by Ivy Fox
“At least your daddy had enough shame to jump off a bridge and kill himself for what he’d done. You don’t look like you have the same regret. I mean, where was all the money spent if not on his precious daughter? You should be ashamed of yourself,” she hisses out, indignant.
Addison must notice some reaction out of me because she closes the distance between us until our faces are mere inches away from each other; so close that all I see is the reflection of my eyes bouncing back from hers.
“Pucker up, bitch, because karma’s about to give you one hell of a kiss,” she threatens. “If I were you, I’d keep up with your new family tradition and just end it. I promise, the minute you walk through Pembroke’s doors, you wish you had.”
Everyone present is holding their breath, trying hard not to miss one word that passes through Addison’s evil lips. I hear their collective surprise when I erase the little space between us, tilt my head to the side, and offer Addison my own ruthless grin.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but that will never happen. Though, if I ever consider it, I’ll be sure to track you down. I mean, why use a bridge when all I have to do is climb up your bloated ego and jump to your minuscule IQ?!” I tell her sweetly, batting my eyelashes exaggeratedly, in the same way she had been doing to Rome.
“You’re done,” she threatens again, her chest knocking into mine.
“Doubtful,” I quip back assertively.
Elle pushes Addison away from me with such force she lands on her brother’s lap.
“Rome, can you please put this skanky-ass bitch back on a leash, please?” Elle barks out, looking like she’s the one who is going to take a bite out of Addison.
“Not my problem. Not yours either.”
“You know what, Roman? I’ve met a lot of pricks in my short life, but you, big brother, are a freaking cactus. Come on, Holland. Let’s go.”
Elle pulls my hand, pushing aside everyone who had gathered around to watch Addison have her moment with me. I feel Chad suddenly appear at my back, telling Elle he’ll drive us home.
I keep my chin up, not wanting to let anyone know how Addison’s words about my father hurt me. I don’t know her, and she doesn’t know me, so for her to spew so much hatred must stem from her own insecurities.
It was obvious she wanted to belittle me, especially in front of Rome. In reality, I couldn’t care less about her opinion. However, I don’t like the fact that I’ll be on every student’s lips when I start school next week. And with the way Addison behaved toward me—on top of Trevor and Ash’s fight, which I’m sure everyone thinks was my fault—I’ll be an outcast even before I step foot inside Pembroke High.
At the corner of my eye, I see Kim snicker while holding Ollie’s hand in hers. By their side stands Ash, looking bored, both arms slumped over two giggling, half-dressed girls. How disappointed Addison would be if she found out that this scene cripples me in ways her words could never do.
Chad does as he promises and takes us home. The whole ride, Elle is fuming while he tries to cool her down. I’m thankful they don’t ask me too many questions and leave me to my thoughts in the back seat. When we get home, Elle asks if I want some company, and I see how upset she is because tonight didn’t go as she expected.
I take her up on her offer, but not for the reason she thinks. I don’t need her to cheer me up. What I need is to tell her everything about me. My senior year hasn’t yet begun, but it’s already shaping up to be lonelier than any year I spent back at Brookhaven. If I expect to survive living here, I’ll need at least one friend by my side, and I’ve grown very fond of the youngest Grayson. I hope she continues to feel the same way about me once I come clean.
Before I let her turn on the TV in my room and scroll to whatever Netflix show she wants me to binge-watch with her, I ask her to sit down and begin to spill my guts out.
It’s oddly cathartic listening to all my thoughts, feelings, and memories. I’m a few months shy of turning eighteen, but recalling everything I’ve had to endure makes it sound like I have lived a lot longer.
Elle keeps silent throughout my whole rant, only asking a question here and there. Not once do I feel judgment or pity from her. I don’t know how much time has passed, but by the end of it, both of us are lying down on the bed, facing each other and cleaning away the tear streaks on one another.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” I mumble upset.
“And I didn’t mean to call you a stupid bitch,” she counters with a shaky smile.
“You never called me that.” I laugh.
“Not out loud, but trust me, I cursed Snow a lot in my head.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I guess it’s true what they say. The truth always has two sides to it. Can I ask you a question?” she whispers cautiously.
I nod with my own weak smile in place.
“Do you still love them?”
I nod again, not wanting to ever lie to her.
“That’s what I thought,” she hushes somberly, not being able to offer me any hope in return. “Want me to sleep in here tonight?” She yawns, showing her fatigue and getting more comfortable on her side of the bed.
“Sure, why not?” I grin, thinking that maybe, in Elle, I’m not only gaining a friend but also a sister—just like she wanted.
“Good. Fair warning, I snore,” she mumbles, half asleep. By the time I return from the bathroom in my tank top and shorts, she is indeed snoring away, slumbering blissfully. I pull the duvet over her small frame, and can’t help the smile that springs to life.
I should feel exhausted from today’s events, but in reality, my mind is still running rampant. Elle once told me there was a music room on the first floor, next to the main living room. She boasted about the grand piano there and begged me to teach her one day to play something more refined than chopsticks.
On my way to the door, I pick up the journal with all my written lyrics, remembering how Candy had suggested using my pain to inspire my art. Before I head out in pursuit of a melody that can help me cope with my turbulent life, I can’t resist in turning around to take one last peek at the sleeping beauty in my bed. I am thankful to have at least one ally in this town.
Although Addison made it clear that the worst was still on the horizon, I very much doubt it could get any worse than this.
Right?
Epilogue
Roman
The whole car ride back home, I feel the twins’ silent animosity toward me, vibrate louder than Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” playing on the radio. The chorus line seems oddly fitting since it’s probably how my brothers view me right now. The thing is, they didn’t do anything to stop Addison, either, yet they blame me for the way she humiliated their Snow.
I honestly don’t get them.
They want to hate Holland so desperately that they are willing to become the worst versions of themselves to do it. However, when push comes to shove and someone shines a light on the conniving girl that she is, they despise themselves for not coming to her aid.
They don’t have to tell me that they are still in love with her—it’s blatantly obvious they are, even after all the lies she’s fed them. It bleeds out of them every time they look at her without her knowing. Something they loathe themselves in doing, but can’t seem to resist or stop.
I had a front-row seat to their cruel, self-inflicted contrition all night.
Ollie would always find an excuse to roam around the house, just to know where she was at all times. He lingered around and threw dirty looks at any guy who approached her. He wasn’t fooling anyone by dancing with his date as if he was going to screw her right there on the dance floor. It was all for show, and more disappointingly, for Holland’s benefit only. The hunger in his eyes wasn’t for his dance partner; it was only there for Snow.
But if Oliver was bad, then don’t even get me started on Asher.
I’ve never seen him so reckless, and that’s say
ing a lot. It was stupid of him to transfer his frustrations onto Trevor and beat the crap out of the preppy asshole. What did he expect would happen with her coming to tonight’s party? Of course guys were going to pounce on the new, shiny toy, and him not being prepared to deal with that was just plain moronic on his part. He can’t keep away every dick who has a boner for Holland and still act like she doesn’t mean anything to him. The girl is a fucking knock out, and if Ash doesn’t get his shit together, then I foresee a lot of bruised knuckles and loose teeth in his senior year at Pembroke.
Watching him binge drink and smoke up a storm was the real low-point of the evening for me. I’m positive the shit-for-brains is high on Molly in my back seat right now.
While his twin brought a date to add some sting to the girl he’s in love with, Ash let any Pembroke high-climber feel him up and take whatever they wanted from him.
Fucking sad and pathetic is what it is.
Is that what having your heart broken makes you do? Act like a jackass and then lick your wounds alone in a dark corner somewhere?
When I had my heart ripped open, no one saw a tear. I made sure of it.
Yet my brothers can’t hide their suffering to save their lives. Only the girl they are completely infatuated with seems to be blind to it.
Holland.
She sure made it easy for Addison tonight. Not that I enjoyed watching the girl—who had a hand in destroying me—go after such an easy mark. But I have to admit, in the end, Holland gave as good as she got. Made me proud she stood up for herself at least. Seeing her being continuously humiliated at home by her own flesh and blood leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe it’s Vivienne’s own twisted method of grooming her daughter into being just as vicious and calculating as she is.
I’m not sure yet. When it comes to Holland, I’m still unsure of a lot of things.
Is she a liar? That she is. Cutest little liar I’ve ever laid my eyes on.
Does she deserve to suffer for it, though? That seems to be the nagging question plaguing my mind as of late.
One thing is for sure, Elle has become too attached to the gray-eyed girl for my liking. She’s only been with us for a couple of days, and my sister is already willing to defend her tooth and nail.
What the fuck is it with this girl that she can so easily put a spell on all my siblings?
I park the car in the underground garage beneath our building and, without a word, my brothers head to the elevator without me. I roll my eyes at their little tantrum and trail behind them.
“How about we get a drink and you both can give me the earful you’re dying to dish out?” I goad, hoping they’ll take me up on my offer so we can clear the air between us.
They need to lay it on me. Whatever grievance they think they have, it doesn’t need to fester into a larger resentment. We’re brothers—family—and that always comes first. I’m not going to let their guilt trip over what happened with our new stepsister tonight get in the way of that. If they have to do some trash talking first, then so be it.
“Yeah, okay,” Ollie mumbles, forlorn, while Ash leans his head back and throws me a noncommittal shrug.
Stubborn SOB.
Once the elevator doors open to the main floor, I take a step in the direction of the music room where the top-shelf liquor is stocked, but Ash stops at the foot of the stairs, thinking twice if he should follow me or not. In all fairness, he’s drunk his fill for tonight, so alcohol should be the last thing on his mind and I think he knows it.
“Ollie, how about you take Ash into the kitchen and grab us some coffee instead?”
Ollie looks over at his pale-faced twin and gives me a nod, nudging Ash to follow him. Begrudgingly he does, although his steps falter a bit and Ollie has to help keep him on his feet.
This is going to be a long night.
I might as well have a stiff drink of my own before they come back. I’m sober as a judge and a little alcohol might take away the sting of the curses my brothers are sure to throw at me when they return. While the twins don’t mind getting shitfaced at parties, it goes against my number one rule—never let anyone see you vulnerable. I don’t like the feeling of not being in control, especially surrounded by people who will easily take advantage if they see weakness. It goes against my very nature.
I walk the long corridor to my intended destination when my ears pick up what sounds like small whimpers. I’m hit with a strange sense of déjà vu and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I swallow it down, knowing I’m just being paranoid. But when I hear the small mewl again and recognize it to be coming from Holland’s lips, my heart accelerates, making its loud drum ringing in my ears. I wrap my hand over the door’s knob, hoping what I find inside isn’t the same nightmare I encountered two years ago. If it is, I can take small comfort that Ash and Ollie will at least be spared the same horrid sight.
I push the door open, my eyes prepared to see naked flesh, knowing my rancor for the girl will increase tenfold for breaking my brothers’ hearts so ruthlessly. But instead of hatred, I’m slapped in the face with another familiar feeling, one that only my father has been able to inflict on me—blind rage.
On her knees, I watch Holland cry into her palms. One of the straps of her tank top has been ripped off, revealing the soft swell of one perfect breast. Her boxer shorts are entwined around her ankles, but thankfully her panties are still in place. Her gorgeous, platinum hair is in complete disarray, poorly hiding the tremors of her panicked shoulders. But what really grabs my attention isn’t the mess of the girl in hysterics on the floor—it’s the body lying right beside her, and the small pool of blood coming out of his head. The man who has tormented my family and me throughout our whole lives, lies eerily still, beside his sobbing murderer.
Ah, little liar, what have you done?
To be continued in Soulless.
Thank you so much for reading Heartless.
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If you still need a bully fix, my book Her Secret has five SoCal bad boys with a grudge on the girl next door.
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Much Love,
Ivy
xoxo
Ivy Fox Novels
The Privileged of Pembroke High
Heartless
Soulless
Rotten Love Duet
Rotten Girl
Rotten Men
Bad Influence Series
Her Secret
Archangels MC
After Hours Series
The King
Acknowledgments
I’m going to make this short and sweet.
Why, you ask?
Because after this cliffhanger the least I can do is hurry my big booty up and finish Soulless ASAP!
So here I go.
Thank you to my ride-or-die hubby and kiddo. You two get a front-row seat to my madness, which sometimes isn’t pretty and still love me anyway. I feel your support, even more, when you act like it’s normal I’m wearing the same leggings and T-shirt for three days straight, just because I think changing clothes will take away the precious time I need to finish a chapter. I know the pain is real, but you two take it all in stride. Can’t ask for a better husband and son.
My beautiful editor Heather:
Girl, none of this would be possible without your hard work and devotion. I know I’ve said it a million times before, but I never tire in saying it
—you are a godsend!
To the ever-amazing Courtney, the best PA a girl like me can have:
Thank you for your patience, dedication, and most importantly, your friendship. Your work ethic is astounding, but it’s your friendship that I treasure most.
Amy, Laura, and Tori:
You gorgeous ladies keep me sane! Hubby really appreciates it (hehehe). I love you all so much and am so grateful our paths crossed in this author journey of mine. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. In other words, you ladies are stuck with me for life!
To the amazing authors that I admire and, for some unknown reason, have befriended me—your words of inspiration, encouragement, and support mean more to me than you will ever know:
Bea Paige, Meg Xumei X, C.R. Jane, Siobhan Davis, Katie Knight, Julia Clarke, Elle Cross, Adell Ryan, and Helen Scott.
There are no words that can express the awe I have for each and every one of you.
I also want to send a shout out to all the readers and bloggers that contacted me excited about my work. You all have been such a powerful force in my life. Your reviews, videos, and collages of my babies bring me LIFE! I cannot thank you enough for spreading the word about my babies and showering them with such love.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
And the last HUGE thank you goes out to my girls—my tribe!
My Sassy Foxes!
You, incredibly beautiful women, bring a smile to my face every day. Thank you for your loyalty, for your generosity, and most importantly, for your love. I’m following my dreams and living the best version of myself because of your faith in me and love of my words.
