Love Me, Baby: A High School Bully Romance (Silver Creek High Book 3)

by Belladona Cunning

  What about everyone else in this situation, though? It’s not just him, it’s all five of us. Whether I like it or not, they have pulled me right into the middle. I’m drowning, barely keeping my head above water. Yet, he’s not going to help me? When I need him the most, he’s going to desert me, again? The fuck.

  Me: Just forget it. If you want to know what I’m talking about, since you have enough time for them, ask Quinn, Asher, or Ellis. I’m sure they’d love to tell you.

  The tears that have been brimming at the corner of my eyes for some time, break away and slide down the sides of my face. Pain encompasses me, making me feel like my chest is ripping open and grief is slowly sliding out onto the floor under my feet. Falling back into bed, I curl up on my side.

  Everything feels like it’s falling down around me and I can’t catch my breath. The moment I feel like everything is falling back into place, that’s when it blows up again. When am I going to catch a break? When are the guys? It seems like we’ve been running and fighting ever since we got together, and I’m at the end of my rope.

  No one can go through this much and expect to push through to the other side. It feels like years, instead of months, that we’ve been in this proverbial hell hole.

  I need a plan. A viable plan that will get all of us out of this freak show of a life.

  That’s when an idea comes to me. It may be reckless, and possible downright stupid, but it could work.

  I need my father. I don’t know why, but I feel like he could put a lot of things into perspective for me. When I was younger, he was always the one I’d turn to. Maybe he can be the one now. I’m sure he won’t want to hear every miniscule detail, but I need someone to bounce ideas off of, and he’s my best bet.

  Heaving a sigh, I push myself up off the bed. I dry my eyes and center myself before making my way out of my room. Silence resounds around the house, but I know I heard him come in a little while ago. He’s probably in his study, which is where he usually burns the midnight oil, working on whatever it is the Empire needs him to.

  Fuck, that’s still something he and I haven’t discussed. I don’t even know what he does for the company, and as strange as it sounds, I think I need to. Something tells me that his roots in that company run far deeper than a sycamore tree in the heat of a Georgian summer.

  Making my way down the hall, I come to a stop in front of his study. Hesitantly, I shift from side to side before gathering my courage and knocking.

  “Come in,” he calls from the other side, following the sound of ice clinking in a tumbler.

  Taking the cool metal into my sweat slick palm, I cautiously turn the knob and push the door open. The moment my father spies me, he doesn’t harbor any surprise on his face, just a look of understanding—as if he knew something like this would happen and he’s accepted it.

  “Dad, can we talk?”

  He smiles softly, nothing like the man he has to be when in public. A breath I didn’t know I’d been holding, slips past my lips. Nowadays, I never know what kind of mood he’s going to be in. I don’t know if it’s because of his new place within the Empire or if that’s just how he is now, but I am inherently glad he’s not rebuking me when I need him the most.

  “Yeah. I’ve got some time.” He waves me inside. I step in, closing the door behind me with a soft click.

  “There is a lot I need to know, but I’ll start with the simple stuff.”

  He laughs, taking a sip of whiskey. “You and I are too much alike.”

  I shoot a smile his way.

  Making my way toward him, I take the empty seat in front of his desk. The worn leather creaks under my weight, then hugs my curves as I settle in for what I know will be a strenuous conversation.

  I get straight to the point. No beating around the bush, because frankly, there’s simply no time. “What do you do for the Empire?”

  He seems taken aback, but answers anyway. “Lockridge takes care of the legal portion. Shawcrass takes care of security. Malone takes care of expansion and acquisitions. Tannenbay takes care of financial. I, on the other hand, am the face of the company. I am the person on the front line, taking care of the overall media outlets and stories that the public receive.”

  I crane my head. “So, like a journalist?”

  He nods, weighing his response. “You can say that.”

  Interesting. “That’s what I want to go to college for.”

  He smirks, as if he knows something I don’t. “I’m aware, baby girl.”

  If there’s more to it than him being aware of what I want to do, then I’d wish he would tell me already.

  “That sounds like a loaded response.” I quirk an eyebrow.

  He sits down behind his desk, unbuttoning the top two buttons on his shirt. His eyes meet mine, amusement dancing in his irises as he takes a sip of his drink. “Because it is. Let me ask you a question, baby girl. Who do you think will take over once all of us old men retire?”

  “The guys?”

  He grins at that, then meets my eyes over the rim of his tumbler. “There are five positions that we need to fill, sweetie. Your reply suggests that only four will be replaced.”

  Okay, I’m not dense. I can comprehend what he’s insinuating, but it isn’t my main concern. We can get to that when the time comes. So, I’ll gladly bypass that line of questioning at this moment to get to the real problem.

  “Maybe that’s a conversation for a different time.” I would hate to freak out if it’s all for nothing and not freak out if it means everything. “The next thing I want to know is: can Mrs. Lockridge hold Callum’s inheritance over his head?”

  “Care to explain a little further?” He snaps to attention, his reply brisk and actions stilted.

  “Well, I can’t get into it all because it’s not my place,” I say, biting my bottom lip.

  My father scoots to the front of his seat, literally right on the edge, and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Jessalyn, I need you to tell me. I can’t do anything if I don’t know. Since, I assume, this has something to do with the Empire, then I need to know more.”

  He may not be able to do anything now, anyway. He’s only been with the Empire for a few months, unless he’s fibbed about that, too. How much pull could he have in that company?

  Then again, I also know my father. I know if something is wrong, he’d make it his mission to fix it. And this affects not only Callum, it affects all members of the Empire.

  What the hell am I going to do?

  Tears build in my eyes. My throat swells with emotion. I don’t want to break Callum’s trust in me, but there doesn’t seem to be a better option. We’re trying to take care of this all on our own, and the truth is, we may not be able to. We’re teenagers for God’s sake. This is too much pressure.

  Shifting slightly, my eyes fall on my father’s hard stare. I’m so sorry, Cal.

  Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I tell him, “From what I can tell you, she’s forcing Callum to be with Alessandra, in that way,” I insinuate by widening my eyes, “at the risk of losing his inheritance.”

  Silence. One, two, three beats of my heart.

  Then every fucking thing detonates. My father explodes out of his seat, his menacing air startling me. I flinch back in, lost as to why he’s so blazing mad. Yes, she’s messing with the son of a founding member, but that doesn’t justify his anger, does it?

  “Alessandra Lennox?” I nod in trepidation. “Jessalyn, you need to be honest with me, because this is fucking important. Did Callum explicitly tell you this? Did he say word for word that his mother would take his inheritance if he didn’t comply?”

  “Well, not in so many words, but it was implied.”

  He levels me with an icy glare. “Tell me exactly what was said. Now.”

  “Um,” I stammer. “He said—he said—L”

  “Goddammit, Jess, tell me.”

  The “dad” voice. Holy fuck, it’s been years since he’s used it on me. And I’ll be the first to tell yo
u it still freaking works.

  “He came over and said that his mother said fuck her or marry her … and, and—that if he didn’t comply, she would convince his father to pull his inheritance and give it to her,” I ramble out so fast, I nearly fall out of my seat by a bout of lightheadedness. “Now he’s acting different and won’t even talk to me.”

  My father slants his brows inward, probably thinking I’m some mental case. You know, I don’t even blame him. Half of what I just said came out so fast I probably garbled most of it. But, after a few moments, his features even out. A sense of calm washes over him, and I hesitantly allow a sigh of relief fall from between my traitorous lips.

  I know I don’t owe it to him, but Callum will be seriously upset with me. That’s not counting the ire I’ll receive from Quinn, Asher, and Ellis. It’s us against the world. We’re supposed to stick together, but I can’t hide the doubt I feel about that. All four of them are keeping too many secrets from me, and I trust my father implicitly. If something is wrong, I know I can always go to him, seeking an explanation.

  Except, I don’t get that at all. Not like I thought I would. Instead, my father briskly nods toward his closed office door with a firm jerk of his chin. “I need to make some calls.”

  “But Dad—”

  “No,” he says firmly. “I am relieved you came to me with this, but you need to stay out of it. Do you understand me? This is between the members of the Empire and Mrs. Lockridge.”

  I go to say something else, but his hard stare freezes me in place. Instead, I nod, shaking as I climb to my feet and scurry from his office. When I close the door behind me, I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear a glass shattering, as if he threw his tumbler across the room.

  In all my years, I’ve only seen my father truly upset once. That’s when he went head to head with Debra the night he found out about her abuse. He was so livid, raging and yelling at her. There were a few times I thought he’d take it too far, but somehow, he calmed himself down enough to get his point across.

  Mrs. Lockridge is messing with his—all the families—business. She has no ties to the Empire. She’s only married to one of their founders and mothered an heir.

  However, with the way she’s acting, you’d think she has more influence than she truly has. That doesn’t settle well with me, and something tells me that doesn’t settle well with my father, either.

  I can’t decide if what I just did helped or harmed things even more. All I know is I left my father’s office with more questions than I did when entering.

  CHAPTER 20

  I tossed and turned all night, catching not one bit of sleep. My eyes are puffy red, and my body drags as I get ready for school.

  Nerves tangle inside my stomach, thinking about telling the guys what I did last night. All of them trusted me enough with this information not to say a word, but at the first sign of distress, I ran to my father for answers. Now, I’m terrified of what they might think of me; how they could perceive me as too weak to handle difficult situations if I break every time something happens.

  Before them, I didn’t give a fuck about what anyone thought. The only person I needed in my corner was Karma. It’s been barely five months, and I’ve already turned into a damn gullible toy of theirs. And that’s the sad part, I can’t even deny it. Don’t even want to.

  It took years for them to make me into a hardened bitch, but mere months to wear down my jagged edges. I should be furious of all the unraveling they’ve done since returning to Silver Creek. But my ridiculous, cold, detached heart started beating again. Instead of thumping for me, so I can survive without being numb and cold, it started beating for my guys. The guys that started the reign of terror against me in the first place.

  Am I foolish in forgiving them so easily? They caused so much pain and hurt, and it feels like I fell into an abyss of their affections. It’s been so long since I’ve felt wanted by someone for something other than my body. But did I give into them because of my loneliness or because they deserved it?

  I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. It’s not them. It’s me. Don’t go down this road, Jess.

  A sharp knock on my door has me turning. “Yeah?”

  Without waiting, the door pushes open, revealing Davis on the other side dressed to the nines. I haven’t spoken to him since our run in the other night in his room, and he knows he’s not my favorite person right now.

  “They have instructed me to drive you to school.”

  I cock a brow. “What?”

  He sighs. “You heard me, Jess. I’m not repeating myself.”

  My anger flares. “No one said you had to repeat yourself. And don’t worry, Davis, I can drive myself.”

  Just as soon as I get to school, the floodgates are opening. The guys have been driving me for months, but just so happens the day after I talk to my father, they’re not able to pick me up. I don’t buy it. Something happened, and I’d rather drive to school in peace, so I can formulate a plan. They will not shut me out simply because I asked my father for advice. He’s not the enemy. The Lennox family and Mrs. Lockridge are.

  “I don’t really give a shit, Jess. Drive yourself. Ride with me. Either way, you’re going.”

  “Just because you’re a cheating, slime ball doesn’t mean you can be an asshole to me,” I growl. “I didn’t tell you to crawl between Darling’s legs; you did that on your own, and as far as I know, you enjoyed yourself.”

  He takes a step toward me, menace twisting his features. “You don’t know a goddamn thing, Savoy. So, unless you want the deets, shut that pretty little fucking trap of yours before I find something to shut it with.”

  I shoot a smug grin toward him. “You can try, but I can guarantee the guys would have something to say about that.”

  “Fuck you. Fuck the guys. Fuck every motherfucking body!” he bellows.

  Tension rolls off him in swells. His hands clench and slacken by his sides. He looks barely on this side of snapping, and it begs me to ask why. I know it’s none of my business, but I need to understand why he did what he did.

  I square up with him. “What’s going on? You’ve never been this hostile toward me before.”

  I watch, silently, as his jaw clenches. He doesn’t meet my eyes for a few moments, but even I can tell he’s trying to think past the anger flowing through his veins. It takes him several minutes before he finally gets a grip on himself. Just enough so he can speak without seething at me in spiteful words.

  He slowly deflates in front of me. All matters of stress and tension falling away to nothing. Actually, it makes him look despondent and sad, which is definitely not Davis. “You wouldn’t get it even if I told you.”

  “Try me.” I sit down on my unmade bed, tapping the spot right next to me. Maybe if I focus on his problems for a while, it can get me out of my head. It’s already a mess up there, and I don’t need to delve through anymore right now. I already have the guys to deal with when I get to school.

  Surprisingly, he takes me up on my offer, unleashing a huff of air as he sits down beside me. “I didn’t want to be with Gia. I love Karma. But it’s something that couldn’t be helped, and now, I’m going to lose my best girl.”

  “Why were you with Gia, Davis?”

  He sighs. “Because of you.”

  His words have me doing a double take. What the hell do I have to do with his shitty situation?

  “Come again?”

  “My mother,” he grits the term of endearment out, knuckles whitening as he clenches his hands, “has no in with the inner circle anymore. So, because of everything that’s happening with you, the person stalking you, and the person who raped you, I had to take Gia to bed to open her mouth. My mother thinks she may know something since she’s a child of one of the influential families.”

  “That’s no reason to sleep with someone and cheat on your girl, Davis.”

  He barks out a laugh. “You still don’t fucking get it, do you? Out of everything that’s happened
, you’re still looking at the smaller picture.”

  He turns toward me, a serious expression on his face. “You will take your father’s place at the Empire when he retires.” I gathered as much, but I still don’t get where he’s going with this. “But what you don’t know is that your father and my mother planned out my future, too. When we graduate, I don’t get to go to college. I don’t get to make a name for myself, like you and the guys. I’m stuck with you for the rest of my goddamn life.”

  Like that’s really such a burden. You know what, never mind. I can be a bitch sometimes.

  “Stuck with me how?”

  “They’re forcing—well, not really forcing me, just decided—that I’m to attend the Empire Elite Academy. My new job after I graduate from there will be as your personal security detail. They want me to start now, which means I must do everything in my power to stop anything that might harm you. You’re my charge.”

  “That sucks,” I murmur, turning away from him to stare blankly at the wall in front of me.

  To have someone’s life planned out, knowing they want nothing to do with it, is not something I can get on board with. I don’t want to be sidled with someone that looks at me with such loathing. I don’t want to be the reason they plan out his future for him.

  After a moment of silence, he bumps my shoulder with his. “It’s not all bad. At least I can halfway stand being around you. I was thinking of going into the military, anyway, but the pay for this will be so much better.”

  I laugh at that. “Gee, thanks! But seriously, don’t do that again. I don’t care if it’s life or death. Karma didn’t deserve that.”

  “I still have to figure out how I’m going to tell her. I don’t want to hurt her.”