by Caitlyn Dare
“That’s sad,” I say, wondering who she was.
“It is. You know, Remi, I just want what’s best for you. But you’re right, you are almost an adult, which means you’re old enough to make your own decisions. And despite what I said earlier about Ace, even the most broken souls deserve to be loved.” Mom cups my face, placing a kiss on my forehead. Her words sink into me. I know it’s not a blessing, not really, but she’s telling me to follow my heart.
She’s telling me that even if she doesn’t like the idea of me and Ace together, she accepts it.
Because I am capable of making my own decisions.
And I choose him.
I choose Ace.
Monday morning rolls around and, as usual, Conner and Cole are waiting for me. I’m barely awake when I pull the car door open and slip inside. “Ace?” I shriek as he grabs me and pulls me onto his lap.
“Morning.” He captures my mouth in a bruising kiss.
“Get a fucking room.” I glance back at Conner, flipping him off, and notice the nasty bruise around his eye.
“What the hell happened to your face?”
“Ask your boyfriend,” he grumbles, pulling onto the street and taking the coastal road toward school.
I slide off Ace’s lap and land with a thud on the worn leather. “This is a nice surprise.”
“Yeah, well, it would seem Cruz and D were right. You do own my balls, Princess.”
His words, although crass, fill me with happiness. “Is that right, huh?” I tease, but Ace crowds me against the seat, staring at me with those frosty eyes of his. “I missed you yesterday.”
“I missed you too.” I trail a finger along his jaw, loving the way he looks at me with total possession. “Did James grill you about Friday?”
“I managed to avoid him all weekend.”
“So... hmm... he didn’t mention the dinner to you?” I brace myself, waiting for Ace’s reaction.
“What fucking dinner?”
“Princess’ birthday dinner. Uncle James wants to take us to some fancy rich place downtown,” Conner pipes up.
“You know about this?” Ace grunts, looking to his brother. Conner nods in the rear view. “You’d know too, if you hadn’t moved out to the pool house.”
“But you seem to be having so much fun with Uncle James.” His tone is scathing.
“Hey,” I say, sliding my hand against his cheek and making him look at me. “Don’t take this out on Conner. I’ve already asked my mom to talk to him.”
“You have?” He blanches.
“Of course. I don’t want to go somewhere you’ll feel uncomfortable. We could eat at Surf’s for all I care.”
“You really asked your mom to talk to him?”
“Yeah.” I smile. “Why?”
“No reason.” He stares past me, and I know he’s lying.
Ace isn’t used to people taking his side, but I’m determined to show him he’s worth it.
“As long as they serve supersize portions, I don’t give a fuck where we go.” Conner grins at me through the mirror. “Hey, do you think we can bring a date?”
“No,” Ace and I say in unison.
“But you two get to—“
“Con,” Ace barks.
“Yeah, yeah. Keep my mouth shut,” he murmurs, and realization dawns on me.
“Tell me you didn’t hit him because I slipped up the other night,” I whisper-hiss at Ace.
“He’s a fucking traitor.”
“Heard that,” Conner says.
“Keep talking and I’ll black your other eye.”
“You need to talk to your guy, Remi, because he’s grumpier than a bear with a sore head. I thought you were supposed to be happier when you’re getting regular pus—“
He doesn’t get a chance to finish his sentence, because I lean over and slap him upside the head.
“What was that for?” he yelps.
“Remi’s not wrong,” Cole says. “You talk too fucking much”.
“Oh it’s like that now, you’re both taking her side?” I poke my tongue out at him. “That’s some bullshit.”
A minute later and he’s pulling into the school parking lot. Kids swarm the lawns and dread slithers through me. This is the part I hate—the part where Ace and I have to go back to pretending.
“I guess I’ll see you later?” I say.
A knowing smirk lifts the corner of his mouth. “For a prep school princess, you really are fucking dumb at times.”
“What the—“
“Get out of the car, Princess,” he growls, and I do as I’m told, but only because I need space from him before I knee him in the balls.
Ace follows me out, and I’m just about to walk off when he snags my wrist. His fingers slip down my hand, tangling with my own. I gawk at our joined hands and then lift my eyes to his. “But—“
“No buts.” He starts pulling me toward the building. “It’s time everyone in this fucking school knows who you belong to.”
“Ace,” I say, trying to push him away from me. He has me pressed up my locker, kissing my neck in the most delicious way. I guess after one class apart he’s feeling as needy as I am.
Kids are staring but giving us a wide berth. It’s a definite perk of being with the most scary guy in school.
“We have an audience,” I whisper, raking my nails over his skull as he grazes the soft, sensitive skin along my throat with his teeth.
“Let them watch.” His murmurs dance over my neck, and my breath catches with a soft moan.
“So it is true?” a voice says.
Ace takes a deep breath, standing rigid while I slowly slide my eyes to Michaela.
“The gangbanger and the peasant, how fitting,” she snarls.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Ace moves into her space, but I grab his arm.
“Don’t,” I say, slipping around him, putting myself between them. “She isn’t worth it.”
Tension ripples in the hall as kids watch, probably chomping at the bit for the long overdue showdown between me and Michaela.
“I’m worth a damn sight more than you,” she scoffs, folding her arms over her chest and cocking her hip.
Something explodes inside me. I’m fed up of turning the other cheek when it comes to Michaela and her bullshit opinions about me. It’s about time she learned that she can’t always get what she wants and watch me fall.
This time, I fucking win.
“Whatever, Michaela.” I’ve wanted to watch her fall from her throne for so long, but standing here, seeing the jealousy shimmer in her eyes, I realize no matter how much she has—the big house and expensive car, a line of guys all vying for attention, the trust fund account, and Ivy League school offer—she’ll always want more. People like Michaela can never be happy because they spend too much time worrying about things that don’t matter.
I might not have the big, expensive house anymore, or Daddy’s credit card at my disposal, but the truth is, I don’t want or need it. Money doesn’t make people happy, it makes them shallow. It makes them fake. And that’s not who I am. That’s not who I want to be.
“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got to say?” Her eyes widen.
“I don’t need to say anything else.” I shrug, a deep sense of acceptance washing over me. “I spent so long wondering what I did to deserve your betrayal. I’ve cried so many tears over you. Tears that turned to hatred. But now, now I look at you and all I feel is pity.”
“W-what?” She jerks back, as if I’ve physically slapped her. “I’m the head cheerleader. I live in one of the biggest houses in the Bay. I mean, hello, I drive a bespoke Mercedes.”
“And yet you’re still a vapid bitch.”
A collective gasp echoes down the hall.
“You can’t say that, you’re no one. Nothing. You shouldn’t even—“
“Michaela,” I snap, and she swallows her words, indignation flaming her cheeks. “I. Don’t. Care. You were my best friend. And all this time, I tho
ught I was the one who did something wrong. But now I realize it’s you. You’re the unhappy one. You thrive in the misery of others. And do you know what? Until you learn to love yourself, you’ll never find what you’re looking for.
“So yeah, I pity you. Because sure, I might not have a lot, but at least I know the people in my life are in it because they chose it, and not because they want anything from me. Now if you don’t mind, me and my boyfriend,” the word flies out of my mouth, but I don’t want to take it back. Ace is mine. The same way that I’m his. “We’re in the middle of something.”
I turn into him and throw my arms around his shoulders. “I’m proud of you, baby,” he says, leaning down and brushing his nose over mine.
“I’m proud of me too,” I say, kissing him right there in front of most of our class.
“But you can tell me the truth,” he whispers against my skin. “How much do you want to knock that ugly smile off her face right now?”
“One a scale of one to ten, eleven.” I chuckle, sliding my fingers into the hair at the base of his neck and pulling him closer. “You should probably distract me before I really make a scene.”
Ace’s deep laughter reverberates inside me as he spins me around and pushes me up against the locker. “It would be my pleasure, girlfriend.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ace
Despite Sarah apparently talking to James about the location of tonight’s birthday meal, he point-blank refused to change the restaurant to somewhere a little more low key.
He was testing me I could see that when he took great delight in telling me what I was going to have to wear tonight.
“If you want to be there for Remi, then you have little choice,” he said with an evil smile on his lips.
The motherfucker was playing me, and I was falling right into his hands, because he was right. Tux or no tux, I wanted to be there for Remi. I wanted to be there more than I should. But him standing his ground and acting like she’s the daughter he never had only proves I was right.
She’s his weak spot, and I’m going to fucking smash it very, very soon. I just haven’t quite figured out how it’s going to go down. I’m hoping inspiration will strike at the right time—just like the night we stumbled over the IT geeks on our way to meet Bexley, when he needed to be taught a lesson. They didn’t take much convincing to send that photograph around the entire school for everyone to see, while ensuring the trail didn’t lead back to us in any way.
My lips twitch as I think about that pathetic motherfucker tied naked to that pole. It was the least he deserved, but fuck if it didn’t feel good. I’d heard since it was his mother who eventually came to untie him. Seems maybe his team doesn’t care as much as he thought, because they quite happily left him there and continued partying without him.
Oh, how the mighty fall.
Although I’m sure he’s going to come back fighting at some point. He’s been too quiet. I have no doubt he’s planning some big revenge as we speak. Whatever it is, he’ll lose. I’ve no doubt.
Standing in the bedroom of the pool house, I stare at my reflection in the full-length mirror. I look fucking ridiculous. I thought my prep school uniform was bad, but this… this is a fucking joke.
I pull at the tight collar of my crisp white shirt. It feels like it’s fucking strangling me. My tattoos peek out on my neck and down onto my hands, and I refuse to remove my piercings. James can try to dress me up to look like a preppy douchebag, but he can never remove the truth. I’m bad through and fucking through, and it’s about time he had a reminder of that.
Rolling my eyes at myself, I pull a blunt from my pocket and light up. There’s no fucking way I’m leaving dressed like this while sober.
“I feel like a fucking penguin,” Conner mutters, coming to join me with Cole following him. They're dressed exactly the same in the tuxes James oh-so-helpfully hired for us.
“This bitch had better be worth it,” Cole mutters as Conner snatches the blunt from between my fingers and takes a drag. He makes a show of offering it to Cole, but we both know he can’t have any, no matter how desperate he is.
“You got any fucking alcohol in this place?” He stalks toward the kitchen and starts pulling the cupboards open. “Jackpot!” He pulls out the bottle of vodka I’d stashed and lifts it to his lips.
Motherfucker.
“Seriously though, is James just trying to piss us off?” Conner asks, falling down into what he seems to have claimed as his beanbag now.
“No. He’s just trying to piss me off. This is a test to see if I really care about his precious Remi.”
“Which you do. Evidenced by the fucking ridiculous penguin suit.”
“So it would seem.”
“Oh, don’t be like that. That girl’s got you so fucking whipped.” I raise an eyebrow at him as I take another drag. “You’d just about do anything for her, I’d put money on it.”
“That’s one bet I wouldn’t take, brother.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do we need to have another little chat about not fucking this up?”
“That wasn’t a little chat, asshole. That was me giving you a shiner for sticking your nose in my business.”
“Remember it how you like, but I warned you.”
“Whatever.” Dropping what’s left of the blunt into a used beer bottle sitting on the coffee table, I push to stand and smooth down the front of my pants.
“Come on, let’s get this shit over with.”
“I can hardly fucking wait.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. Does James think she’s a real fucking princess or some shit?” Conner asks as we round the corner to find a fucking limo waiting for us. “We’re his own flesh and blood, and we don’t even receive a fucking card, yet she gets this treatment.”
I don’t need his reminder of how this differs to our own birthdays over the years. Most of them our own mother didn’t even remember, let alone our absent uncle.
My stomach clenches with anger that, while we were barely living back in the Heights, James was here living it up and treating his princess like she’s fucking royalty. It’s the exact reminder I need for why I’m doing all this.
If this were anyone else's birthday, I would not be here right now. As it is, I’m very tempted to turn around and throw these fucking clothes onto a fucking bonfire.
I don’t realize there’s anyone inside, so I’m surprised when William opens the back door and a high-heel clad foot appears behind it.
“Fuck me sideways,” Conner breathes as Remi steps away from the car and allows us to get a look at her. “Well, that’s me suitably jealous. You’re in for a good night, lucky bastard.”
I barely register his words as all the blood in my body races toward my cock. “Fuck me.”
My eyes take in her perfectly curled hair hanging around her bare shoulders, before dropping down to her deep red, skin-tight, full-length dress. Her tits are pushed up in such a way that all I can think about doing is sinking my teeth into them and rebranding her, because that is literally the only thing that could make this sight any better.
That thought is shot to shit when she takes a step toward me and her long, bare leg emerges from behind the fabric.
“Whoa. That thing should be fucking illegal.”
“Stop. Fucking. Looking.”
“I would if I could make my eyes move.”
I elbow Conner in the side, and the little bitch moans as if I punched him again.
“That wasn’t necessary,” he sulks as Remi joins us.
“That tux looks good on you, Ace.”
“Not as fucking good as that dress does on you.” I continue running my eyes up and down her body, not really believing she’s real.
“Excuse me while I go puke in the flowerbed.” We both ignore my irritating brother.
“I really didn’t think you’d come.”
“It’s your birthday, Princess. Where else would I be?”
“I don’t know.
Running drugs, killing a guy or two.” Her brow rises, but there’s a smile on her lips. “Anything but wearing that and coming to the most exclusive restaurant this town has to offer.”
“I must admit, the first two options do sound more appealing, but sadly, you’re stuck with me. And, if you’re lucky, I won’t even kill anyone.”
She laughs, and I smile with her. She likes to joke about my previous life, but I’m not sure she realizes that almost everything she says is true.
I didn’t lie to her the day I told her I wasn’t a good person. I guess it says more about her than it does me that she’s willing to overlook it all, whereas I’m the selfish motherfucker who didn’t give her a chance.
“Come on,” James calls, making my muscles tense instantly. “We need to go, we have a reservation.”
Heaven forbid we make the place wait for us.
I roll my eyes and slip my hand into Remi’s to pull her back toward the limo. Letting her climb in first, I pretend it’s because I’m a gentleman. That’s bullshit, I just want to stare at her ass as she bends over and try to figure out if she's got any panties on or not. My cock swells as I picture her bare pussy beneath the silky fabric. Biting down on my cheek, I picture laying her out on my bed later and pushing the fabric of her dress up around her waist, eating her until she’s coming on my face.
Fuck, this is going to be a long ass evening.
“Have you ever been in a limo before, boys?” Sarah asks politely.
I’m about to bark back an equally dumbass reply when Conner speaks up.
“I’m not sure a limo has ever been to the Heights. If it had, it probably left looking a little different to how it arrived.”
Both Cole and I chuckle, clearly both picturing a similar scene.
“Okay, well… I think you’ll like The Blue Bay, the food is out of this world.”
“Do they have those fancy little portions?” Conner asks skeptically. He cares more about the amount of food he’s going to get tonight than he does about having to wear these god awful suits.
