Chapter 14
Casey
“I have to go to school today, you guys!” I was literally standing in the living room, dressed for the day, my book bag slung over my shoulder, but was met by a wall of male testosterone. All three of them were standing and blocking the stairway leading to the front door.
“No, you’re not,” Vail said, as though the decision had already been made.
I stared at him in aghast, before gesturing wildly in his and Shaw’s directions. “Well, what the fuck! Why are you two dressed and heading out then?” I asked.
When I woke up that morning, Vail and I had shifted in the night, though he still held me close to his body.
I was lying on my side, face pressed into his chest, but found that Shaw had crept into bed with us in the middle of the night and was huddled at my back.
Sleepily, I glanced over at the clock on the nightstand and saw I had about an hour before school started, so I crawled out of bed, leaving the two boys behind to sleep a little longer, so I could grab a shower.
When I’d come out, Vail’s bedroom was empty, his bed a tangle of blankets and sheets, and I could hear him and the other guys downstairs talking softly.
Peering down, I could see they were dressed in jeans and long sleeve shirts, ready for the day, so I’d hurried to catch up to them. Now I was getting this bullshit.
“I’ve been suspended for the rest of the week, darling,” Vail said, eyes on me like he thought I was gonna be suicidal and try to throw myself down the stairs just to get to school.
“So, where are you two going?” I asked, noticing that Lee was the only one still in his sleep sweats and a loose oversized t-shirt, his feet bare.
“Gotta talk to Maverick, hun. So you stay here today,” Vail said.
I started feeling a little panicky. “I can’t miss another day of school, guys.” I pulled out my phone to check the time, noticing that I also had a missed call from Nylah. Shit!
“You can, and you will. You can’t be alone in that school without us there to protect you.”
“Oh for…” I sagged my shoulders, my bag sliding off them to the floor with a thump. “First of all, Hunter isn’t even gonna be there. Wasn’t he suspended, too?”
“He was.”
“See? And it’s the middle of the day. They aren’t gonna grab me at school in the middle of the day and hand me off in some sketchy deal with the Faceless.
Not in front of everybody.” I wanted to add that I highly doubted that Hunter was actually going to sell me off.
I mean, yeah, he was a douchebag and all, but the more I thought about it, the less likely it was that he was setting me up.
He had dozens of girls at his disposal. There was no reason to go out of his way for one that wasn’t even interested.
And then, there was him saving me from Celeste in the cafeteria.
If he hadn’t swooped in when he did, well, I would have had my eye gouged out with a fork by the bitch.
“It’s not just him. It's the rest of the Jackals. And we’re not arguing about this, Casey!” Vail snapped at me and stepped forward, snatching up my bag and tossing it over his shoulder. “These are the rules. Obey my command and fall in .”
I sighed, remembering that I’d agreed to all of this.
I guess I hadn’t expected their rules to interfere with my education.
But it was for my protection, so I’d go along with it.
But I was still tempted to brat out to Vail.
“Aye-aye, Captain .” I narrowed my eyes at him, hands on my hips as we glared each other down.
He wanted to go all domineering asshole on me; then he was going to get an attitude.
If he’d just sat me down and talked to me like a normal person, I would have been fine rather than having this sprung on me at the last minute and spoken to like a soldier.
Vail watched me carefully for a minute until the smallest of smiles curled his lips, and I knew I was fucked. “Lee?”
“Yeah?” Lee moved forward, stopping just short behind him, his arms bulging as they crossed over his massive chest.
“She does anything against the rules, you have my permission to discipline her.”
My mouth dropped at that, and I swear, if I could get away with it, I would have slapped him across the face.
Instead, I flipped him off with both hands before I stomped over to the kitchen to get some food, which ended up just being some bread with peanut butter spread over it, as it was the only condiment I found.
“Later, sweet thing!” Vail called from the hallway.
“Frig off, ass!” I yelled back, stepping out to sit at the table in the dining area.
From down the stairs, I heard him laugh loudly and leave, with a silent Shaw behind them. When Lee came back up the stairs after locking up, he walked right over and leaned over the chair across from me, holding onto its back. “It’s for your own-”
“Don’t even finish that sentence,” I warned him. “I’m not in the mood right now.”
He stepped back, his bandaged hands raised.
I guess he had put together that it was not the time to fuck with me, and then just sat on the couch to play some video games.
We sat in silence while I finished eating.
After I threw my dishes in the sink, I disappeared upstairs to brush my teeth and fume on my own.
But Lee came up shortly after, interrupting me as I laid on Vail’s bed, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating how I was gonna make Vail pay later.
“Still pouting, hey?” He winked at me, leaning against the wall of the doorway, and chuckled.
“I’m not pouting. I’m just… thinking.”
“Pouting, babe. You’re pouting. Like a little girl who hasn’t gotten her way,” he laughed, then strolled in, grinning wickedly at me.
“You’re just gloating cuz Captain Asswipe gave you “disciplinary” rights.” I used my fingers, indicating the bunny ears around the word. “Seriously, how obnoxious can you get?”
“Obnoxious. Why do you say that?” Lee asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
I scooted up to the head of the bed and sat with my hands clasped in my lap as I faced him. “Telling you to discipline me. I mean, what is this? The Nineteen-Fifties?” I giggled. “Yeah, real funny joke, Vail.”
However, Lee wasn’t laughing. In fact, his expression didn’t change at all. He was watching me with his dark eyes, the corner of his mouth lifted just in the slightest, as though he’d been the tiniest bit amused by my ranting.
“What?” I sneered, not liking his silence.
“He wasn’t making a joke, Casey,” he said, brows raised, now looking absolutely delighted at the shock that was without a doubt clear on my face. “If you fuck up here and don’t do what we say, even me, then I get to punish you.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and straightened up, hoping that I appeared as pissed as I felt. “Fuck off, no, you wouldn’t.”
Lee just chuckled. “Please, don’t tempt me… I’ve been itching to get my hands on you.”
“Lee!” My mouth dropped at his words. “What the hell?”
“Hey, just being honest here, babe.” He winked at me before deciding to get all serious as he stretched out at the foot of the bed, his fingers gliding over my ankles. “Just be grateful he asked me to dish it out and not himself.”
I scoffed, rolling my eyes at him, but I didn’t pull away from his touch.
It was nice, and then I remembered how he had fought last night to have a chance to have me with him.
I was sort of glad I was getting a little one-on-one time with him.
“Yeah, well, I think His Royal Highness wouldn’t want to put in the energy to teach me a lesson. ”
Lee’s smile disappeared completely, and he gripped my ankle hard, catching my attention. “He didn’t ask me to punish you because he was too lazy to do it himself, Casey…” he said slowly, making sure I heard every word he uttered. “He asked me because he is protecting you from himself.”
I gaped at him, a little taken aback by his words, and honestly, I wasn’t sure how to take it. “What do you mean?” I asked finally, realizing that he wasn’t trying to fuck with me.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed how others react to him and Shaw…” he said, like he was really trying to make his words sink in.
I thought about how Bryce reacted when Shaw had come on the scene that day in the classroom. He’d nervously shrunk back. As for Vail, the only thing I’d noticed was that people tended to give him a wide berth, but I figured that was just due to respect, with him being Vendetta’s leader and all.
“Shaw… he scares people because when he goes off, he’s like a loose cannon. You don’t know what he’ll do, but what’s guaranteed is that you’re going to suffer. He likes causing pain, and I’m sure you can understand why, given what he went through.”
I understood that. Shaw had serious demons in his closet, and remembering how quickly he reacted to seeing my father attack me, I believed what Lee was saying. Shaw would try to cause an adversary as much pain as possible because for so long, the pain was always what he endured.
“Now me,” he chuckled a little, though it fell flat with the seriousness of the topic at hand.
“I tend to knock people out with one punch, thanks to my size. Going up against me, even if you lose, chances are you won’t remember it.
” He released me to tenderly touch his bandaged knuckles as though he were checking to see if they still hurt.
He didn’t react, which was hopefully a good sign that he was on the mend.
“Now Vail …” he said, his voice changing at the name.
It deepened, his tone without a doubt serious when he said, “Vail won’t punish you, because even though he would never intentionally hurt you…
he will never put himself in a position even to risk it. ”
I felt all the hairs on my arms stand on end, and now I was wishing I’d chosen a sweater instead of a t-shirt to wear. What the hell does that mean?