Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Isabelle
I lean against the cool concrete wall of the break room and close my eyes, grateful for a moment to myself.
Everyone is busy so I might have a few minutes before someone finds me.
It’s nearly nine p.m. I’ve been at the function hall for the last hour and a half. The Thetas are hosting a fundraiser for the medical research charity owned by the Knights.
I savor the sound of silence and the softness of my gentle breaths. That’s all I want to hear right now. No one throwing orders at me or filthy rich people talking about how many millions they spent on their fancy cars and exotic homes in Sardinia.
While Tiffany Vasilyev, the president of the Thetas, is acting like the lady of the manor, she’s ordered us freshmen to serve the guests, who all belong to Boston’s finest high society. There are senators, moguls, oligarchs, socialites, and practically anyone who’s anyone. Their combined net worth is several billion.
At least Tiffany doesn’t have me dressed up as something stupid like a giant cupcake or a toadstool like last time.
I heard that was Kade’s doing but from what I hear, all he did was fan the flames. Tiffany—evil bitch that she is—did the rest. She’s always treated me like shit because I’m different.
Different because I live through my art.
Different because I am art in the way I dress.
Different because my father isn’t a Knight and I’m one of a select few since the school was formed who’ve been allowed to join the Thetas and enjoy the same privileges as those who come from Knight families.
Tiffany thinks that gives her a pass to treat me like a dog.
I suppose at least I know where I stand with her. I can also kind of predict her actions. I can’t do that with Kade.
He’s supposed to be here tonight but he hasn't shown up yet.
I came in here for a break because it’s been exhausting looking for him. My entire body is heightened with continuous tension that makes me feel like my insides are going to implode.
What the hell am I going to do about him?
Kade was watching me again last night.
He was at the club and it was clear that he was there for me. He even stood where he knew I’d see him.
This time he smiled at me, reminding me of the villain in a horror film when they get their target right where they want them and you know they have seconds left to live.
I didn’t know which was creepier. That self-satisfied smile on his face that told me he was enjoying every minute of fucking with my mind. Or the cold, blank stare I usually get from him. That look that makes me feel like he wants to kill me.
He didn’t move his eyes off me until Michael came back with our drinks. Then, like the other night, Kade just walked away.
Once again I felt like his sole purpose for being there was to make sure I knew that he’s always watching me.
I was already anxious as hell before I saw him. Finding someone staring at you outside your bedroom window will do that to you. If I’d had a box of Valium I would have taken all of it.
The only time I managed to compose my mind was when I was hanging out with Michael.
Annika and Mackenzie dragged me out to the party at The Verge. Sure, I always have fun with them and the others, but the night got even better when Michael started talking to me. It was the closest thing I’d had to a date in several months.
Since Kade started sabotaging my prospects I’ve been dateless, and I worried I was going to go through college with no social life and no hope of meeting anyone.
Michael and I had fun. And I liked him. Who wouldn’t?
He is sexy, isn’t a jerk, and he’s the captain of the basketball team with prospects of playing for the NBA.
He asked me to go to dinner with him Friday night. Of course I said yes. But I don’t think it’s going to happen.
Now that I know Kade saw us I’m sure he’ll do something to stop that date from happening.
Michael might be an alpha like Kade but no one wants trouble with a guy in the elite. Michael also isn’t enroute to becoming a Knight. Kade is. People like Kade are given special privileges.
How do you deal with something like this?
It’s all shit. All of it. It’s juvenile bullshit you expect to experience in high school.
I have five and a half weeks left here. It’s not a lot of time, but after the last few days it feels like I have to wait for centuries.
I don’t know how much more I can take of Kade’s mind games. I’m not weak but this asshole has weakened me.
The other week when I first noticed him watching me I thought I could deal with it, but he’s getting worse.
Finding him outside my bedroom window took things to the next level. So did last night’s stalking. And I don’t think he’s going to stop screwing with me any time soon.
The obvious thing to do is tell someone. Report him. Most people would call the police.
After finding him watching me in my room I was so freaked out I nearly told Annika and Mackenzie. I only stopped myself from saying anything because I didn’t want to make things worse for me.
Annika would tell Thorne. Mackenzie would insist that I report him to the college officials. Both those options would come back to bite me in the ass in the worst way.
Thorne might rough Kade up, and that would only encourage him to take it out on me. And as for the college officials, that’s a big fat no.
Since Chancellor Potalov is preparing for his retirement, any grievances like that have to go straight to Aleksander Ivanov.
I can just imagine Aleksander’s face if I told him about Kade.
The instant I say , “Hey, Aleksander, Kade Gurkovsky is stalking me,” he’d see me as the kid who was trying to make problems for the Knights after her mother died. He’d think I was stirring more trouble.
And of course he would never punish one of his beloved elite members.
Not to mention that Kade is the football team’s star quarterback and from a high-profile Knight family.
I’d end up looking like the villain.
Although Kade is obviously stalking me, I don’t have a leg to stand on.
What’s worse is I still have no idea why he’s behaving like this. If I had a reason, maybe I’d understand.
I’ve attracted his wrath and he’s not giving me the option to fix whatever I must have done to him. So there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do but wait it out.
Once I’m gone I won’t have to see Kade ever again.
The door opens and Mackenzie comes through looking flustered. No one complained about tonight more than the two of us but I can see that being here has taken its toll on her because Levi is here.
His father is on the college board so his family is always present at events like this. Tonight Mackenzie’s parents are here, too, no doubt because of the marriage agreement in the works.
“God, I can’t take this anymore.” She raises a hand to her head and her chest caves. “Now my mom’s talking about babies. Can you imagine me having children with that neanderthal?”
“Oh my God.” I straighten and regard her with sympathy as she marches over and slumps against the wall next to me.
This is the worst state I’ve ever seen her in. She usually enjoys these events because they're filled with rich hot men, but she genuinely looks like she won’t last another minute.
“I keep wondering how we got here. And I have no idea how to get myself out of this sham.”
“Your father hasn’t agreed to anything yet. So maybe you don’t have to worry.”
Mackenzie sighs and looks like she might wither away. “If he and my mother are here with the Sluskias that contract is as good as signed and my life is over.”
“Don’t say that, and don’t give up either. I know you, you’ll think of something.” I don’t know what that something is and I have no idea what the hell she could do, but I do know her. “You’re like the female version of MacGyver or Indiana Jones. But instead of figuring out technical ways to escape bad guys, you do it with life.”
She presses her lips into a thin line of displeasure and shakes her head. “I’m not so sure I can figure my way out this time. The only option I seem to have is running away. I don’t want to do that.”
“No, you mustn’t. You’d have too much to lose.”
“I know. And I like my life here.” Her reflective tone holds the same sentiment as a person thinking about a happy home where they built treasured memories. “I love being at Raventhorn, and I want to dance. I can’t run away from that.”
Her words feel like a jab to my heart. Maybe because it feels like I’m running away to England to escape Kade’s mind games. I keep asking myself if I am.
I’ve been obsessed with Christian Degas for as long as I can remember, and I know the opportunity to work and study under him is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
But I can’t help but wonder, if I were truly happy would I have even applied for his scholarship program? The week I applied I’d just found out Kade was screwing with my life, and I was depressed.
My goal was to get on Christian Degas’ internship program in a few years, after I graduate. Moving things up in the timeline has left me feeling a little displaced and questioning myself.
I suppose none of that matters now. I’m not about to pass up an opportunity to work with Christian Degas, whether I feel like I’m running away or not.
I switch my focus back to Mackenzie and rest my hand on her shoulder. “Hang in there.”
“I’m trying.”
The door bursts open again, cutting into my next words. This time an angry-looking Tiffany marches in with her hands on her hips and her nostrils flared.
She’s a dead ringer for Megan Fox but when she’s angry she looks like a troll.
“What the hell are you two doing in here?” Her eyes blaze. “We have over three hundred guests to serve and you’re taking a break?”
“We’re sorry,” I apologize quickly. I’ve learned from the past that if I don’t want to fight with her it’s best to appease her in whatever possible way that shuts her down.
“Get back out there.” She points to the door. “And switch it up. Mackenzie, you’re on the buffet. Isabelle, you can serve drinks for the rest of the night. The elite just arrived. Go to them first.”
Oh. Shit. They’re here. He’s here. And Tiffany wants me to serve them? Fuck.
“I don’t mind staying on drink duty,” Mackenzie speaks up, glancing from me to Tiffany. She knows that me serving drinks to Kade and his friends is the worst possible news I could hear tonight.
I was already dreading having direct contact with Kade, but I thought I’d be on the buffet. I only felt that I could handle it because the buffet table will be closing in an hour, then I’d be on clean-up duty in the kitchen.
Serving drinks means I’ll have to be on the floor until the end of the night and be at everyone’s beck and call.
Tiffany gives Mackenzie a sly smile, then she looks at me and her expression turns sour. “Isabelle will serve the drinks. I think I’ll enjoy watching her squirm every time she sees Kade. Now go. Get back out there.”
She tosses me a hard stare and my insides crumble.
I can’t fight this. Fighting isn’t worth the trouble it will cause me.
Mackenzie and I hustle ourselves past Tiffany out of the room and make our way into the hallway.
“Don’t worry,” Mackenzie mutters under her breath when we’re out of Tiffany’s earshot. “Just ignore Kade and you’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, sure.” I can’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice.
“It’s just till midnight, then we can go.”
Yes, but a lot can happen in three hours, Mackenzie. Like I could go crazy.
“I’ll be fine,” I tell her instead.
“Let’s go to The Verge after and hang out for a while. Cleanse the horror of the night from our minds.” She nods, sounding more like herself. “I also have drinks in my secret stash.”
We’re way underage and I’m not usually a drinker, but tonight I won’t say no to a glass of wine.
“Cool. Sounds like just what I need.”
“Then it’s a plan.”
When we reach the function hall Mackenzie heads over to the buffet table where Annika and the twins are taking care of the food. At least she’ll have them to keep her company. I’ll be on my own.
Shaking off my nerves, I make my way over to the bar. On seeing me the bartender makes up a tray of fruit cocktails for me to take.
I pick it up and the moment I turn around I spot Kade and his friends walking through the doors at the far corner of the hall.
Dressed for tonight’s black-tie event in Brioni suits, the four look like models walking off the runway at Fashion Week. And of course, as luck would have it, Kade spots me at the same time I do them.
Shivers erupt all over my body and my nerves reach for the sky.
My body is thrown out of sync and becomes such a mess that I fear I might break out in a serious case of hives. When I was younger that used to happen to me when I got nervous. I grew out of it but I wouldn’t be surprised if Kade reawakened it in me.
Someone clears their throat in an exaggerated manner across from me. It’s Tiffany. Furiously, she points to where Kade and his friends are standing and mouths the word ‘go’.
People around glance curiously at her and me, and I can’t even be bothered to feel embarrassed that she just treated me like a child.
Being anywhere near Kade is the bigger problem I need to worry about.
I swallow past the lump in my throat and move my shaky legs. I carry the tray of cocktails with the same caution you’d use with a crate of eggs. There aren’t that many glasses on the tray but it’s me who needs to be handled with care.
When I get closer to them Kade, Logan and Dmitri focus on me, giving me intense stares. Alek is the only one who doesn’t look at me as if he wants me to shrivel up and die. That suggests Dmitri and Logan are in on whatever is going on with Kade.
They might have excluded Alek because he’s new to the crew. He’s also Lucian’s cousin so I don’t expect him to be an ass.
Lucian is just as badass as all the other guys in the Knights but he has a heart of gold—especially when it comes to Eilish, who has always been a friend to me.
Kade, Dmitri and Logan have always been so close that I’m sure they keep Alek at arm’s length and only allow him as close as they need to for the sake of appearances. Under the law of the Knights the elite four are bound by the Blood Oath to work together as a unit forever. That doesn’t mean they have to like each other or get along.
I weave through the group of students in front of them then, my God, do I try to act like everything is fine and nothing untoward has ever happened between Kade and me.
“Drinks, my lords?” I summon my usual chirpiness, pushing down the urge to vomit.
Because they’re in the elite they’re the only freshmen we’re supposed to refer to as lords in a formal setting such as this, or when they request it.
“Thank you,” Alek replies, proving me right—he’s not an ass. At least not to me.
He takes a cocktail from the tray and even acknowledges me with a small smile. The others, however, seem to loom before me with a dark presence like Harry Potter dementors waiting to suck my soul from my body.
They’re each more than a foot taller than me but their sheer intensity makes me feel like a gnat next to them.
With hardened stares Dmitri and Logan each take a drink. Kade hangs back and just stares at me, his eyes displaying the wealth of his dislike for me.
But there’s something else I notice lurking in the corners of his blue irises. I can’t put my finger on it, but it looks like interest or fascination . It’s the kind of look you’d give something you’re certain you won’t like, but something about it makes you curious.
It’s an odd thought to associate with a person— me .
After far too many seconds float by and the uncomfortable staring continues, I assume Kade doesn’t want a drink. I’m about to move away but then he steps forward and extends one large hand to grab the glass closest to my chest.
He doesn’t touch me but it feels like he does. The ghostly sensation feels like he reached through my skin and into my chest to rip out my heart.
I can’t believe I ever had any feelings for him or that I spent hours on end for years obsessing over him.
I was so stupid. Can I call myself young and dumb if I was only like that a handful of months ago? Probably not.
Thankfully I know better now, but being this close to him is jarring. I haven’t been this close since that night at the party when he was horrid to me.
Once again I want to ask him what the hell I did to him but it’s not the right time or place. And I don’t know when any time or place will feel right.
Without taking his eyes off me he takes a sip of the drink.
I turn to go, wanting to get away as quickly as I can.
“Don’t go too far, Lolita.” His command stops me and I look over my shoulder at him.
It’s the first he’s spoken to me since that night. I almost forgot what his voice sounds like.
And Lolita?
I hate that nickname because it’s never said with any good intentions. I earned it in high school because of my obsession.
It sounds worse tonight, and more hurtful because he’s never called me that.
Taking a measured breath I look away and walk over to the corner near them. It’s the designated space for the waiters to stand. There I stay on display.
Kade and the guys quickly become the center of attention when a man I recognize as a sports newscaster for ESPN starts talking to them.
They talk and talk and talk, but the whole time Kade’s gaze never strays too far from me.