I eat in Max’s lap, feeding him forkfuls of the dinner he made us, and I’ve never felt happier. This is where I belong, this is where I need to be. There’s no other place for me in the whole wide world.
Finally, Max tells me to go check my emails for any schoolwork that needs to be done while he puts the dishes in the washer. I kiss his cheek, but he pulls me in for a full-on makeout session, which makes me giggle.
“You’re naughty,” I tell him with a grin when we finally break apart.
“I think we both know who the naughty one is,” Max winks at me.
I stick my tongue out and he laughs, shaking his head as I make my way upstairs.
My laptop is on Max’s nightstand, and I crawl into bed to check my emails. There’s a bunch of them from school indeed, and I read through, making mental notes of what needs to be done before I finally head back to class. I’ve slacked long enough, and it’s high time I finally return to school.
When I’m almost done going through them, another email pops up on my laptop, and my eyes narrow when I see who it’s from.
Brett.
I click on the little envelope with shaky fingers, feeling myself grow pale when I read through the message.
LG,
Bet you’ve missed me. ;) We signed the contract and all, but I still need your help with something. Unless you want me to tell your man what a fucking whore you are, you’ll do one last thing for me.
Meet me at my place tonight, Lola Grace. Don’t be fucking late, or there will be consequences.
Brett
I read through the message again and again. A few days ago, I would be scared of him. I would crawl into bed and cry and feel sorry for myself. But not today.
It’s time to tell Max what happened.
16
Max
I’m just about done putting the dishes away when I hear Lola Grace calling my name in a shaky voice. I put down the last of the plates and tell her I’m coming as I take the stairs two at a time.
I’ve been nervous for the past few days. So fucking nervous about telling her and showing her what kind of man I really am. I want to hurt her, yes, but in ways that’ll make her cum harder than ever before. And after the hour we spent in my special room, I think we’ll be having a lot more fucking fun.
I come into the bedroom and find her on the bed with her laptop open. She looks pale for some reason, and I briefly wonder if I’ve gone too hard on her. But Lola Grace’s eyes are fixed on the laptop screen and I quickly come to the realization this isn’t about me hurting her. This is about something else.
“Is everything all right?” I ask her worriedly, wiping my still-wet hands on the fabric of my sweatpants. “You look a little pale, kitten.”
“I haven’t been telling you the truth,” she tells me simply, and my blood freezes.
“About what?” I ask, sitting down on the bed next to me. I expect her to scoot closer, but instead she stays in her spot, looking paler than ever.
“About the movie,” she finally manages to get out.
“What about it?”
“I… I didn’t want to be part of it,” she manages to choke out. My fingers tighten on the bedspread when she begins telling me the full truth.
Going out and being drugged while her best friend watched. Being raped while someone filmed her, being coerced and her body fucking used when she had no way of defending herself.
I listen to it all, trying to remain impassive, but my blood is fucking boiling. I’m going to rip some throats out tonight, I already know it.
“Why are you telling me all this now?” I finally ask her once she’s done telling me about what happened. “Why not earlier?”
“Because I just got an email,” she replies in a shaky voice. “From the guy, Brett. He wants me to do him another favor. He’s asking for something, but I don’t know what he wants yet, and I…” She swallows, hard. “I was too scared to go there by myself, I thought…”
“I’ll go,” I say, and she gives me a small nod before pushing her laptop away and pulling the duvet up around her body. A need to protect her, to make sure she’s okay, consumes me, and I want desperately to make her feel safe again. I want to kill the fucking bastards that hurt her. And I’m afraid I might do just that if she doesn’t calm me down.
“I’m going to hurt them,” I tell her simply. “For what they fucking did to you… They’re going to pay.”
She gives me a scared look, asking, “You don’t hate me because of what happened?”
“What the fuck do you mean?” I growl, and she shrinks away from me, which makes me regret my words. I reach out for her, stroking the soft skin on her hands. “What do you mean, baby?”
“You’re not mad I… let them do what they wanted?” she asks, her voice shaking. “You’re not mad I lied?”
I look at her for a long time. “Yes, I’m mad. But not at you. I’m fucking mad we signed a contract, which means we can’t fucking sue them,” I reply. “I’m mad they’ll never see court and they’ll never be brought to justice. I’m mad your mother paid them so much fucking money to keep them quiet.”
Lola Grace nods and I stroke her cheek. She leans into my touch and I crave to make her mine again, but I know I can’t waste any more time.
“I’m going to see them now,” I tell her. “But next time, you need to be honest with me, Lola Grace. I’ll never be angry. I just want to help you, kitten.”
She gives me a long, lingering look, and finally nods her approval. Happy that I got through to her, I get up from the bed with my whole body shaking. I’m trying to not let her see how fucking pissed off I am. How badly I want to hurt the guys that did this to her. I can tell she’s scared.
“Lock yourself in while I’m gone,” I say. “Don’t let anyone but me inside.”
“Okay,” she replies in a small voice. “Will you be back soon?”
“As soon as I can, kitten,” I promise her, before kissing her pouty lips goodbye. “As soon as I fucking can.”
With that, I leave the love of my life in my bedroom, and I head out to avenge her.
I ring the doorbell of the house Brett lives in with his roommate, and I poise myself for attack. A red mist has taken over me and I can barely see through it. I’m about to hurt him, really fucking badly too. I just can’t hold back. I can’t make myself be reasonable about this shit. All I can think about is splitting his fucking face open for what he did to my girl.
The door flies open and a guy appears on the doorstep. He’s handsome, in an all-American way. Looks like something off a commercial for Abercrombie and Fitch. Not for fucking long, though.
My first punch breaks his nose, and he yells as he falls on his ass.
I walk inside and close the door behind me as I start hitting him.
I know I should stop before it’s too fucking late, but seeing this prick in person, seeing him cower beneath me, makes me want to tear his fucking throat out. He’s whimpering like a pathetic little jackass on the floor as I pound into his skin. Blood is spraying over my knuckles, and he’s bleeding from his nose and a gash in his forehead.
I don’t fucking stop, though.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
Another male voice interrupts what I’m doing, and I look up to find a guy glaring at me. The fear in his eyes is obvious as I leave Brett unmoving on the floor and approach the other guy.
“Jack?” I ask, and he nods, frozen to the spot.
This time, my first punch lands in his stomach, and I fucking hope I caused him some internal bleeding.
I can’t fucking stop myself. I beat them until my knuckles are bruised, kicking and punching and spitting until I don’t even know who the fuck I am anymore. I make sure they’ll never fucking forget, though.
I don’t stop until I hear the first crunch of bone and a pained cry escape Jack’s mouth. Only then do I move back and look at their pathetic figures on the ground. They’re worthless. Fucking worthless. And I’ll never regret
what I just did to them. They deserved every fucking punch they got.
Finally, a door creaks open and a feminine gasp makes me shift my attention to the hallway. A girl I recognize all too well is standing in the doorway, and I glare at her as I advance on her.
Stacy, Lola Grace’s best fucking friend.
She’s cowering from me, worried I’ll hit her. I’m not going to hurt her like that, though. I don’t fucking hit girls. But I’ll make her regret what she did to my kitten anyway.
“Nice to see you again,” I growl at her, and she pants as I approach her, squeezing her against the wall. “I think we need to talk, darling.”
She nods quickly, obviously desperate to please me and make sure I don’t fucking hurt her. I want to, though. I want to hurt her so fucking badly.
“I’ve already doled out my punishment there,” I say, pointing towards the barely-moving bodies of Brett and Jack on the floor. “But a little birdie told me this might’ve all been your idea, Stacy.”
She shakes her head, but I can tell I’ve hit the nail on the head. Lola Grace never even suspected, but as soon as she told me the whole story, I had a feeling this was all Stacy’s idea.
“Is there anything you have to say for yourself?” I ask, my voice booming with anger. “Anything that would make me want to fucking spare you?”
Her voice shakes as she starts to speak.
“It never happened.” She’s stuttering over her words, unable to get the full sentence out. I can tell she’s nervous as hell, but I don’t have any fucking sympathy for her. She needs to get punished for what she’s done to my girl, and I’m not about to go easy on her.
“What never happened?” I snarl at her.
“The v-video.” Her voice is weak as she faces me head on, shaking and trembling as she looks at me. “The video doesn’t exist. We never filmed it.”
“What the fuck are you on about?” I ask, my bloodied hands shaking as I stare her down. “What do you mean you didn’t fucking film it? You drugged her!”
“Yes.” She nods quickly. “We did. We put something in her drink, a roofie or something, I don’t know… Jack was the one to get it.”
I get up in her bubble and she whimpers when I’m so fucking close, but I’m not about to back off. “Tell. Me. Every. Fucking. Thing,” I order her, damn desperate to shake her hard but holding myself back. She is a woman after all, even though she’s a fucking viper.
“It was Brett’s idea,” she says. “But it was mine not to actually do it. We gave her the roofie and staged everything to look like she’d been raped… We put up the camera equipment to make her think that was what happened.”
“But what about the fucking tape?” I ask.
“The tape is empty. We told her there was a video, but there never was,” she says in a small voice, looking up at me desperately. “You have to believe me, it’s the truth.”
I look at her for a long time and start to put the puzzle pieces together. If she’s telling the truth, that means no one but me fucked my girl. It means she never was raped, just played. It means Annabel just paid a hefty fucking sum of money to three kids who tricked her.
I let go of the wall on either side of her, my hands shaking. I run them over my face, not caring if I get it bloodied. We were all fucking conned. All of us fell for their sick fucking game.
I look at Jack and Brett on the floor, moaning and groaning as they come out of their stupor. I’m not regretting hitting them, they deserved every fucking punch, every kick I threw their way. But I regret falling for their damn game. I regret having to hurt Lola Grace.
“You tricked her,” I say. “You led her to believe she was raped, you convinced her you’d release the tape and make her look like a whore. You should go to jail for that.”
“But we won’t,” Stacy says smugly. “You were the one who put together the contract. You know damn well we can never be prosecuted for what happened.”
“So you pulled off the perfect con,” I say thoughtfully. “Congrats, Stacy.”
The little bitch actually beams with pride as I step over the bodies of her accomplices. I’m almost at the door when I turn back to face her. “Oh, Stacy?”
She looks up at me, that smarmy self-assured smile plastered all over her face.
“Your father’s a senator, right?”
She gives me a doubtful look, but finally nods.
“So why’d you need all that fucking money?” I ask.
“I need to get away,” she replies. “I need to get away from him, and I don’t have money of my own. I’m running away.”
“Okay,” I tell her. “Good luck.”
I grin before opening the front door, revealing a man in an expensive suit towering above us both on the doorstep.
“Dad,” Stacy manages to choke out as the man storms inside the house.
“Oh, by the way, Stace,” I say calmly. “I called your dad before coming over. You know, just wanted to fill him in on whatever the fuck you’ve been doing.”
“No,” she whimpers as the man starts shouting at her. “Dad, I didn’t mean to. They…they fucking tricked me.”
“You’re done,” he tells her calmly. “I’m sending you the fuck away from this. You’re never going to live this down.”
I close the front door to the sound of her begging for mercy and head for home.
The walk back is good for me, the cool air managing to clear my head somewhat. I need it desperately to make myself feel better about what I’ve done. These past few months and everything that has happened with Annabel, her husband, my parents and Lola Grace… it’s all weighing fucking heavily on me and I’m fucking exhausted. I’m consumed with thoughts of packing our shit up and moving us away, somewhere far away from here.
I make a plan for myself and my kitten by the time I arrive back at my apartment. I knock on the front door with my bruised knuckles, just like I promised Lola Grace I would. The door flies open a moment later and she cries out when she sees the state I’m in.
“What did you do?” she asks me softly. “What did you fucking do, Max?”
“I paid back what was due,” I tell her simply with a grin, and she sighs as she pulls me in, our cat snaking around my feet as I walk into the living room.
Lola Grace sits me down on the couch and brings out a first aid kit from the bathroom. I tell her what happened as she cleans out the cuts on my knuckles, the blood off my face.
She makes me take off my clothes, and wipes down any and every last trace of blood until I’m clean. Then she strips off her own clothes and pulls me towards the bathroom.
She turns on the shower, and in moments, the room is filled with steam. Lola Grace pulls me inside the shower and soaps up my body as I stare at her motionlessly. I can’t get enough of her, and staring at her lithe young body I come to realize she’s the one for me.
I used to think Quinn was the only woman I could ever be with. After she died, I was convinced I’d never settle down with anyone. But this girl… this fucking woman, is the be-all and end-all for me. There’s nothing I want more in the world than making her the happiest woman on earth.
I kneel right there, in the fucking shower, nearly slipping on the bubbly floor.
“What are you doing?” Lola Grace asks with a gasp as I take her hand in mine, water beating down my back in spurts of hot liquid.
“Asking you to be mine,” I say. “Asking you to put all this shit behind us and move on. With me. Only care about us, only worry about being happy.”
I look into her eyes, blinking away the water that’s running down my forehead.
“Will you marry me, Lola Grace?” I ask her.
She just stares at me for a long time, and I’m not sure whether she’s crying, because her eyes are red-rimmed, but the water streaming down her face might as well be from the shower. Nevertheless, she looks the most beautiful I’ve ever seen her.
“Yes,” she finally manages to get out in the smallest of voices. “Yes, please, Max…
I want to be all yours.”
I get up and wrap her in my arms, holding her so fucking close it feels like we’re going to fuse into one person. I need her. I adore her. And now she’s all fucking mine, forever.
“Thank you, kitten,” I whisper into the shell of her ear. “Thank you. You’ve made me the happiest fucking man alive.”
She kisses my neck, her mouth soft and hot against my skin, and I press my hips against hers, desperate to be inside her yet again. I don’t know how well she’s recovered from the news I just told her about Jack, Brett and her former best friend, but when my tip pushes at her opening, she whimpers needily, and I know she wants me as much as I want her.
I don’t waste time. I plunge my dick inside her, claiming her pussy with a few strong thrusts. In seconds, she’s moaning and clawing at my back as I press her against the wall of the shower.
“So fucking sweet,” I murmur against her wet neck as I feel my orgasm building up. “You taste so damn good, kitten.”
She mewls against my hair as I spurt inside her, claiming her one more time and holding her as close as I possibly can. I need her to know I’ll be there for her, supporting and loving her every fucking step of the way.
And when our eyes connect once I’ve filled her up, I know she knows. I’m all hers, and she is all mine, and I’ll do whatever the fuck I have to to keep it that way.
17
Max
“Max?” she asks quietly, and my eyes find hers.
“Yes, kitten?”
“W-what… what happened with Quinn? What made you think you were the one who killed her?” Her voice is shaking, and I wonder whether she really wants to know the answer. But the truth is, she’s going to have to find out eventually. The beast inside me is desperate to get out, and I can barely keep my claws away from her.
His Brat: A Dark Bad Boy Romance Page 14
