Twenty-One
Bianca
A fter my display in the courtyard with Dominic, I’d been the talk of the school.
It was near the end of the week, and people were still talking.
Hail eyed me angrily whenever I saw him, but he never spoke to me or approached me.
At least I had that going for me. Maybe being labeled as a slut for the kings was working in my favor.
As for the kings, they didn’t pay me much attention. Levin had me doing his laundry for him. To add insult to injury, Dom made me clean their dorm rooms while they all laughed at me.
It beat the hell out of being smacked around though, so I’d take cleaning their rooms and doing their laundry any day of the week if it meant I didn’t have to go back to Hail and his bullshit.
On the flipside was me waiting for David to storm on campus and choke me out for breaking it off with Hail.
Since it had been days since our engagement ended, Hail must not have said anything to his father or David about it. It made a whole new set of worries crop up. There was a reason Hail hadn’t retaliated or said anything.
I was just waiting for the hammer to fall.
A squeal of surprise left me as a warm hand wrapped around my arm and tugged me into a dark corner as I walked back to my dorm on Thursday.
I’d shaken Levin ten minutes prior because he just kept glaring at me and I was sick of it.
He didn’t like me. I knew that much. No point in making either of us more miserable.
I figured he’d find me before too long and read me the riot act before anything happened to me.
The kings had been on my ass since I’d signed my name in blood to them.
Dom took his promise seriously, which was nice but also annoying to be shadowed constantly.
I’d wanted it though, so he fed it to me in heaping spoonfuls.
I thrashed and shoved at my captor as I turned in his arms, deciding I’d been an idiot to shake off Levin.
“Easy, Bianca. It’s me.”
I stopped fighting long enough to see Fallon staring down at me. I breathed out and swallowed.
“What do you want? Did Hail send you—”
“I just wanted to see how you’re doing,” he said, brushing a lock of my hair away from my face.
I swallowed and stared back at him. “I’m fine.”
“Are you?” He stepped closer. “You’re with the kings, Bianca—”
“If you’ve come to tell me Hail will welcome me back with open arms, then you’re an idiot. I’m not going back.”
“That’s not why I’m here. I just wanted to make sure you’re OK. I don’t want you to go back to Hail.” He released my arm and leaned against the wall, his blazer undone and his dark hair messy.
I licked my lips. “I’m all right.”
“Good.” He gave me a gentle smile.
Deciding he probably wasn’t going to kill me, I moved closer, a question nagging at me. “Why were you so nice to me when the others weren’t?”
He shrugged. “No one deserves that shit. Hail’s a dickhead.”
“But you’re a lord. You’re in his crew.”
“Yeah, well, we all make mistakes, right?”
“Are you saying—”
“I’m saying nothing. I just wanted to check on you. That’s all. The kings aren’t much better than we are. Has Dominic hurt you?” He frowned, his eyes locked on mine as he waited for an answer.
I shook my head. “No.”
He nodded and gave me another smile. “I’m glad. I’m not a fan of the kings, but as long as no one is hurting you, that’s all that matters.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Seeing the things Hail was putting you through nearly made me lose my sanity. In fact, we got into it right after that shit went down in his room. After you left, we fought.”
“You fought? Why would you fight? You all got what you wanted.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down.
“Because he forced you to do those things,” he seethed through gritted teeth.
“Do you think I liked watching that happen to you? Fuck, Bianca. If I could’ve stopped it, I would have.
He would’ve just made it worse on you and accused you of some fucking bullshit that’s not true.
We had to endure. I’m so fucking sorry you had to do that. ”
“You liked it though,” I said softly, remembering how he’d guided my head as I’d sucked his dick.
How he’d groaned as he filled my mouth. Something about it made heat pool between my legs even now.
I swallowed, not knowing what the hell was wrong with me.
I’d just gotten away from the lords and here I was entertaining the idea of . . . what? Doing that again with Fallon?
“Of course, I liked it.” He let out an exasperated sigh.
“You’re fucking gorgeous, and you suck dick like a pro.
But it was wrong. I want to apologize for it.
I’m not that kind of guy. The kind who forces a girl to do that shit.
So yeah, I liked it. That doesn’t change what it was though, and that’s fucked up. ”
I nodded, not sure what was happening in the pit of my gut as butterflies bounced back and forth. Maybe I’d gone momentarily insane. “Well, thanks, I guess.”
He sucked on his bottom lip for a moment as his eyes raked over me. “Hail will kill me if he finds me with you.”
“The kings will kill me if they find me with you.”
“Right. You’ll be safe going to your dorm. Hail and the guys are with Stella right now, probably taking turns on her.”
“And you’re here, breaking the rules.”
“I guess I am.” He stepped closer to me until we were nearly touching. “But I’m not the greatest at following them as of late.” He reached out and thumbed my bottom lip, a frown on his face.
What was happening? Fallon was the nice one. What the hell was he doing? What was I doing? Maybe this was part of Hail trying to get me killed with the kings. Send Fallon who he knew was kind to me to get me into trouble for consorting with him.
I backed away and swallowed the butterflies.
“Thank you. I need to go.” I turned and began walking away.
“Bianca,” he called out.
I stopped and looked at him over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Nothing.” His smile shook. “Be safe, OK?”
I gave him a curt nod and left him in the dark recess of the buildings, wondering what the hell had just happened between us. There was fire. A connection. Something that would most certainly get me killed if the kings found out about it.
But maybe that was part of the plan.