Savage Vicious Heir: Part Two: A dark high school bully romance

1. Elliot

ELLIOT

“It seems my soft-hearted brother here paid Ethan to befriend Miss Bancroft after she developed an unhealthy little crush on Elliot and he rejected her.”

Scott’s words repeat over and over in my head as blood roars past my ears, stopping me from hearing the laughter that rings out around me.

Ethan still stands at the end of our table looking both embarrassed and terrified, but it isn’t him I care about.

Did I do what Scott just explained to Abigail? Yes, in a way, I did. But my intentions were never so cruel, so vicious.

I was trying to protect her.

I shake my head and pain slices through my chest.

“Here,” Scott snaps before throwing a wodge of notes down on the table and shoving them towards Ethan. “Now fuck off, yeah?”

Ethan’s eyes drop to the cash before moving to mine.

“Take it. We’re done,” I confirm, my voice barely sounding like my own.

I learned the art of cutting myself off from reality and pulling on a mask, armour, long ago but Abigail always manages to penetrate it.

Usually, I can appear unaffected by anything, but right now, I fear that I’m not hiding my true feelings.

“Just for the record,” Ethan says as he swipes up the notes and pushes them into his pocket. “I think you’re an arsehole for what you’ve done to her, Eaton.”

My chin drops in surprise. No one usually dares to say those kinds of things to our faces. Especially someone with the social standing of Ethan Smith. But I quickly find that I don’t have any words to come back with.

For the first time, I truly care about the pain I’ve caused.

Scott, on the other hand, scoffs before a sinister smile pulls at his lips. “We’re Eatons, kid. Arsehole is our middle name. Now, we’ve got shit to discuss that doesn’t include you so fuck off, yeah.”

Scott shoos him away as if Ethan is nothing more than an irritating fly.

The second he steps away from our table, my head twists around without instruction from my brain as I search the tinted windows that hide the busy street housing the pub for Abigail.

“Don’t even think about it,” Scott sneers, predicting exactly what I want to do.

What I need to do.

A warm hand slides up my thigh and I jerk away from Lauren. Her hand is like being touched with a branding iron. It burns, and not in a fucking good way.

I need to get out of here.

I need?—

Sliding from the bench, I push to my feet but the second I stand to full height, Scott’s demanding voice rings through my ears.

“Walk out and the first thing I’ll do is call Dad,” he warns. “And I won’t just tell him you refused this date, I’ll tell him all about your little girlfriend too.”

My blood runs cold, the walls of the pub closing in around me.

Having Scott know about my feelings for Abigail is bad enough. But my father can’t know.

He’ll ruin her and he’ll force me to watch.

With acid burning up my throat at the thought of the pain Johnathon Eaton could cause a sweet girl like Abigail, I retake my seat, gritting my teeth when Lauren’s hand returns to my thigh, squeezing in what I assume she thinks is a supportive gesture.

It’s not.

There is nothing supportive about the vapid bitch my father thinks is a good match for me.

He’s got it all planned, I know he has.

A handful of dates, a public engagement announcement followed by a bullshit show of a wedding.

It’s exactly how Scott’s life will go, and exactly how mine isn’t.

I might toe the line, keep my head down, and avoid the pain our father is capable of delivering, but I will not accept that.

I just need to find a way out. And more importantly, a way out that won’t leave those I love behind and in the firing line.

With gritted teeth and my muscles pulled tight, I force myself to sit through the rest of the unbearable double date I was forced to partake in.

By the time we leave and head towards our cars, I’m barely holding on by a thread.

I need to go and find Abigail. I need to somehow try to explain, I need to apologise, I need… Fuck… I don’t even know what I need to do at this point.

She’d have every right to refuse to listen to anything I have to say. Every right never to talk to me again.

The thought of that happening makes me sick to my stomach.

I’ve fought my attraction to her for so long. Longer than I should have. I’ve caused us both more pain than necessary by holding back. And despite warning her that being with me wasn’t going to be easy, I never expected for it to blow up in our faces quite this quickly.

I want her dammit.

I need her.

I’ve also probably royally fucked it up before it’s even started.

The all-powerful Elliot Eaton, fucking everything up he touches.

Dad would have a field day with this.

The only girl I’ve ever truly liked, and I’ve barely made it a few days before shattering what we’ve found together.

“You need to take Lauren home,” Scott points as he rips the passenger door open.

I’m already strapped in with the engine on ready to gun it back to campus to find her.

“You take her. I’m not interested,” I mutter under my breath so she can’t hear. Not that I really give a shit.

Lauren might be pretty, but that’s about all she’s got going for her. That and her father’s money, I guess. But I’m about as interested in that as I am in her looks.

“Do you really want that getting back to Dad?”

I narrow my eyes at him. There is no point calling his bluff, he’ll snitch on me for anything he possibly can. I’m pretty sure I learned that fact about my big brother before I was even walking.

Trust him with nothing. Keep him away from anything you deem precious. He will destroy it all in a heartbeat and with a smile on his face.

Just like he did tonight.

I sit with my fingers wrapped around my wheel in an iron grip as Lauren drops into my passenger seat, ensuring her skirt is short enough that I know what colour her knickers are before she straps herself in and begins adjusting her top to show off her assets. Assets I’m not interested in.

“You really should start taking this more seriously,” she says as I floor it from the car park.

“I have no interest in this, and that won’t change no matter how much you expose yourself to me,” I snap.

“My father won’t like to hear that.”

“Lauren,” I sigh, hating that I’m losing control. I usually have a better grasp on myself than this.

But you don’t usually have a girl you care about with a broken heart waiting for you to find her…

“I’m sorry, okay?” I lie. “You’re a great girl, Lauren. Beautiful, smart.” Another lie. There’s a reason her father wants to sell her off to someone who should be successful. “But you’re not what I’m looking for.”

“And there is your problem,” she points out. “You seem to be forgetting that we don’t have a choice in this.”

I just about manage to catch the bitter laugh that tumbles from my lips at her words.

“You think I want to be stuck with you?” she scoffs.

“I’m an Eaton,” I say arrogantly. “I thought that was every girl’s dream.”

Unlike me, she’s unable to contain her bitterness at my comment.“Sure. If you need your ego stroking. This is a business transaction between our fathers, you know that as well as I do.”

“Yet you seem to want it,” I point out.

“Why wouldn’t I? Stick with you and I’ll be set for life. I can think of worse ways to live. Mansion, fancy holidays, everything I could possibly want.”

“What about love?” I blurt taking a left at the lights that will lead us towards SCU and her house.

She lets out a bitter laugh. “What about it? It’s bullshit. Surely you of all people know that.”

My mouth opens and closes a couple of times as I try to come up with a response.

A few months ago, I would probably have agreed with her.

Until watching my boys fall for their girls, every relationship I’d experienced were just like the one my father is trying to set up here. A business deal. It’s the reason why him and Mum are together, my grandparents before them. Scott and Zoey are no different.

The joining of power-hungry families so they can claim even more of the things they love most. Money, power, and respect.

It’s all bullshit.

I knew it before embarking on this thing with Abigail, but now, after falling for her, it couldn’t be more obvious. And I don’t want to live a life that has been planned out for me with a girl who’s been chosen because of her social status. Just like I don’t want to attend a university because it’s expected of me, or study for a degree that will help the family and the business I’m expected to work for.

My grip on the wheel tightens until my fingers begin to cramp.

I want to argue with her. But what’s the point?

She’s fully on board with this.

“I’ll let you fuck other women if that’s what you want,” she offers. “I’m not precious. Of course, I’ll be doing the same. No offence, but you’re not actually my type.”

My brows lift. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard that before. Not that I give a shit.

She’s not fucking mine either.

My teeth grind before I force out. “How generous of you.”

“We just need to make the best of it. We could have a good life together.”

“Yeah,” I muse. In another fucking universe.

Thankfully, the bright lights of SCU come into view up ahead, and I turn into the street where Lauren lives.

Few words are said between us as I pull the car to a stop and she climbs out. She doesn’t even offer for me to come up.

Maybe she’s not as dumb as I first thought.

Lauren is about to close the door and allow me to finally go and find Abigail when she thinks better of it and leans in.”You need to be careful, Elliot,” she says and I’m sure I catch a hint of concern in her eyes. “You’re playing a dangerous game here.”

“Oh yeah?” I taunt. “Why’s that?”

“Your father won’t accept her no matter which way you spin it. The best thing you can do is forget about the girl and do as you’re told.”

Irritation drips through my veins.

I’ve been doing that my whole fucking life and look where it’s got me.

“Thanks for the advice,” I say, putting the car into drive and pulling away, giving her little choice but to close the door before I take off with it still open.

The journey back to All Hallows’ is longer than I’ve ever known. The second I pull to a stop in my usual space, I all but fly from the driver’s seat as I race towards the Bronte Building.

It’s still early and there are girls loitering around. All of them turn to look at me as I let myself in. A couple move forward as if they’re going to attempt to intercept me, but I’m gone before they get anywhere close.

I take the stairs three at a time before marching down the hallway towards her room.

In seconds, I’m standing before Abi’s door trying to decide what to do. Should I do the right thing and knock, warn her that I’m here, and ultimately allow her to ignore me? Or do I just storm my way inside and force her to face me?

I almost laugh to myself that I’m even considering the former as an option.

Pulling the keycard from my pocket, I hold it to the panel beside the door. The second it beeps and the locks disengage, I storm inside.

“Red, we need?—”

But my announcement is cut short at what I find.