VENGEFUL ROYALS | A DARK COLLEGE BULLY ROMANCE: HEIRS OF HAVOC

by Winters, Vanessa

  I decided to run out for coffee and bagels before she got up. Because if you’d have seen her ancient coffeemaker, you would have done the same.

  Before burning it.

  As I took the stairs down two at a time, I called Lila to check in. She answered on the third ring.

  “Hey J,” she said. “You sleep at Brooklyn’s last night?”

  “Unfortunately,” I said, opening the door and stepping out into the fresh air, releasing the scent of stale cigarette smoke and cat piss.

  And yes, even as a smoker I can appreciate the fact that her place fucking reaked.

  “Sneaking out to get coffee now?” I could hear the smirk in her voice.

  “You haven’t seen her coffeemaker,” I said grimly.

  She laughed. “And I hope I never do. Listen, Aiden wants to take the four of us out on a double date. Are you guys free tonight?”

  “Aiden?” I asked, half listening as I shouldered my way down the sidewalk. This part of town was so much more crowded than mine.

  “The cop,” she said impatiently.

  I stopped in my tracks. “You’re still dating him? I thought that was a one-off.”

  “No,” she said. “We had our third date last night.”

  “Isn’t he old?” I asked, ignoring the dirty looks I was getting from a mommy brigade pushing strollers down the sidewalk and forced to part to walk around me.

  “He’s 27,” she said. “Hardly old.”

  “Um, kind of old considering you’re 21.”

  “Whatever, Jude. I’m dating him, and I really like him. You didn’t have me all up your ass when you started getting into Brooklyn.”

  I laughed and started walking again. “That is literally the opposite of the truth.”

  “Well, be better than me then.”

  There was no arguing with my sister. “Yeah, fine, tonight should work. I’ll check with Brooklyn when I get back and let you know for sure.”

  “Oh and Jude, he’s a little sensitive about the class difference, so try to be mindful of that.”

  “Class difference?” I snorted. “Big man can’t handle having a rich girlfriend?”

  “I’m serious. I really want this to work.”

  I was taken aback by how serious she really did sound. Now I really wanted to meet this guy properly.

  “I will,” I promised, opening the door to the bagel shop. “Gotta go, I’ll text you when I talk to Brooklyn.”

  An hour later, me and Brooklyn were sitting cross legged on the cold cement of her porch, eating warm bagels and drinking coffee not made from a machine that probably had some sort of recall on it from the 90s.

  “So, Lila wants us to go on a double date with her new dude tonight,” I said, tearing off a piece of my bacon, egg and cheese.

  She looked at me in surprise. “The cop? They’re actually dating? I thought that was more casual.”

  “Same.” I said, washing my bite down with coffee.

  “Do you want to go?”

  “Yeah. She sounds serious about him, but there’s something that feels off to me. I mean, he’s 27 first of all, and we don’t know him or anything about him. He’s not…”

  I stopped short. I had come really close to saying something about him not being our type of person, which Brooklyn wasn’t either.

  She shot me a look. “Seriously?”

  I backpedaled some. “We just don’t know anything about him. Who is he? Why does he want to date my sister? What’s he getting out of this?”

  She ticked off her answers on her fingers. “He’s a cop, he wants to date your sister because she’s cool and hot, and people date, Jude. It’s a normal thing to do. God, you and your sister are always so fucking suspicious of everyone.”

  I sensed trouble ahead. “This isn’t like me and you, Red. He just showed up out of nowhere. Can’t you see why I’d be a little concerned?”

  “You’re her brother, of course you’re concerned. But I think you’re being a bit ridiculous. I’ll give you the fact that it’s weird he was working on your mother’s case and now is dating her daughter, but I can see how he’d be pulled in by Lila. The Carlisle twins can be awfully intriguing.” She looked at me with a smile.

  I set my bagel aside and leaned over her, my hands behind her on the ground. “Is that so?” I asked, leaning close.

  She arched her back so her chest touched mine. “It is.”

  I kissed her, and she tasted like coffee. “You’re pretty intriguing yourself,” I said.

  And when she wrapped her arms around my neck, I quickly scooped her up. She squealed with delight as I held her close, her eyes dancing between my own. I carried her into the bedroom and splayed her across her mattress, the troubled furnishings of her studio apartment quickly falling to the wayside.

  Then soon, our breakfast and my sister became the last things on our minds.

  5

  Brooklyn

  I was pulling on my shirt while Jude shot Lila a text, telling her we were in for tonight, though I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I was still a bit miffed at the idea that he really was suspicious of this man simply because he wasn’t rich. But, even when he was sending the text message, there was something off in his eye.

  There was something else bothering him, and he hadn’t mentioned what yet.

  “Have you heard back from Janey?” I asked, grabbing our coffees from the balcony and sitting cross-legged on the bed, handing him his.

  He grimaced. “Actually, yeah.” Opening his mail app, he handed it to me so I could read.

  Jude,

  Fuck you. Fuck Brooklyn. Fuck your whole family.

  Sincerely,

  Janey Mills

  I laughed. “Good for her.”

  “You are so weird,” he murmured.

  “What? I can admire that she didn’t take your first offer. We’ll just have to tweak it some.”

  “I still can’t understand why you care so much,” he yawned, stretching his arms above his head. My eyes caught the flexed tension in his biceps. But, when his abs flexed as he moved, I felt my face heat a notch. “Wouldn’t it be better if I just found her a job somewhere else?”

  “I don’t really know why it does,” I admitted. “I just feel really guilty. If it comes to that, then great. But I just think we should make it right with her.”

  “She’s a bitch, but it’s your call,” he said, taking back his phone. “Lila said we’ll do the Village Pub tonight. That okay with you?”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Wait, really? Your sister is down for that?”

  “Yeah, I’m a little surprised too. I think she’s trying really hard to act like a casual chick with him. God knows why.”

  “I mean, it’s fine with me. I love their burgers and they do pitcher deals on Thursdays. But I don’t know how she’s going to like it. I mean… will she know not to show up dressed to the nines?” I thought about the smoky, hole-in-the-wall interior of the Village Pub. It was one of my favorite places to hang out, precisely because no one from Bryers would ever deign to set a Manolo’d foot inside.

  My own phone dinged with an incoming text and I laughed as I read it out loud to Jude.

  10:45 AM

  Help! What the fuck am I supposed to wear to this place?

  “Let’s go to your house,” I said, grabbing a duffel and shoving some clothes inside. “I think your sister’s going to need my help.”

  When I walked into Lila’s room, it looked as if a clothing bomb had gone off. There were stray tops draped over nearly every surface, with matching bottoms laid across each one. The floor was littered with accessories. I picked my way through the mess, finding Lila lying face down across her bed, a few stray hats beside her, and what looked like scarves peeking out from beneath her.

  “Lila,” I put my hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

  “No,” she said, her voice muffled against the bed. “I don’t know how to do this.”

  I looked around for Jude, but he had said he was going to
jump into the shower and get changed. It was just me. I guess Lila and I were taking our acquaintanceship to the next level.

  I tugged on her shoulder until she sat up. “What’s up? It’s just an outfit; just one night.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You would think that because dressing for a hole in the wall would come easily to you. Some of us actually have taste.”

  “Alright then, I’m done.” I stood and turned to leave, but her hand snatched out and grasped my wrist.

  “No, wait.” She pulled me back until I was sitting in front of her on the bed. “I’m sorry, okay? God, I feel like that’s all I’m saying lately. Am I really such an ogre?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I peered into her pupils. Was she high or something? I had never seen this side of the haughty entitled ‘It Girl’ before.

  She sighed heavily and ran a hand through her jet-black hair. “I was being rude, and I’m sorry. I think I’m lashing out on you because I’m feeling vulnerable.”

  My mouth fell open. Who the hell was this girl?

  “Don’t act like me being halfway decent is the shock of the century,” she snapped, and oddly, it made me feel better. Like we were back on solid ground.

  My cheeks puffed out with a confused sigh. “All right. Tell me what’s going on.”

  “It’s Aiden.” She looked down at her lap. “I really like him, but I’ve never dated anyone like him before. We had an amazing date last night, but I almost ruined it, acting like… well… me.”

  I was shocked to see her eyes brimming with tears. “You’re not a bad person, Lila,” I said, feeling my way carefully through my words. “You’re just very,” I cocked my head. “You.”

  She laughed without humor. “Yeah, that’s exactly my problem. I’m very me. How do I act like someone who can get along with someone else? I’ve never had to do that before.”

  I desperately wished to be anywhere but sitting there with her, having this conversation with the same girl who had taunted me, belittled me, and treated me like dirt in the not-so-recent past. But, she was clearly trying, and I was never one to shrink from a challenge. “Okay, why don’t you start by telling me what you did to upset him.”

  She nodded and sat up straight, and I knew her logic-based mind was grabbing onto this step by step approach. “I showed off when we first got there, hoping to impress him. Then I got snotty when he didn’t know how to speak French to order the wine, and then…” she let out a breath. “I called him a Neanderthal when he ordered for me.”

  I frowned. “He ordered for you? That is Neanderthal-ish.”

  She was quick to disagree. “It was actually really sweet. He had called ahead to ask about their recommendations and wanted me to try the best they had.”

  I still thought it sounded weird, but her voice had taken on the sappy, gooey quality I recognized from Tae when she had a new guy she was over the moon about. I knew from experience that pushing the issue would just get her pissed off and she’d stop talking to me about it. So, I let it slide for now. After all, we’d see how this cop guy acted with her tonight, then we could pass judgment. “Okay… so you guys had a few issues making it through the night. But you made it to the end, right? No one left early?”

  “Oh, we made it to the end all right,” she said, a wicked smile lighting her face.

  “Ugh, that’s plenty of information, thanks.” I thought for a moment. “It sounds like you’re trying, Lila, and that’s all you can do. You’re not going to be able to become perfect in an afternoon--or ever--so just keep working at it. If he’s a decent guy, he’ll be patient with you as you work through this together.”

  She nodded slowly. “I can do that. And he really is decent. Better than decent.”

  “Let’s get you in something casual for tonight.” I stood and looked around at basically the entire contents of her closet. Designer labels abounded, and I didn’t see a single pair of jeans. Come to think of it… I’d never found a pair in the laundry from before either. I turned back to her. “Do you have a pair of jeans?”

  She scrunched her nose. “Mother doesn’t allow denim in the house. It’s common, she says.”

  “Not anymore. Even fashion icons wear jeans and make them work.”

  “She doesn’t like us to be like anyone else.” She paused. “I guess that’s pretty weird, huh?”

  “Uh… yeah.” I pulled my duffel onto the bed and unzipped it. “We’re pretty close to the same size, so I brought you some stuff. Hang on.” I dug through and finally pulled out a pair of jeans and a plain black tee and handed them to her.

  “This?” She looked at the outfit like it was a bug.

  I grabbed her elbow and pushed her toward her bathroom. “Just try it on.”

  She came out a few seconds later, and even she looked impressed. The jeans were skinny and stopped at the ankle, making her shapely legs and butt look great. She’d tucked in the black tee, which was thin cotton and pretty tight. She looked hot as hell.

  “Damn, Brooklyn,” she turned side to side in her mirror, lifting her hair experimentally. “I did not expect something so plain to look so good.”

  I came up behind her and lifted her hair into a high ponytail, showing off her angular cheekbones and cat-like green eyes before tying it off with my own plain black hair-tie.

  Lila looked at me from her reflection in the mirror. “Can I wear makeup or is that over the top?”

  I laughed. “Girl, makeup is the one aspect that works no matter what you’re wearing. Even poor girls wear makeup too, you know. Do whatever you want. I’m going to check on Jude, so holler if you need me.”

  I had just finished changing into my own outfit--jeans, a white tank top, and a fake leather jacket--when the door flew open, making me jump.

  “Shoes,” she gasped, holding up a pile in her arms. “What kind of shoes?”

  I put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Anything works with jeans. Trust yourself, Lila. You’ve got this.”

  And if I’d thought she couldn’t shock me any further, I was wrong, because then she pulled me into a quick, tight hug. “Thank you, Brooklyn,” she said with feeling, and then disappeared back through the door.

  Jude was standing in the open bathroom door, a towel slung around his waist, his mouth a perfect circle. “Were you and Lila just hugging?”

  I groaned. “Don’t ask.”

  I grabbed my purse as he started getting dressed. “You going somewhere or something?” he asked, popping an unlit cigarette in his mouth in a smooth, practiced motion.

  I pulled the cigarette from his lips, kissed him, and tossed it out the open window.

  “Got an errand to run. Be back in time for dinner.”

  I’d never driven to Janey’s house before, especially since I had no idea where she lived. But I’d been able to find the information in the employee files, conveniently kept in a drawer in the kitchen, since it had been Janey herself who had been in charge of that information.

  It had been a surprise to learn that she lived on my side of town. The way she held herself, I guess I’d thought she’d be out in the suburbs, in a tidy little soulless house with eight cats and hotel art. I pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building and let out a low whistle.

  “Well, well, well, Janey,” I said, looking at the ancient, Soviet-esque style building that had never seen better days, not even when it was first built. A beer bellied man slouched, passed out across the front steps, the broken glass door propped open by his greasy head.

  I left my purse in the car, locked up, and headed in, picking my way past the broken glass and cigarette butts. Inside, I nearly got run over by a pack of kids tearing down the hall. The air was thick with the smell of food and cigarettes, and--I sniffed again--weed for sure.

  I looked at my scrap of paper with her address and found her unit, squaring my shoulders as I knocked.

  “No solicitors!” bellowed a voice inside.

  I knocked again, and this time heard footste
ps approaching the door. It swung open, revealing an angry-faced Janey wearing a tattered terrycloth bathrobe and holding an extra-large bag of Cheetos.

  Her mouth dropped when she saw me on the other side. “Brooklyn?”

  My face must have looked as shocked as hers. I had never seen Janey anything but perfectly dressed, not a stray hair or wrinkle to be seen. And I’d certainly never seen her eat junk food. She’d spend longer calculating and weighing her lunch out than she would actually eating it.

  I cleared my throat. “Hey Janey, can we talk?”

  It took her a second to get over the surprise of finding me on her doorstep, but then she slammed the door in my face.

  Good ol’ Janey.

  I wasn’t giving up that easily, though. I dug my heels in and I knocked again, but this time I knocked harder. “Janey! Come on! Let’s just talk like adults!”

  “Go away!” she yelled from the other side of the door.

  “I’m not leaving until we do!”

  I waited, but there was no sound. Not even the sound of her walking away. Fine, I guess we’d have to do it this way. “Listen, I’m sorry that Jude fired you. I never wanted that to happen. He thought he was doing the right thing, something I’d want him to do. But I didn’t.”

  “Must be nice, having the little prince at your beck and call,” she said snottily through the door.

  I moved my head from side to side. “Actually, yeah it kind of is.”

  She snorted a laugh, cutting it off quickly as she caught herself.

  I smiled. “Won’t you consider coming back? They’re willing to discuss a rehire package with you.”

  There was silence for a moment, and then the door creaked open. “What kind of package?”

  I handed her a sheet of paper that I’d helped Jude type up yesterday. “A signing bonus, a guaranteed severance if you’re let go again, and a retroactive retirement package.”