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

by Winters, Vanessa

  But, his voice pieced my thoughts. “Are you doing okay with all of the trial stuff? I can’t believe you agreed to testify. That’s incredible.”

  I drew in a sobering breath. “I don’t know. It’s definitely going to end my relationship with Mother forever, but I don’t know that I ever really had one with her to begin with. If that makes sense.”

  “Yeah… I’ve met your mom. That makes sense.”

  We were already pulling up outside Blenders. He hurried to open my door and we stepped inside the warm, sweet smelling cafe. I grinned at him, suddenly very glad that I’d agreed to this.

  But, when he tried to take my hand, I kindly slipped mine away from his.

  “What’ll you have?” the cashier, a girl with super cute red cat-eye glasses, asked.

  I smiled. “A large soy latte, please. Also, I love those glasses. They’re totally working for you.”

  “Really? Wow, thanks. I was worried they were too much,” she said, putting a hand to them.

  I shook my head. “Nope, they’re awesome.”

  “A large black coffee for me.” Aiden interrupted, and I had a flash of what Brooklyn had said. She was right, he did treat food employees like crap. I frowned at him but he didn’t see. He was too busy paying for our stuff.

  I went and sat by the window, making him stand and wait for our stuff before he came to join me.

  “How’s staying at Brooklyn’s? It’s got to be a big change from what you’re used to,” he said as he set my coffee in front of me.

  “That’s the understatement of the year,” I snorted. “It’s incredibly different, but I’m so grateful to her. She’s really putting herself out for us.”

  He nodded and pushed aside the napkin holder as the cashier delivered our drinks in wide mugs. “You could have stayed with me, you know,” he said, taking a sip of his.

  “We barely dated at all,” I said with a smile. “I mean, thanks for the offer but that would have been moving way too fast.”

  He frowned. “Maybe we weren’t dating for long but what we had was special. I really thought we were going somewhere, Li. I even think I’d started to fall in love with you.”

  The delicious taste of my latte was soured by his words. I shifted in my seat. “Aiden, we went on like four dates tops, and had major issues come up already. At best, we were a casual thing. I don’t think love could have come up already.”

  He shook his head. “Sometimes it’s just like that. My parents fell in love at first sight. Were married thirty years and then when my dad died of a stroke, my mom died a few days later. They were just that way. Soulmates.”

  “Some people are like that, sure. But you met me at a pretty crazy time. I don’t think it was ever going to work out that way for us. We’re just too different.”

  He scoffed. “You really think that?”

  “I really do,” I said, my voice gentle.

  And when he didn’t respond, I put my hand on his as it rested against the table. “But I’d really like for us to be friends if we can.”

  Of course, that wasn’t what I really wanted. But he looked so pitiful and hurt, sitting across from me that way. I figured I’d offer and let the friendship die out over time.

  “So, there is absolutely no way you would consider getting back together with me?” he asked. “Even if I let you move in? I mean, my house is way nicer than Brooklyn’s. I could take care of you. You wouldn’t have to worry about anything.”

  “Move in with you?” I laughed. “Aiden, that’s crazy. There’s no way we’re moving in together, and I don’t need someone to take care of me. I need to learn to take care of myself.”

  “So that’s a definite ‘no’?”

  I was getting irritated now. Why did he keep asking that? “It’s a definite no.”

  His eyes flashed with emotion and I looked tactfully down at my latte. I worked to finish it as quickly as I could, and I heard him gulp down his coffee. I guess we were both ready to get out of there, since the tension had now risen with a fervor I didn’t want to acknowledge.

  Still, the coffee was worth it. The damn thing tasted like heaven. I’d never had a coffee this good in my entire life.

  We walked out of the coffee shop in an awkward, heavy silence. I paused at the passenger side door as he got into the front. But, something told me not to get in the car.

  “Hey, why don’t I just walk home?” I suggested. “That way you don’t have to go out of your way?”

  He stared at me. “You think I’m going to let you walk home now?”

  I forced a smile, suddenly feeling like a wild animal who could smell danger in the air. “Why not? It’s not far.”

  He slammed his door shut and came around the car towards me, and something in his eyes warned me, sending me scrambling backwards. But I was too slow, or maybe he was too fast. Either way, he caught up to me in less than a moment, grabbing my shoulder and spinning me around so my front was pressed against the car.

  “Aiden,” I gasped, out of breath from my chest smacking the hard surface. “What are you doing?”

  I heard something metal clinking behind me and then felt something cold click against my wrists. “Are you handcuffing me?”

  I tried to scream, but he shoved me harder against the car, making it impossible for my diaphragm to inflate. I coughed the air out, struggling to catch my breath. And as he pulled me backwards by my wrists, he threw me into the backseat of the car.

  “Where’s your phone?” he asked, and his voice was suddenly all business, like I was any old criminal he had just brutally cuffed and chucked into the cruiser.

  “What?” I was still focused on getting my breath back.

  “Your phone!” He shook my shoulders, making my head snap backwards and sending a bolt of pain up my spine.

  “In my back pocket,” I said as tears rose to my eyes.

  He turned me over and pulled it out, turning me back so I was sitting on the seat and slamming the door. As he got in the front I said, “Idiot, you could have fucking looked.”

  “Your sass mouth is not going to fly anymore, Lila.”

  Now that he was in the driver’s seat and I was shoved away in the backseat, he seemed much more cheerful. I leaned forward and saw he was opening my phone and navigating to messages.

  I furrowed my brow. “How did you know my code?”

  I had never given him that information.

  “You literally never tried to hide it from me. Sue me for paying attention,” he said, tapping on the group message with me, Jude, and Brooklyn in it. I watched him type:

  Aiden and I are back together. Staying at his place tonight ;) Enjoy your alone time lovebirds.

  “The winky face is a bit much,” I said.

  He growled at me. “You don’t get an opinion anymore.”

  “Where are you taking me?” I pulled against the handcuffs, even though an idiot would be able to see that it was utterly useless. It made me so furious, being locked up like this.

  “You know, it didn’t have to be like this,” his voice was dreamy, far away and as if he had not heard me at all. “I had a whole, grand plan for you, Lila Carlisle.”

  We were taking the road out of town and back towards the mountains. My heart grew ice cold at the thought. Why was he taking me into the mountains?

  “Lila, I was going to be your knight in shining armor. I was going to whisk you away from the shit hole of your life and take care of you. We were going to be so happy, especially when your trust fund kicked in at twenty-five. It was so close I could taste it.”

  My mind raced to keep up with him. What the fuck? He only wanted me for my trust fund?

  “But then you had to go and ruin it,” he said, his voice turning cold. He looked at me in the rearview mirror and his soft brown eyes looked black. “Fucking idiot, Lila. Why did you do that? Why? We could have had everything.” He slammed a hand against the steering wheel and the car shuddered on the road, sending me sliding across the backseat.

&nbs
p; We were climbing the mountain roads now, the curves growing sharper.

  “What are you talking about? How the hell did I ruin it?” I asked breathlessly, trying to keep my tears at bay.

  “You pushed me away!” he yelled, his voice cracking. “We were supposed to be together, Lila! Me and you! Instead you decided you were too fucking good for me!”

  We were going too fast up the mountain. I could see the next curve up ahead, sharp and frightening.

  “I never thought I was too good for you,” I said, desperately trying to calm him down. “I thought you were too good for me!”

  “Oh, yeah, and that’s why you dumped me and wouldn’t take me back?” He swung his head from side to side. “You really expect me to believe that? Really!?”

  We were approaching the curve even faster now. I scooted to the far seat, putting my legs against the other side to try and wedge myself in. “I do, Aiden!”

  The tires skidded across the road as we took the curve, but we made it. My shaking legs dropped to the seat, but it wasn’t over yet. We were still climbing the mountain, and another curve was coming. This one was even sharper, and he was going even faster now. I could feel the engine whining beneath my feet.

  Tears lined my eyes. “Aiden, slow down!”

  “And blah blah blah all that shit with your Mother when at any point I could have told you the shit that was going on there--.“

  “AIDEN!” I bellowed.

  The back tires swung wide as we went around the sharp mountain curve, sending the tail end of the car swinging sharply. I heard him curse up front as the front tires slipped as well and then worked to regain traction as I was lifted in the seat and thrown across the length of it, smacking my head with a crack against the window.

  And then, everything fell silent.

  15

  Jude

  “Can we please give it a rest?” I shoved the pages forward and dropped my head onto the kitchen table. “You are wearing me out.”

  “Stop talking to me like I’m your teacher,” Brooklyn said with a smirk. “I’m just trying to talk you through some budgeting basics.”

  It was growing dark outside and the snow had just begun to fall, blanketing the world in a heavy coat of stillness. Cars were coming by less and less as the roads emptied in preparation for what the newscasters were crowing to be ‘the storm of the century!’ Brooklyn and I had celebrated having the house to ourselves about, oh… four times and now were sitting half-dressed at her table talking about bills of all things.

  It was getting colder in her apartment now. Brooklyn must have felt the same, because she stood and pulled a robe on over the t-shirt and underwear she was currently only dressed in, and then pulled mine from her closet.

  “I can’t believe you thought to pack this,” I said gratefully as I pulled it on. The thick fleece warmed me up immediately, but not as much as a drink would. “Whiskey?”

  “Of course.”

  Our phones buzzed in unison with an emergency alert.

  WARNING - HEAVY SNOWFALL EXPECTED - STAY INSIDE, accompanied by a sharp buzzing, repeated through twice before finally shutting up.

  We took our whiskies and went to the balcony door, looking outside. The wind was whipping sharply, there were already garbage cans and stray lawn ornaments being blown around. Soon, they’d be buried by the snow that was falling so thickly it was getting progressively harder to make anything out at all.

  Brooklyn leaned her head on my shoulder. “This is nice.”

  And it was. Even though we were in her cold apartment on the wrong side of town, even though dinner had been scrambled eggs on toast instead of steak or lobster or even a good burger, it was nice. Really, really nice.

  16

  Margeaux

  “The storm is perfect,” Daddy said to Gray. “It will give us a few days of stasis to get things settled before they realize anything is wrong.”

  Gray crossed his long, elegant legs. I noticed the quality material of his gray slacks, wondering if that’s how he got his nickname. Because I’d only ever seen him in shades of gray, whether it was his suits, his sweater vests, or his khakis, of all things. I was dying to ask where he’d gotten them, but there hadn’t been an opening in the conversation yet.

  “And you really trust this man?” His Russian accent was so slight, you wouldn’t have known it if you didn’t look out for it.

  Daddy shifted in his seat. “He tried to back out on us recently, but he came to his senses.”

  “That is not what I asked you.” Gray’s voice did not change, but we both felt the temperature of the room drop.

  Daddy considered for a moment, and then realized he had no choice but to say yes. If our partner screwed us over now, it was too late to say we had had reservations all along. We were in this too deep now. Besides, I was feeling the excitement thrumming through me. It was finally time for our planning to come to fruition.

  Daddy finally spoke. “Yes. I trust him.”

  Gray nodded slowly. “Good.”

  He stood and walked to the marble bar by the wide windows overlooking our property. Not as fancy as the view at the Carlisle’s, perhaps, but nothing to turn your nose up at either. “We have made a lot of money together over the years. Yet, I do not know how the situation with the Congresswoman will resolve.”

  Even thinking their name sent a white hot lightning bolt of fury through me, enraging me so much I tended to ball my hands into fists, my freshly-manicured nails digging into my palms. I had done that so often that my palms now bore little crescent moon scars, marring them for all eternity. Yet another thing I had Jude to blame for. Then again, I kind of liked them, in an odd sort of way. They were proof of the incredible hardship I had endured, and served as a reminder of the people who had put me in this position.

  The people who had forced my hand.

  “I worry it will end up impacting us and the money we are making,” Daddy said, and I could hear the anxiety in his voice clear as day. Gray was like a wolf, so I knew he would have picked up on it as well.

  “You can be quite sure that my group will come out fine,” Gray said, smiling in a way that showed all of his sharp teeth. “As long as you hold up your end of the deal, you should be fine as well.”

  “Everything on our end is moving forward,” Gray continued after allowing us to absorb that information. “We are readying the final push. Is there anything else you need from me before I leave? It will be a few days before I can get in touch with you again.”

  Daddy shook his head no, looking relieved to have Gray on his way out. Though we had entered this collaboration willingly, both of us recognized how dangerous Gray--and the men he represented--were. I loved to watch him, fascinated by his elegance, style, and ability to strike fear in one’s heart without even saying a word.

  But, I was just as glad to see him go.

  Gray turned toward the door, but I had to know. “Gray,” I said, and he stopped before turning his gray eyes to meet mine. I felt a shiver work its way down my spine as he peered into my soul without a word spoken.

  So, I didn’t keep him waiting. “My apologies, but I’m dying to know. Where did you get those slacks?”

  17

  Brooklyn

  When I woke up on Wednesday morning, the world was white. The sight of the city, still and silent, all of the city sounds muffled under a layer of snow, made me smile.

  It was important to enjoy the first day of a snowfall like this, because by this afternoon the streets would be filled with a black sludge, things would get icy, and people would be grouchy. But for now, the world was beautiful.

  I quietly put the coffee on, using the new coffeemaker I’d begrudgingly bought, and had even more begrudgingly noticed how much better my coffee at home now tasted. I wouldn’t tell Jude or Lila that, though. Taking my cup of coffee, I sat at my table and lifted my laptop lid. I pulled up a job search site to look through, marking things for all three of us, stopping to text Lila to offer her a ride home if
she needed one. It was weird calling my apartment home to Lila Carlisle.

  Warm hands wrapped around my shoulders and I looked up to see Jude, looking deliciously mussed from just having woken up.

  “Hey,” I said, passing him my coffee. He took a grateful drink.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Job hunting,” I said with a sarcastically bright smile. “And having an absolute ball.”

  He laughed, going to pour himself a cup of coffee and joining me at the table, running one hand over his eyes. “Anything good?”

  “Actually, something that might interest you,” I said, turning the screen to show him. “It’s an apprenticeship thing at a bike shop. No skills or experience necessary. Of course, the pay sucks but it seems like a job you might not hate. Working with your hands, learning about motorcycles,” I shrugged.

  “That doesn’t sound bad,” he said. “What exactly is sucky pay? Forty, fifty bucks an hour?”

  I snorted into my coffee. “Try minimum wage.”

  He looked stricken. “Well what’s that? Twenty-five?”

  “Oh, honey,” I said, patting his hand. “We have got a long way to go.”

  I looked at him, bare-chested in the seat across from me with his dark hair rumpled and couldn’t resist him. “But I know a good place to start,” I said, climbing onto his lap.

  He cupped the back of my neck with his bare hand. “Do you?”

  And as I straddled him, grinding against a girth I felt bulging against my heated pussy, I giggled against his lips.

  “Yeah, handsome. I think I do.”

  18

  Lila

  I woke up, freezing cold and with my head throbbing. Moaning, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and blinked as I looked around. My first attempt to look around and figure out where the hell I was only left me cringing at the pain in my head. I framed my face with my hands and massaged away the headache I felt building.