Filthy Gods_American Gods

by R. Scarlett

  Confused, shocked, I simply stared at him. How did he… how did he know? I must’ve asked that aloud because he replied in an even, scary voice. “I was passing by and heard strange sounds coming from here. The door wasn’t locked so I opened it and saw you blowing that kid’s cock like your life depended on it. It certainly made me want to test the naughty maid out for myself,” he said, shrugging.

  My heart stopped mid-beat, my next breath vanished from my lungs, and I felt all the blood drain from my face. It only lasted a second—a moment of complete, undisguised horror—before it all came back at once. Panic assaulted me. Heart beating erratically, lungs filling up and emptying out too fast. I tried shoving against him, but he saw it coming and pushed me down onto the couch.

  My eyes darted to the door. Only a few feet away, only a few—My lips parted on a scream but before it could get out, his large hand wrapped around my throat, cutting off my scream for help back into my throat.

  “Show me what’s underneath,” he said, voice thick and raspy. His fingers violently tore at my dress shirt, buttons flying off as he exposed my breasts. I clawed at his arms, but he didn’t stop, only shoved me harder, gripping my throat until I wheezed in pain and panic.

  His mouth attacked mine, brutally, his teeth biting into my bottom lip in a vicious grip. Metallic tang filled my mouth, my own blood.

  I thrashed against him, beating my hands on his chest, but he only squeezed my throat tighter, suffocating me, a desperate noise escaping only as a sigh from my mouth.

  “Shh, darling. Don’t fuss, it’s too much trouble for what it’s worth. I can give you more than some rich kid.” His other hand was pushing down on my shoulder, I felt suffocated, trapped. I didn’t know what to do. “It can be our little secret.” He went to unzip his pants and my body reacted on its own. My foot shot up and hit between his parted legs. A painful groan left his mouth and he bent over, gasping. I didn’t wait a second longer and ran out the door, as far away from him as I could.

  I didn’t stop, I didn’t look back even when I heard his footsteps thundering after me.

  “You fucking—”

  I turned a corner and slammed into someone, their hands gripping my arms before I could fall.

  Gabe Easton stood in front of me, his brows furrowed in confusion. He scanned me, my torn lopsided clothes, my harsh, quick breaths, and the panic I knew was still very much obvious in my eyes.

  Shame washed over me, and I hated myself for feeling it.

  I had nothing to be ashamed of, the senator had been the one pouncing on me. Trapping me, touching me—

  Something caught Gabe’s vision behind me and I looked back to see the senator, wiping at his bottom lip with a look of fury.

  When Senator Scott saw I was no longer alone, he gulped visibly and walked away fast. Gabe Easton’s attention returned fully to me, and the weight of it made me feel uncomfortable. He was looking at me like he could see everything, everything that had happened in the study with the senator, and my throat seemed to close in on itself.

  He didn’t need to speak; his hands curling into fists and eyes full of fury that wasn’t directed at me said enough. It was a look well known in the media. They nicknamed it the Easton glare.

  “Juliette,” a voice called to me and Gabe stepped away, revealing Nathaniel walking toward us.

  His features warped into concern at my appearance and he quickened his steps. His eyes traveling from me to Gabe quickly. “What happened?”

  I tried to close my shirt, but without the buttons, it left gaping holes showing my skin and white bra.

  My bottom lip wobbled, eyes filling up with tears. I blinked back rapidly, trying to chase them away. I didn’t want to cry. Not now, not here, not ever if I could help it. I hadn’t known a voice alone could offer such comfort but hearing it now, it made me feel safe. The adrenaline was starting to leave my body and I shook violently. I glanced at Gabe, imploring him with my eyes not to say anything. Senator Scott had more power than me, more power than probably all of us. He would ruin me. It was his word against mine and I would never win.

  “I’m fine,” I said and my voice cracked despite myself.

  Gabe’s jaw ticked, he ignored my pleading. “Senator Scott.”

  Nathaniel’s eyes snapped back to mine, understanding brewing in them. I could see a thousand thoughts running through his mind.

  “Get the others, Gabe,” Nathaniel said, his voice cool and calm, his gaze never leaving my watery one.

  My eyes must’ve been filling up with more traitorous tears because everything was starting to get blurry, I blinked harder as my nose itched with restraint.

  Gabe glanced at me and then back at Nathaniel, nodding once.

  Once he’d walked off to get the others, I shook my head, staring at Nathaniel as he paced back and forth. I had never seen him so unnerved, so agitated. His muscles seemed to be pulled tight enough to snap.

  “Fucking bastard,” he said, his voice thick with a rage I had never seen in him before. The tendons in his throat strained and each breath came out fast and hard. “Fucking scum.”

  “Nathaniel,” I whispered. “Leave it be, please.”

  He laughed darkly, lifting his head. “Leave it be?” His gaze found me and it was dark and deadly, no trace of warmth. “He assaulted you, Juliette.”

  “I don’t have the power or the money to fight him,” I said. I knew how these things went. He would either say I was lying or pay me off.

  His eyes moved down to my mouth and his eyes flared, rage building shockingly fast. It was then I felt the ache in my bottom lip and my fingers touched the edge of the raw bite, a tiny bit of blood coating it.

  Nathaniel caught my wrist and stepped closer, pulling me into the safety of his strong arms. He shrugged out of his blue designer jacket and placed it over my shoulders, trying to hide my torn dress shirt.

  He stared at me like I was precious, like I was the stars he had searched for and I couldn’t breathe, his fingers tracing my cheeks delicately. I hadn’t realized the tears had started to spill until I felt how wet my cheeks were. “We have more power than you think.”

  A shiver ran through my body at his words, and he wrapped his powerful arms around me in a comforting embrace. I exhaled a shaky breath into his chest.

  Two of his fingers brushed my sore bottom lip and wiped away the blood and then he pressed his mouth gently to mine, his tongue touching delicately over the wound.

  He stroked my cheek. “Are you okay?”

  I wanted to say I was fine, but I knew he would know from my eyes. “Just shaky.”

  His jaw ticked, his eyes scanning me, his fingers still tracing my skin for any wounds he wanted to heal. Emotion so raw filled his features and then when he spoke, I heard it like a downpour. “No one hurts what’s mine, Juliette.”

  His eyes shone so fiercely, so viciously.

  I had never expected someone saying that to me would make my knees weak, but I wanted to be Nathaniel’s and I wanted him to be mine. Completely mine. I was at a loss for words, my mouth shaking as I stared back at him.

  “You’re okay now, sweetheart. We’ll take care of this. He’ll pay for it, I promise.” His arms tightened around me, and I felt him kiss my forehead. His every touch was infinitely gentle, but I knew inside him a dark, furious storm was brewing. And it was only getting stronger. “Excuse yourself from work, Juliette. Tell them you feel sick and go back to our cottage. Wait there for me.”

  I shook my head, stunned, but he moved away and walked back outside, following the steps Gabe had taken minutes before.

  It was after midnight when I heard footsteps enter the cottage. I stayed still, lying on my side. When the footsteps grew closer and stopped by my feet, I glanced up.

  Nathaniel shrugged out of his suit jacket, rubbing at his furrowed brow.

  “What did you do?”

  He shook his head.

  “Nathaniel.” I sat up, glaring at him. “Don’t you dare go silent on me. I deserve
to know.”

  “We dealt with him,” he hissed out and I caught his harsh features in the moonlight from the moon shining in.

  “How?”

  He removed his dress shirt and pants, revealing his lithe, muscular body and settled down beside me, wrapping an arm around my shaking body. I hadn’t stopped shaking since I had left the study and I hated it.

  I eyed his hands, noticing the bruised, bloody knuckles. My breath caught. I had never seen him so vicious, so violent, and so angry.

  “What if he presses charges?” I asked, fear bubbling up inside of me.

  Nathaniel laughed darkly. “He won’t be.” He flexed his hands, staring at the damage, his teeth clenched. “The bastard’s lucky to still have his two fucking hands.”

  I shivered at his cold, cruel tone, feeling his body shake against mine. I couldn’t speak. Emotion filled me to the brim and suffocated me.

  “Nathaniel,” I whispered, unwept tears filling my voice. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  When he touched my wet cheeks and kissed my neck, I relaxed, burying my face into his chest.

  “You’re forgetting, sweetheart, who we are,” he whispered into my damp hair. His fingers played with my strands and he breathed me in. “We’re bastards with too much power.”

  I didn’t laugh. I had thought the four boys were powerful at Yale, but I hadn’t thought of how much of that power existed in the real world.

  “Arsen made a call. It didn’t take long to find some information on him that would ruin his life if it got out. He’s making a public announcement tomorrow that he will be resigning now,” he stated. “He’s banned from associating with any of us. He’s been cut off.”

  I sniffled, glancing up at him through wet lashes. “You’d do that?”

  He simply hummed.

  And in Nathaniel’s arms, I started feeling safe again.

  “Ms. Monroe.” Mrs. Hawthorne’s cool, calm voice made my heart drop. I had been mopping the tiled floors and I glanced at Mandy who gave me a wide-eyed look. I handed my mop off to her and straightened my skirt, eyeing Mrs. Hawthorne’s unreadable expression. Just like her damn son. “Please follow me to my office.”

  I swallowed my dread.

  She knows.

  As I followed her back to her office, I practiced what I would say about my relationship with her son. That it was important. That it was more than just sex.

  Even though I wasn’t sure it was for him.

  He hadn’t said anything about it, and I hadn’t asked. As far as I knew, our affair still ended at the end of the summer.

  When I entered her office, I took in the classic, clean lines. White walls, white sheer curtains and even white lilies. Everything perfect, everything organized and pristine.

  I sat down in an upholstered leather chair in front of her desk and straightened my back, trying to keep a semblance of composure.

  She glanced at her papers on her desk, cleared her throat and laid her eyes on me. “I have received a few complaints about your behavior, Ms. Monroe.”

  I kept quiet, my fingers digging into my palms.

  “I’ve heard from two separate sources that you have been acting unprofessionally and I do not tolerate that behavior in front of my guests,” she said, her manicured nails drumming on her perfect white desk. “A maid and one of my guests have reported that you have been abusing my generosity by sleeping with one of the guests and have been seen coming and going from one of our private cottages at odd hours of the day.”

  I gritted my teeth.

  Nathaniel said they’d taken care of the senator, but clearly, none of them had thought he’d go and run his mouth to Nathaniel’s mother.

  “Senator Scott said he witnessed you with my son in concerning positions. On my estate, no less. Another maid, Mandy Wilson also reported she saw you with him sneaking around during your work hours,” Mrs. Hawthorne said.

  My heart sank. Mandy? I had felt Mandy was a nice girl, but I knew why she had done it. This had always been a competition after all.

  “Your behavior, of using my son to your advantage is damaging to your reputation, education, and credibility,” she snapped.

  “I wasn’t using him.” I clasped my mouth shut.

  Mrs. Hawthorne shook her head, laughing once as she folded her hands on the desk. “My Nathaniel…he tends to get bored. He enjoys unraveling people, enjoys playing. He does it most summers and then he returns to school, focused on his future. You’re not the first, Ms. Monroe. And you will not be the last.”

  A hot panic spread across my chest, but I tried to keep my features unreadable.

  She smiled at me. “My son’s future is what is most important to me. He will graduate with full honors and carry on our empires. And he will marry someone from the same…background. With power and poise and class. Someone that will empower him. Someone who will be of as much use to our name as he will be to theirs.”

  I clenched my jaw. “I think he is old enough to decide who he will marry without your input.”

  She laughed, her hand hovering over her mouth. “He will listen to everything I say. He values my opinion and he would never want to upset me or displease me.”

  I wanted to argue with her, but it was useless.

  “What he needs is for you to leave him alone. I’ve looked at your records. I see you’re struggling with keeping up with your payments for rent and tuition. With your type of background, you would not fit Nathaniel well. But I know your future is important to you. I will give you twenty thousand dollars to keep this affair quiet and end it. He will gladly move on to finish his last year and you will be able to stay at Yale.” She lifted her shoulders, smiling at me.

  She lifted her checkbook out of her desk and picked up a pen, scrawling the amount on the thin sheet of paper.

  Money. That had been what I wanted. My future. Yale. A reference.

  All of it.

  “No,” I said, my voice echoing strong and powerful in the white, perfect room. It pained me to say it, but I couldn’t do it.

  Her finger paused and she slowly glanced up, her smile faltering. “Excuse me?”

  I stood, shaking my head. “I’m not taking your money.”

  “Thirty thousand then,” she said, smiling at me as if that solved everything.

  I slammed my hand down on her desk, anger surging through every muscle in my body. “Nathaniel is worth more than any price you could offer me.”

  Her smile turned into an ugly scowl and she stood, walking around her desk. “You think he’ll want you after this summer? He will drop you and then you will regret choosing him. You’re just a fling to him. You’re of no use to him beyond an affair. A temporary relief.”

  “Goodbye, Mrs. Hawthorne.” I turned, walking to the door.

  “If you continue to see him, I will pull all of his inheritance, pull every dollar I gave to Yale. Every chance of him finishing his final year will be gone. And it’ll all be your fault,” she snapped.

  My blood ran cold and I paused. I glanced over my shoulder at her, seeing her chest heave up and down fast. She would be willing to ruin her son’s future because of me?

  “He’s the smartest student in our grade. There are scholarships…”

  Her eyes grew wild. “It’s too late to apply for any scholarships. He would be left without a means to attend.” She let her words sink in. “Would you be willing to be the reason he loses his future?”

  That was a blow to my stomach and my knees shook. I knew his future was everything to him. I knew he had the same drive as me and I wouldn’t let him lose it. I wouldn’t be the cause of him losing everything he had worked for.

  And in that moment, I felt a shift inside of me.

  I cared about both our futures.

  Even if we weren’t together.

  I shot Mrs. Hawthorne a glare and lifted my head high. “I’ll break it off.”

  Her smile widened and she nodded, returning to her checkbook. “I’ll write the check…�
��

  “I don’t want your damn money,” I hissed and left her office.

  Tears pierced the back of my eyes and I fought them, blinking.

  With a heavy heart, I went back to mopping, knowing I would have to break it off with Nathaniel as soon as possible.

  I had avoided the pool, the bar and the tennis court all day, places I knew Nathaniel would be, focusing on work. I had packed my bags, knowing after I spoke to Nathaniel I would leave the country club and return to New Haven and back to Yale. I’d find a way to get by on what I had made over the summer.

  I walked up the familiar dirt path and stared at the white, peaceful cottage hidden by full green willow branches. It had been the hottest day of the summer and I knew soon it would grow cold and the fresh green leaves would wilt when winter’s harsh breath blew. The warm water would turn cold and the grass would die, buried under snow.

  But as I walked up to the cottage, pushing back long branches from my face, I felt in my bones it would take endless amounts of seasons to forget how Nathaniel Radcliffe made me feel.

  So alive.

  So powerful.

  So in love with a man who had been my enemy and now was everything to me.

  I paused in front of the door, my hand mid-air, so close to the handle. I knew as soon as I walked through that door I would be breaking my own heart. A heart I had guarded from everyone for so long. A heart that belonged to him.

  I opened the door and stepped inside. The cottage, fully renovated, but still empty. The windows at the back of the cottage were completely finished and revealed the perfect, breathtaking view of the ocean and the beach. It was endless and Nathaniel had made me feel that way.

  Breathless, complete, powerful.

  He’d made me feel like I could conquer everything I had always dreamt of with him beside me.

  I moved closer, stepping in front of the glass windows, reaching out, but not quite touching.

  “You’ve been avoiding me all day.” Nathaniel’s voice echoed behind me and I felt his words shake my bones.

  I breathed out shakily and slowly turned to face him.