When I pulled away, he stared at me with awe and confusion as I pulled my phone from my purse. I dialed Godfrey’s number with Luis’s eyes heavy on my shoulders. My brother answered on the second ring. “Yeah?”
“Godfrey?” I choked out, my voice weak and depressing.
“Royal? What’s wrong? Where are you?” He was slurring his words, and I cringed. Drunk Godfrey would not take this news well.
“I’ll come to you. I need...help,” I croaked out. I hated that I had to drag him into another one of my messes, but there was no way around it anymore.
I heard him move around on the other end of the line. “We’re at Rogue’s. Are you okay to drive?” he asked, his voice loud over the phone.
I answered, “I’ll call a cab,” at the same time that Luis said, “I’ll take you.”
I shook my head at Luis. “No. You need to stay here with your mother,” I rushed out. I didn’t want to leave her alone.
“I said I’ll fucking take you. I’ll have my security team keep watch.”
I could tell that he wasn’t going to budge, so I just blew out a frustrated breath before answering Godfrey. “Luis is bringing me over.”
Godfrey paused for a long moment before answering. “What the fuck is going on, Royal?”
I twisted to look over at Mrs. Salvador again, taking in her sunken cheeks and pale skin dripping with sweat.
“I’ll tell you everything,” I whispered. “I promise.”
You just won’t like me after you hear what I have to say.
* * *
My childhood had always been a revolving door of etiquette classes and fierce discipline.
After my baby brother was born, I was long forgotten. Despite being six years younger than me, Godfrey always seemed older. I guess he had to be.
Whenever I came home, it was always the same thing. My dad would get pissed off at something, and his fists would go flying. But Godfrey always stepped in to defend me. I never even asked—he just did it instinctually to protect me, even though I should’ve been protecting him. To him, I was his sister, and he was going to defend me no matter what. It was something I loved about him—his fierce loyalty—but it was a guilt I had to live with too.
And now, here I was, about to ask him to help protect me again.
I didn’t want to put him in that position, not when I had so much to make up for, but I didn’t know how else to play this. Godfrey and I understood one another. We might be different, we might have an age gap, but we were cut from the same fucked up cloth, and when Taylors got together to play the game, we were a force to be reckoned with. I needed that power if I was going to bring Aaron down.
I wasn’t a damn flower. I was a motherfucking blade, and I was ready to cut the bastard.
Which is why I let Luis drive me to the Kelly Estate. I stood outside, staring at the front door like it was a judge’s gavel until Luis grabbed me and pulled me inside.
Judgment was a weight I didn’t know if I could carry. Would Godfrey be appalled at what I’d done in Ecuador? I knew his hands weren’t exactly clean, but I’d killed an innocent sick woman simply because I’d been negligent. Mine was a death of sloppy thoughtlessness. His had always been for a purpose—like when he killed Rachel’s abuser. His hands were stained with the blood of a vile man who deserved to be punished. My hands were stained with the scarlet drips of inattentiveness.
As Luis guided me to the backyard, my palms were sweating, and I couldn’t stop gnawing on my bottom lip.
It was still plenty hot, despite being night, and I saw the Heirs congregating around the in-ground jacuzzi, the steam rising from the water with lazy tendrils.
“I didn’t tell them about Ma. Didn’t wanna ruin the fun,” Luis said in a whisper.
I nodded in understanding. It seemed we were all keeping things from one another.
I felt a pang of jealousy at that. Their impenetrable friendship was stronger than ever. When I graduated from college, I’d been alone. My parents hadn’t even attended the graduation ceremony because Dad had a big case and Mom had a broken nose she couldn’t hide with makeup. Godfrey had flown out, though. All by himself. He brought me flowers that had wilted on the plane, and despite their browned petals, it was the prettiest bouquet I’d ever gotten.
Even though I was there for my brother, I turned my head to stare at Luis, using him as a focal point to keep steady. He was staring back with a look mixed with sadness, anger, annoyance, and concern. I licked my bottom lip as his eyes traveled up and down my body, his chocolate orbs lingering on my hips and long legs. I should have changed out of my date dress before coming over, but I hadn’t wanted to give myself time to chicken out. Impulsive people got a bad rap, but the truth was, acting impulsively wasn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes it was the only time people did anything worthwhile. Without it, we’d all spend our lives too scared to take the plunge.
I looked over at Godfrey in the hot tub, who had his tongue so far down Rachel’s throat, I was certain she’d suffocate. Gross.
“Godfrey?” I called out with a cough. He pulled away and looked at me, probably buzzed to hell.
He immediately jumped out as Luis and I walked over to him. My hands were shaking slightly, and all the Heirs noticed. Even buzzed, these assholes were perceptive.
“You okay, Royal?” Scarlett asked. She was sitting in Rogue’s lap, her bright yellow bikini nearly undone thanks to her boyfriend’s nimble fingers.
“Yeah, I just need to talk to my brother for a second.”
“You can chat with him here,” Luis butted in. He wanted to hear what I had to say.
I felt my body tense up. My skin felt like it was on fire. The guilt in my soul was burning me up from the inside out. But Godfrey’s face was flushed both from alcohol and the heated water, and this just didn’t feel right.
“Maybe...maybe I’ll just talk to you later, when you haven’t been drinking,” I rushed out before spinning around, prepared to go get a shit ton of wine and drink myself stupid in Rogue Kelly’s pool house, but Godfrey was quicker than me.
“Royal, wait!” He was definitely drunk, slurring as he called out to me. If I was going to tell him, it wouldn’t be like this.
I kept walking, quickening my pace. This was one impulse I was starting to regret.
A dripping wet hand grabbed my shoulder, and I spun around to face my brother. “What’s wrong?” he asked, and I felt my eyes grow misty at the concern on his face. I was so sick of this. I was supposed to be the fucking older sister, wasn’t I? And yet here I was—again. I was always asking my little brother to clean up my messes, and it made me sick.
“Let her go. This is what she does,” Luis seethed, and I squeezed my eyes shut in annoyance. I didn’t need to confront two issues in one night, especially when I could barely handle one of them.
“What the fuck did you say?” Godfrey asked before spinning around and squaring up, fists clenched as he stared at Luis.
“You heard me,” Luis replied. “Royal is just a big fuckin’ tease. She drops bombs in your lap then runs when they explode.”
My face heated up with embarrassment and anger. “I’m not a—” My voice cut out as his words crashed against my ear drums in a vibrating beat, making shame reverberate in my skull. “When are you going to stop being such a tease?” Aaron had said in his message to me. Right before he assaulted me in his office.
All of a sudden, it was like I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. I was right back in his office, being shoved against the wall and held against my will.
A sob escaped my mouth before I could clamp a hand over it to keep the noise of my pain inside. Godfrey’s head snapped back to look at me, his blue eyes zeroing in on the tear that escaped the corner of my eye and my trembling body.
I saw his expression harden, and then in an instant, he was gone. One second, he was by my side, the next, he was in Luis’s face. “You fucking make my sister cry?” he yelled.
Luis flexed his muscles, his f
ists clenched in anger like he was ready to fight. He shoved Godfrey hard on the chest, making my brother stumble back, and then they were a blur of fists as they started beating on each other.
“Stop!” I screamed, rushing over, but they didn’t listen. I tried to grab Godfrey’s arm, but he dodged me, and I watched in horror as they delivered blow after blow on one another.
In the blink of an eye, Rogue was out of the jacuzzi, Bonham not far after, despite his grimace when he landed on his feet. They got between them and ripped Luis and Godfrey away from each other. My heart was hammering in my chest, trying to break out, and tears streamed freely down my face, smearing my lips with salt. I was always fucking screwing things up—making everything worse.
“Knock it the fuck off!” Rogue yelled in Godfrey’s ear as he pinned my brother’s arms behind his back.
Godfrey was strong, but Rogue had him beat in stature.
“The Heirs don’t fight each other,” Bonham growled, holding back Luis.
As soon as the words were thrown out, Luis slumped with his head hung down and his eyes on his feet. Godfrey also stopped trying to struggle against Rogue, his heaving chest the only thing that moved.
“You cool?” Rogue asked him.
Godfrey spit out red-tinged saliva onto the ground. “Yeah, I’m cool,” Godfrey gritted out.
With a nod, Rogue immediately let him go, and my brother rolled his shoulders and wiped the blood from his lips. “I wanna know what the fuck is going on,” he said, looking between me and Luis. “Are you guys together or something? Because I’m not fucking fine if you’re hurting her,” he said to Luis. “You’re like a brother to me, but Royal is my blood, and no one is allowed to hurt her.”
My chest swelled at his words, but then Godfrey’s icy blue eyes were locked on me. “And you. You don’t get to walk away. You called me all worked up then came here for a reason, and you’re gonna tell us why.” The adrenaline seemed to have sober him up somewhat, but I still felt weird about bleeding out for him while he was in this state of mind.
My lips pressed together out of both stubbornness and fear. It was bad enough having to come here with my tail stuck between my legs and admit to my brother what I’d done, but there was no way I could say it to everyone.
“She doesn’t have to say a damn thing if she doesn’t want to,” Rachel said, sidling up next to me.
Scarlett flanked me on the other side, both of them glaring daggers at Godfrey.
“Princess, you’re my fucking girlfriend. That means you have to be on my side,” Godfrey told Rachel with irritation.
She rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms, making her boobs smoosh together in her black bikini. My brother’s eyes skated right over them, which I’m sure was why she did it. “She’s obviously upset and shaken about something. Give her a second to breathe. You’re drunk. Luis is pissed off. If she’s scared, you’re not doing a good job of comforting her. As your fucking girlfriend, that means I get to tell you when you’re being a giant dick. So this is me doing that.”
Godfrey smirked, and I groaned, knowing exactly where this was going. Rachel raised her finger to point at him, cutting him off just as he opened his mouth. “Nope. No giant dick jokes right now. I’m serious. You can’t pressure your sister to talk about anything she doesn’t want to talk about.” She stared him down, and his expression changed.
Godfrey sighed and looked over at me. “Fine. You tell everyone now, or you tell me in private.”
My eyes darted over to Luis, but he was still hanging his head, not looking at anyone. He we obviously pissed at me, which I understood. I went crazy and fucking kissed him at the hospital but was clamming up now when it came time to speak. This whole situation was so fucked up, I didn’t know what to do. It would hurt him more if I decided to keep him out of the loop, but I was even more wary of what he’d do if he did hear what I had to say. I knew I’d have to tell him eventually. It was all a slippery slope, one I was certain I’d fall down and break my heart during the crash.
“It’s…” I began, feeling their heavy stares. “Umm...C-Can I talk to Rachel and Scar?” I choked out, feeling stupid.
Godfrey opened his mouth, but Rachel cut him off again. “Of course, Royal. Let’s go talk,” Rachel said before lacing her fingers through mine and tugging me away. Scarlett put an arm around my shoulders, and they guided me towards the pool house.
“Wait,” Godfrey called out sternly, stopping us. He walked over to me and cupped my cheeks in his palm, the concerned look back full force. I stared at my baby brother as blood fell from his lips, wanting nothing more than to be someone he could look up to instead of this train wreck I was. “You know you can tell me anything, right? For fuck’s sake, I once bought you tampons. It’s me. Your brother. The dude that made fun of you and was threatening your high school boyfriends while I was just a scrawny pre-teen. I’m always here for you, no matter what you need.”
Despite the turmoil inside, the side of my mouth quirked up in a smile. “Yeah. You practically bought the entire tampon aisle because you didn’t know what to get.” Beside me, Rachel snorted.
“I’d do it again,” he said, and I knew he meant that he’d do anything for me.
I sighed. “I will tell you. I just need you to be sober when I do. And for right now”— my eyes flickered over to Luis who was still panting, rage evident in his eyes—“I need someone that understands.”
“And Rachel? She understands?” Godfrey asked carefully.
I could see him working through the puzzle, trying to connect the dots to figuring out what was wrong without pressuring me. Everyone was always a puzzle to Godfrey Taylor.
I swallowed the emotions bubbling up in my throat, feeling like Aaron was right there beside me, warning me with his hate-filled eyes not to say a word. But I had to do this. I had to get myself out of this mess. For Luis. For Mrs. Salvador.
For me.
“More than you could possibly know,” I whispered slowly. “Just give me an hour. Sober up. Kiss and make up with Luis, then I’ll tell you. I just need to collect myself, okay?”
I knew time was quite possibly a luxury I didn’t have, but I needed to steady myself.
I watched out of the corner of my eye as Bonham grabbed his phone. “Why am I firing Dr. Carmichael?” he asked, and I felt myself flinch.
Godfrey’s eyes swept over me, and I watched the truth sink in before I spun around to walk away with Scarlett and Rachel at my side.
“Just do it,” I heard Luis say.
I had a feeling his words weren’t just for Bonham.
Just do it, Royal. Just admit it. Just tell Godfrey what a fucking failure you are. Even if everyone judged me, at least the truth about Aaron would be revealed and they could protect Mrs. Salvador. I needed to do it for her. But first, I needed to talk to Rachel.
Chapter Nineteen
Royal
“What a douche cock motherfucker,” Scar said on a furious exhale.
It took me a while to work up to telling them. Two glasses of wine and one tub of ice cream, to be exact. Now here I was, spilling my guts. Rachel and Scar sat on my couch—well, Rogue’s couch—cross-legged in their bikinis while wrapped up in blankets listening as I told them everything. And I mean everything.
I told them about Mrs. Almendarez. About how my negligence led to her death.
I told them about Aaron and how he forced himself on me. That conversation was difficult for Rachel, and I had to stop when she got up to pace the room. I told them about the blackmail, about my grandfather’s archaic ideas about marriage.
I let it all spill from my lips like the toxic venom it was. But I didn’t tell them about Aaron’s stalkerish tendencies, or about how Aaron had moved his threats from just me, to also include Mrs. Salvador. Judging by the looks on their pinched faces, this was enough information for one night.
“Wow, girl. I thought this was gonna be about Luis,” Rachel admitted with a sigh before looking me over. She placed a hand o
n my knee and squeezed.
“Luis...as much as I want to, I can’t get involved with him. I can’t get him tangled up in this mess, not when he’s already tied up with every string his mother has already wrapped around him.”
Scarlett blew out a breath. “You have to tell them, you know. I’m all for girl power, and I’ll bury a body if you need me to, but the Heirs have connections. They can help.”
“Hey now, I have connections, too,” Rachel grinned. “I should call Forty-One.”
“No, we should tell the Heirs,” Scar argued.
“I should just tell Luis to put his mother in a different hospital and then get the fuck out of here.”
My words hit our group like a block of ice, chilling the mood. “That would be the best solution, right? Go on the run to avoid the authorities.”
Scarlett and Rachel both started shaking their heads adamantly.
“No,” Scarlett said.
“No way,” Rachel agreed.
“Don’t let that fucker win,” Scarlett moved closer and gripped my hand, her brown eyes boring into me. Suddenly, I didn’t see the quiet girl, but the steely-spined woman that had Rogue Kelly so enamored. “This is our fucking town. Savannah belongs to the Heirs.”
“Exactly,” Rachel said with a nod.
“Besides,” Scar went on. “You and I both know Godfrey wouldn’t let you get very far if you try to run away on your own. And neither would Luis, for that matter. That boy has been in love with you forever. He deserves the truth. They all do.” Scar shifted on the couch a little then let go of my hand so she could take a drink of water before offering me one of her signature warm smiles and kind eyes. “Every single one of those boys would spill blood for you.”
“Sure, but only because I’m Godfrey’s sister,” I said.
I didn’t want anyone getting mixed up in my mess just because of blood. I’d seen my own father drag his family through the mud, and I refused to do the same.
Wild: Savannah Heirs Page 18
