by Rose, Louise
Milly’s stepmum has thick black hair, gathered up in a bun on top of her head and slim black glasses rest on her nose. Her cream dress screams designer as well as her tall heels. Her baby bump is quite large, and she keeps her hands rested on top of the bump.
I focus on their dad as the car comes to a stop and my driver gets out.
The head of the Knight house is an imposing man who looks just like an older version of Archer. His skin is a tad darker, possibly from spending more time in the sun, and his suit is a dark blue colour, which makes his eyes almost brighter.
“Miss Ivy,” my driver says, holding a hand out for me. I ignore his hand as I climb out on my own.
“Thanks,” I tell him and walk up to Mr and Mrs Knight with my head held high. I won’t bow down to them because they run this goddamn town.
At some point I have to accept I’m Ivy Archaic and I have my own damn crown in waiting. And when I get it? I’m not going to be pushed over and commanded around like a slave.
“Ivy Archaic. We are happy to welcome you to our home,” Mr Knight speaks first and holds his hand out for me to shake. Every moment with him I get the sense I am being highly scrutinised. I shake his hand as hard as I can to make a point, but he doesn’t let go. “I remember your mother well and she was a great woman. I am truly sorry for her loss and I wish she had come to me in the end.”
“You knew my mum?” I ask as he lets my hand go and stares at me.
“Well enough to see her in you. We should talk when you wish to know where your mother came from and how she changed King Town,” he suggests and not giving me a moment to get over my shock, he takes his wife’s hand and they walk back into the house. I stumble after them into a giant hallway with a monstrosity of a winding glass staircase in the middle of it. The walls are all white and the bright lights in here hurt my eyes.
“Wait!” I call and they halt. Mr Knight turns back to me, his eyes meeting mine.
“You are not ready to hear what I have to say,” he warns and then he leaves me in the hallway, my head full of a million more questions about my mum than I had to begin with.
“Ivy! You came!” Milly squeals, running down the stairs and jogging to me. She hugs me tightly.
“I said I would,” I tell her as she lets me go. “Did you really think I’d ditch you?”
“It’s happened a few times before,” she shrugs like that’s nothing.
Making sure she sees how serious I am, I tell her the truth. “Well, it won’t with me.”
“You’re a good friend,” she softly smiles, tugging me to the stairs.
“What is with this place? It’s an odd house,” I whisper to her in case her parents are somehow listening.
“Daddy chose an architect who builds safety houses. This place could be blown up and still stand at the end, but it’s…different,” she replies. “Luckily, it won the eco-friendly category at some random architecture festival, otherwise Daddy would have had to cut the architect’s career short.”
I had a feeling it isn’t the career which would have been cut.
“Anyway,” says Milly as we get to an open door and she pulls me into her bedroom. It’s a mess of dresses laying over a white framed bed and a big white fur rug takes up the floor. There is a cute modern fireplace on the one wall and a board with dozens of different bits of fabrics and drawings.
“I was thinking that we should put you in something which would really make a statement, you know, make all those bitches at school realise they’ve got competition. Something like this. ”She holds up a yellow dress which is barely legal. Short with cutouts in the side, I would be exposing more flesh than material in the whole thing.
“Yeah. That’ll be a hard no on that,” I say. “I’m more of a jeans and slouchy tees kind of girl. There’s no way you’ll ever catch me in something like that.”
“Come on, Ivy,” Milly pleads. “You’ll look amazing. Your figure’s perfect. You’d have everyone’s eyes on you for all the right reasons.”
I fold my arms and glare at her.
“Fine,” Milly sighs. “Maybe next time… All right. If you prefer a more casual look, why don’t we go with a classic black outfit? I’ve got a few options for you. There’s this one…”
She holds up a black dress that is hardly better than the yellow one. Seeing my face, Milly swiftly moves on.
“Or if you want to go with a more covered look but still keep it sexy, I’ve got these black leather jeans. Why don’t you try those on and if they work, I’ve got a few ideas for what to team them with.”
Now that is more like it.
I take the jeans and go into Milly’s bathroom to get changed. They fit so tight they look like they’d been painted on, but I have to admit they do make my butt look amazing, all perky.
Coming out of the bathroom, Milly squeals with delight when she sees me.
“YEEEESS! Right. I’ve got the perfect tee to go with that.”
She disappears into her walk-in wardrobe and returns a moment later with a scrap of fabric. She holds it out in front of her so I can see that rather than a rag; it is in fact, a crop top with a print of the Harley Davidson logo.
Beaming with pride, she says, “I remember you saying you liked motorbikes, so this shows off your personality and your figure!”
“Nu-uh.” I shake my head. “There’s no way I’m wearing that. What’s wrong with the T-shirt I was wearing when I got here?”
“Oh, Ivy. So naïve.”
That’s rich, coming from Milly.
“You have to play the game,” she tells me. “These parties are just as much about showing everyone how powerful you are in every way possible. For us girls, that includes showing off what our mamas gave us.”
The phrase sounds ridiculous the way she says it, but she is so earnest, it is obvious she meant what she said.
“Trust me,” she says. “If you don’t wear this, or at least something like it, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Everyone will be wondering what you’ve got to hide. There’ll be rumours about hideous birthmarks or a misshapen belly button.”
“So?” I scoff.
“So, any sign of weakness leaves you open to attack,” Milly explains patiently. “Make life easy on yourself, Ivy. Wear the top.”
In the end, we compromise. I wear the top but team it with a black leather jacket with studs Milly happened to have lying around. Although she insists I leave it open to show off my tummy, I have every intention of doing it up as soon as we get to the party.
“Do you need any help with your makeup?” she offers. “I do a mean smoky eye.”
“No, I’ve got that covered,” I reply, and I really do. I’ve always loved watching makeup tutorials on Youtube, but I never had the money to buy the things to actually do them. “Is it okay to use the mirror in your bathroom?”
“Sure,” Milly says. “I’ll go get changed.”
Standing in front of her mirror, I had to acknowledge that Milly knew what she was doing. Much as I was a little uncomfortable exposing my navel, I did have a good body and the clothes she has lent me makes me look sexy without going too far.
I have a deep red lipstick with me and I keep the makeup around my eyes light to draw attention to my pouting lips. A little shiver of excitement runs through me as I imagine Declan kissing it off later if I can find him at the party. I mean nothing has happened since that one kiss, but I want tonight to change that. Finally, happy with my appearance, I walk out of the bathroom and stop dead in my tracks when I see Milly.
“Wow.”
“Do you like it?” Milly stands on her tiptoes and does a little twirl, showing off all angles of an outfit that left nothing to the imagination. I think she looks like Jessie J in her Do It Like a Dude video, all legs and attitude. She is wearing black lipstick with a metallic sheen and just like she says she can, she is sporting a mean smoky eye.
“You look…amazing.”
She really does. I have always thought of Milly as a wallflower, b
ut seeing her like this brings out a whole new side of her. There is an air of confidence to her that is missing while she is at school. Maybe Archer is right, Milly is a Knight and one day she will snap at school and show them who’s boss.
“Thank you,” she smiles. “Do you see what I mean now? These parties are an opportunity for us to show off who we really are. Outside of school, I’m Milly Knight and nobody messes with the Knights.”
There is a knock on the door.
“Yes?” Milly shouts.
Archer walks in, his eyes fixing on me. I blush under his scrutiny and I can’t help but notice how he looks sexy as hell, too in a tight blue shirt with a few buttons undone and dark jeans. He has to clear his throat and pull his eyes from me to his sister. “You two look amazing. I take it you’re ready to go?”
Milly and I look at each other and nod.
Archer turns around and walks out, but Milly catches my arm to stop me from following.
“If you like my brother, he definitely likes you. Just saying, there are worse men than him.”
Maybe Milly is right…but Archer has a lot to make up for before I’d ever trust him with my heart.
Chapter Twelve
Declan Dauphin
Looking at the guitar in the corner of my room, I can't fucking stop thinking about Ivy. It only serves to remind me of her. Of her sweet lips, how she smells like the fucking best thing in the world and she breathed more life into me in just one kiss than anyone has ever done.
And I'm lying to her.
Fuck, I've messed up.
"Hey handsome. Your servant guy let me in," Ally states, and I turn to see her drop her bag onto the wood floor of my bedroom.
"His name is Philip, not servant," I all but growl at her. Another thing I hate about my girlfriend, Ally, is how she doesn't see the people who work here as people. She treats them like toys and whereas the other houses might be shit to their people, we are not.
My parents look after their staff and brought me up to do the same.
"Whatever," she dramatically sighs, climbing over me on the bed.
I freeze as she presses her lips to mine, but only for a second before pushing her away from me and climbing off the bed. I run my hands through my hair as she stares up at me in shock.
And a lot of burning anger.
"It's fucking Ivy Archaic, isn't it?" she snaps, kneeling upon the bed. "You want to dump me for
her, don't you?"
"Come on, Ally. We are just fucking and you know it. You sleep with five other guys, that I know of, and we have never been serious. What the fuck did you expect to happen long term with us?" I question her. "I just want to end whatever this was."
"Is," she corrects. "And fine, but then I'm going to tell your parents about August the fifteenth and everything I saw. I will make them hate you, and you will be all alone."
Fuck no. No. No.
I didn't think she had seen what I did, what Archer helped me hide in the end. My parents are good people, they have been in love since high school and they might rule the house but they do it with kindness and ruthlessness mixed into one. Nothing my parents ever do gets back to them. They just pay for it to go away. The only thing they couldn’t fix with money and threats were my brothers lives. After my brothers died years ago, they gave up with this town and trying to fix things. I swore to them I would not do anything that could get me killed. And days later, I did just that.
Shaking with anger, I stare at her in disgust. "You know why I had to do that, you total bitch. That's a low move, blackmailing me to fuck you."
"You are mine or everyone knows. Make your choice, Declan," she suggests, leaning back on the bed and pushing up her tiny skirt. "I know which choice makes me and you really happy right now."
I glance away from her as she undresses. I look down at my guitar, wishing the world would swallow me up.
Ivy can do so much fucking better than me. And soon she will know it.
Chapter Thirteen
Ivy Archaic
There is no way Milly is going to risk messing up her hair on the back of Archer’s motorbike or sitting in the sidecar, so instead we all climb into his black convertible BMW. Milly and I sit in the back together, leaving Archer on his own in the front to program the satnav.
“Don’t you dare,” warns Milly, as he reaches out to push the button to make the roof slide back. “Do you know how long I had to work with the straighteners to get this look?”
Archer laughs, but wisely pulls his hand back and focuses on his driving.
“You’re going to have the best time,” Milly gushes to me. “Romy’s parties are legendary. Someone always gets naked and goes streaking.”
“Yeah, usually one of the Dauphins,” Archer dryly says. “They’re the only ones stupid enough to show everyone how tiny their dicks are!”
“Don’t be like that,” Milly tuts and her cheeks brighten for a moment. “Declan is a good guy. I think so anyway.”
“Uh-huh,” laughs Archer. “Just don’t let dad hear you say that or you’ll end up married to him…”
I can feel my face flushing when they mention Declan and in the corner of my eye I see how red Milly’s cheeks are. Does she have a crush on him? Would her dad seriously expect a marriage if she liked him? What kind of crazy thing is that?
Archer cranks up the music in his car and Milly and I start dancing in our seats, making little dance moves as we get into a party mood.
I can quickly feel myself relaxing and unwinding. I feel normal for the first time since my father had kidnapped me, like I am any other teen girl without a care in the world.
The Navarre’s live on the other side of town to the Dauphins. In my brief time living in King Town, my father had filled me in a little on the politics of the place. Each house had their own distinct business so they didn’t step on each other’s toes. Dad told me their businesses are all completely legit, but I had a feeling he isn’t being entirely honest with me. Not that I cared–I wasn’t going to tell him, but I have already planned to get as far away from this place as possible as soon as he died. I don’t care where his money came from. It isn’t like I wanted any of it.
That separation of business extended to carving out the town between them all as well. The Archaics and their supporters lived in the west, the Navarres in the north, the Dauphins in the east and the Knights in the south.
This is my first time going into Navarre territory and it had a completely different feel to the Knight and Archaic areas. As we entered the section controlled by the Navarres we drove past a number of industrial units, many with lights on. The Navarres did business twenty-four hours a day, it seemed.
Up ahead, I could see coloured lights flaring off into the night sky and the booming sound of a bassline countered the rhythm of Archer’s sound system. He drives up to a wire fence manned by security guards. Rolling down his window so they can identify him, they rush to open the gates for him the second they see the Knight heir behind the wheel.
“Romy’s dad lets him hold parties in his warehouses,” Milly explains. “It’s a different one each time, and he goes all out with themed decorations and music. One time he even had an underground pool built!”
“Yeah, because nothing screams nouveau riche more than spending money just for the sake of it,” Archer mutters.
“Jealous, are we?” I ask innocently.
“No one with any sense would want to be a Navarre,” Archer sourly replies, as another security guard motions to him to turn left and park in front of a building pulsing with loud rock music.
“So you are jealous of pretty boy Romy, ” I reply with a laugh. “What’s the matter–did Romy steal your girlfriend?”
“Oh my god, Ivy!” Milly giggles while Archer’s look could kill. “Are you psychic or something?”
“She wasn’t my girlfriend,” Archer replies through gritted teeth. “Steph and I got off with each other a few times, that’s all. It isn’t like we are actually going out. She’s
free to sleep with whoever she likes, even if she does have crappy taste in men.”
“I don’t know,” I say. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with her taste.”
Milly frowns a little. “Okay, you guys. I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but if this is some kind of lover’s tiff, you need to kiss and make up.”
“Oh, we’re not dating.” I rush to correct her.
“But the other day? In the cafeteria? You kissed!”
“That is all for Ally’s benefit,” I explain once again. “Your brother took advantage of me to make a point.”
“And you loved every moment,” Archer reminds me. “Don’t be a little liar now, Ivy.”
“You keep telling yourself that,” I retort with bright cheeks, glaring right back at him.
To be fair, he is a good kisser, but like I was going to tell him that.
“Okay, well I guess that makes sense. I really thought you guys were dating though. There’s definite electricity between the two of you. Are you sure you’re not seeing each other? You can tell me. I know how to keep a secret if you don’t want anyone else to know.”
“We’re not dating.” We speak in unison and that is the end of it.
“If you say so.” Milly obviously doesn’t believe us, but she wisely let it drop as the three of us walk into the warehouse where the party is being held.
A guard opens the door for us, and I am hit by a wall of sound straight away. Coloured disco lights created psychedelic patterns against the walls while teens jumped about the dance floor.
Archer immediately disappears into the middle of the dancing crowd, leaving me and Milly to fend for ourselves.
“Is that-?” I gasp when I catch sight of the live band playing.
“Deep Space 69?” Milly nods, naming the group which had been top of the charts for the past two months. Turns out, they are crazy good. “Yep. I told you–Romy really knows how to put on a party. Come on, let’s go get something to drink.” She grabs me by the hand and pulls me over to the side where a temporary bar had been set up.
