VENGEFUL ROYALS | A DARK COLLEGE BULLY ROMANCE: HEIRS OF HAVOC Page 3
