by C. Morgan
Wicked Plans
C. Morgan
BrixBaxter Publishing
Contents
Description
Find C. Morgan
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Epilogue
More Good Reads
Come Swoon With Us
About the Author
Copyright
Description
Focusing on my future is getting harder and harder with the campus bad boy wanting all of me.
He’s not just bad either. There’s a darkness in him I don’t want in my life.
Yet, I’m drawn to him like a moth to the flame.
Messy black hair. Piercing green eyes. Sinfully sexy with rockstar appeal.
He’s the poster child for hot, broken, and rich.
Stay away ladies. This bastard is the most notorious student on campus.
His rich, ivy league heritage has everyone pre-judging him. And maybe they should.
But, as always with the worst guy in the room, there’s more to him than meets the eye.
I have plans for a big future, and they don’t include him.
He’s got other ideas though… Wicked, wicked plans.
Find C. Morgan
http://chloemorganbooks.com/
Dedication
To all of my amazing readers. I cannot thank you enough for jogging around this dark romance track with me. I’m new to it, but I love the idea of it so much. My favorite story in Disney was always, Beauty and the Beast. Something about love having the power to pull someone that had physically changed due to greed, hate, and darkness into a man again. *Swoon* Hopefully you fall in love with this bad boy just like I did.
-Chloe
Chapter 1
RUBY
Our house was packed with people. New Year’s Eve at the Sprites’ was a long-standing tradition in my family, and it was one my parents took very seriously. Every year, they hosted dozens of holiday parties and they all attracted the same crowd.
Crazy aunts and uncles, obnoxious nieces, nephews, and cousins with ages varying from eight to forty-five, tired grandparents, a few of our neighbors, and family friends who had been around for as long as I could remember were all regulars on the guest lists for my parents’ parties. Out of all the holiday events, the New Year’s Eve bash was the crown jewel of the winter calendar in my house.
Unlike so many other college freshmen, I wasn’t out to usher in the new year with friends at a club or partying it up at some bachelor pad. Instead, I was sitting around the coffee table in the house I’d grown up in with some of my younger relatives, engaged in a heated game of Go Fish!
We had several empty platters of homemade buffalo wings and fries littered around us and half-drunk glasses of root beer on the table that we were pounding through like others were tossing back tequila. Glamorous, it was not, but I didn’t mind spending the night like this.
Both of my parents came from huge families, but I was an only child. This was as good as a family gathering got for me, and I loved it. Even if some of my relatives always ended up getting on my nerves.
As if she’d sensed where my thoughts had drifted to, my thirteen-going-on-thirty year old cousin, Adaline, sucked down another sip of her root beer before flipping her hair over her shoulder and sending me an inquisitive look.
“Have you really not made any friends at that fancy school you’re going to?” she asked. “I know you didn’t have any friends around here before you left, but I thought you’d have relaxed a little now that you’ve gotten into Edgewater.”
“Why is it a fancy school?” Jamie, our youngest cousin, piped up from the other side of the table.
“It’s an Ivy League University,” Adaline lectured, rolling her eyes like she couldn’t believe he hadn’t known that. She was a bit of a know-it-all, but then again, when I thought back to how I’d been at her age—and frankly, still was—it probably ran in the family.
“There’s ivy growing at my school,” Jamie said excitedly, his little brown eyes lighting up. “Does that mean it’s fancy too?”
She snorted. “No. It just means they haven’t cut it off the walls yet. Ivy League universities are considered to be the most prestigious colleges out there.”
Jamie scrunched up his nose, obviously confused, but before he could ask anything else, she turned back to me. “So, friends? Or are you still a hermit?”
“I’m not a hermit,” I protested, trying my best not to get annoyed with her when there were still a few hours to go before midnight. “I’m just committed to my future. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have any friends.”
“Why aren’t you with them tonight, then?” she asked, lifting her pointy, prissy chin in a clear challenge. “Even I was invited to a party tonight, but Mom said I couldn’t go. As soon as I’m old enough, you won’t be seeing me here on New Year’s anymore.”
We won’t miss you. I still took the bait she’d dangled, though. “If you have to know, my best friend, Hadley, is in Hawaii with her boyfriend. They invited me and I could’ve gone with them, but I said no. They even offered to fly me there in her boyfriend’s private jet.”
Take that, Adaline.
Okay, so it was a slight exaggeration. It was true that she’d invited me and that I probably could’ve flown on the jet, but it belonged to Daxton’s father not to Dax himself. Also, they wouldn’t have sent the jet just for me.
A few of Daxton’s fraternity buddies and some others were going over to join them for New Year’s, and they were hitching a ride with some of Dax’s father’s friends on the plane. Hadley had simply told me that she was sure there would be a seat for me if I wanted her to ask Dax about it.
Details, details. The look on Adaline’s face was more than worth the slight tweaking of said details. Her eyes were huge as she stared at me, and I couldn’t help smirking just a little as I held her gaze.
Not one to ever to be outdone, however, she sniffed and shook her head. “If you really said no to that, you’re even more of a loser than I thought.”
“A loser who graduated high school as the valedictorian, got into Edgewater, and who’s at the top of her class there. As you yourself just pointed out, it’s one of the most prestigious colleges in the country. Getting in and doing well there?” I shrugged and pretended to study my nails. “If that’s your definition of a loser, I’m happy to be one.”
“You still don’t have any friends around here,” she muttered.
“That’s only because the friends I had in high school have left the state for college because they also all worked really hard,” I said dismissively. “My circle was small and I’m proud of it.”
It’d been so small that I didn’t even know if it’d really qualified as a circle, but whatever
. Studying had always been more important to me than maintaining friendships. As much fun as it was to talk to people who really knew me, all I actually wanted out of life was to reap the rewards of my hard work.
Gemma, my cousin who was in her mid-twenties and had recently gotten engaged, ambled over while we were talking. She went to sit down next to Adaline, making sure to flash the thin, small, but sparkly ring on her finger with each move she made.
“Ruby might be brilliant, but she’s never been very social.” She nudged Adaline. “You and I got the people skills in this family.”
Adaline smiled at her before nodding at me. “That pre-med program must be keeping you pretty busy.”
“It is,” I said cautiously, feeling a back-handed comment coming. With Gemma’s help, Adaline had been perfecting those.
As I expected, the two exchanged a glance before she flicked a finger toward my hand. “My mom doesn’t like it when I get my nails done either.”
Gemma sighed heavily and slung an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry. She’ll let you have them done for my wedding. What about you, Rubes? Think you might be able to take some time off before the wedding to come get pampered with us? The girl I use will get your hair and your nails in tip-top condition in no time.”
And there it is…
The self-conscious part of me wanted to pull my blonde ponytail over my shoulder to examine the ends of my hair. Last time I’d checked, it hadn’t looked that bad.
I fought against the urge, though. The truth, which none of the women in my family seemed to understand, was that I just didn’t have the time nor the inclination to keep up with trendy haircuts or regular nail appointments.
It wasn’t that my appearance wasn’t important to me. I just thought I looked fine with my natural blonde as a hair color and my nails were clean and healthy. So why would I waste my time on any of that?
Gemma’s mother must’ve overheard her, because she’d suddenly joined us as well. She flashed a conspiring grin at Adaline before looking at me. “It’s important to make time to take care of yourself, Ruby. Besides, what’s more fun than a good girls’ day out being pampered?”
Uh, how about spending the day in the library getting ahead of next week’s classes? Or maybe even going to the dentist for a root canal? Pretty much anything, really.
“Thanks for the reminder, Pat,” I said to my aunt instead of giving her my real answer. Picking up my glass, I drained the rest of my drink in one go and unfolded my legs from underneath me to get up. “I need a refill. Anyone else?”
They all shook their heads, but I still had the excuse I needed to make my getaway. With my empty glass in hand, I headed to the kitchen and ignored it when I heard them giggling after I left. I loved my family, but they were very different people to me.
When I walked into the kitchen, I almost turned around and walked right back out when I found two of my uncles locked in a discussion. Unfortunately, one of them spotted me before I could flee and roped me in.
“Ruby is studying to be a doctor,” he said, closing his fingers over my shoulder to physically pull me into their argument. “Maybe she can clear this up for us.”
“She’s only a freshman,” my other uncle argued. “The only thing freshmen know how to do is party.”
I bit my tongue. Both of them knew I wasn’t a party girl and that I wasn’t on track to become a doctor. Nursing and physiotherapy were my main areas of focus, but I wasn’t about to reopen that can of worms.
Thankfully, the uncle who’d been holding onto me let go in order to have his hands free to gesture wildly while I went to get my root beer. The new topic of their debate was whether or not I was even qualified to give an opinion on their original debate.
When they very graciously decided that they’d hear me out, I sighed internally but went to join them at the counter anyway. What followed was essentially a lecture—to me—on the laws surrounding the practice of nursing and the ethical codes. All of which I knew. Inside out and back to front.
Not that it mattered. I never got a word in edgewise with them. They’d both always been idiots, and they refused to acknowledge that any of us kids might have become just a little bit smarter than them over the years.
I finally managed to extricate myself from them by shaking my empty glass at them. “I need to pop to the bathroom. See you later.”
Skipping out before they could stop me, I made a dash for the guest toilet downstairs and locked myself in. After splashing some water on my face, I took a deep breath and lifted my head to look out of the window.
It’d been snowing outside all day, but the night was crystal clear. The stars were bright and while I was already keen on going to bed, I was looking forward to the bonfire outside later. It was too lame even for me to crawl into bed before the clock struck twelve on New Year’s Eve.
Only a few more nights, then I’ll be back on campus and back to my usual routine. Just the thought was enough to give me the strength to go back out and face my family again.
After drifting between rooms for a while, I went into the backyard with my dad to light the bonfire. He pulled me close and kissed the top of my head. “I’m proud of you, kiddo.”
“Thanks, Daddy.” I snuggled into his side, enjoying his familiar embrace for another minute before it was time for us to head back inside to fetch everyone else.
Eventually, after what felt like an age and a half, the countdown was over and I could finally go to bed. I dragged myself up the stairs to my bedroom, which was exactly as I’d left it before I’d gone off to Edgewater a few months ago, and changed into my pajamas.
Once I was tucked into bed, I reread an email on my phone that I’d received earlier this week and smiled to myself in the darkness. It was messages like this from one of my professors that made all the hard work worth it.
I still couldn’t believe it, but it was right there in black and white. Professor Jones had written to tell me that my performance so far had been incredible and that, if I could keep it up in the coming months, he’d put in a good word for me. A good word that would mean I could get fast-tracked and graduate a whole semester early.
The idea of it appealed majorly to me. While I knew there were a lot of people hellbent on making their college careers a marathon and not a sprint, I wasn’t one of them. The sooner I could get into the real world and start working to make a difference, the better.
Letting out a contented sigh, I locked my phone’s screen and hugged the device to my chest. The email meant everything to me. It was the biggest reason why I’d turned down Hadley’s last minute invite for me to join them.
I couldn’t wait to get back to where I belonged, which was the hallowed halls of Edgewater University. Winter break felt much too long. I was ready to dive back into my studies, and I was all about doing it as soon as I humanly could.
Chapter 2
BRYSEN
What a fucking bore.
It was New Year’s Eve. I should’ve been out with my friends instead of attending my parents’ annual extravaganza. In fact, if it’d been up to me, I wouldn’t even have been in the same state as my family for New Year’s.
I’d had plans. Big plans.
A roadtrip to California with my best friend, for starters. Spending the break hooking up with hotties on the beach was much more up my alley than spending it with snobs, tycoons, and their ruthless leaders, the Burkes—who just so happened to be my parents.
After California, the world would’ve been my oyster. We’d had plans to go to Colorado for the X Games in January but from there, we’d decided to see where we ended up. Intentionally not planning anything beyond the week in Aspen, the only thing I’d known for sure was that I wouldn’t be going back to Edgewater when classes started back up.
All of that was until the big, bad King of the Assholes himself had shown up. Everyone at the university knew my father’s name. He was one of their most well-known alums who was still alive, and I’d heard the whispers of his
arrival on campus long before I’d actually seen the man himself.
Tommy Burke had shown up personally to drag my ass back home as soon as my last exam was over. It was a fucking miracle I’d even taken that one. I’d skipped a few of the others. If I hadn’t been there to find him waiting outside when it was done, I wasn’t sure what would’ve happened.
Whatever he’d have done, it wouldn’t have been good for me. It would’ve possibly been even worse than him demanding that I spend the winter break at home. Not that the place was very homely. It never had been. A more accurate description was one of the sets of four walls I’d grown up between. Nevertheless, it’d been made clear to me that I wouldn’t like the consequences if I tried to defy him on this.
My parents’ massive estate was crawling with at least a hundred and fifty people tonight, roughly half of whom I’d never seen before. I’d briefly considered making a run for it while my illustrious conceivers were otherwise occupied. It was highly unlikely that they’d have noticed my absence while keeping up appearances with their elite friends but eventually, I’d decided not to risk it.
