Merciless Betrayal (Brannington Empire Collection #2)

Chapter One

Mountainside, New York

The air was thick with humidity, and I could smell the faintest scent of honeysuckle as it lingered around me.

We hadn’t had rain in almost a week, but I could smell a storm coming.

It would figure that the day everyone returned to school, Mother Nature would announce her arrival.

There was nothing more fitting, though. While the students were away all summer, I had to stay on campus with my mother and sister.

Rowan couldn’t enjoy any of the superb weather, but I had more than done so for the both of us.

Now, it was over, and life would change until next summer rolled around.

Dread quickly filled me. There was little I could do, though.

This place seemed to be my destiny. I saw no way out, which meant I’d likely be stuck attending the local community college, but even that was a question mark.

The only things certain were that I would hate every second of the next nine months and that a storm was brewing.

While it hadn’t arrived yet, I knew it was inevitable, especially when I looked out at the horizon at the skies which were rapidly darkening.

Another year, another omen.

I inhaled rapidly, then slowly exhaled as I swung my dangling feet to and fro.

My junior year of high school would soon start, and while I lived on the grounds of this expansive boarding school, I couldn’t afford to attend classes there even though my mother was the headmistress.

While the students arriving today would soon be heading back to classes, I would be taking a bus to the public school a town over.

I suppose there were worse things. I could actually attend this place, which was full of nothing but snobby girls and arrogant guys.

They lived to party and looked down on those who were not like them.

Basically, on anyone not in the same tax bracket as their parents.

They would arrive in luxurious sports cars and SUVs, while I had to use my mother’s car whenever I needed to get around.

For as much bad as there was here, not everything about this place was terrible.

For example, I loved this pier and the lake it was on.

Being in the mountains had its appeal when it came to nature.

I only needed to tune out everyone that would soon be around me and focus on the natural beauty of this place to help the months go by. Well, that and my own school year.

Almost everyone got excited for the start of school, but I wasn’t one of them because it was difficult for me.

Extremely introverted, it was hard for me to make connections, let alone friends, so it was a lonely place to be most days.

I also struggled with a few subjects, which was why I’d be relegated to something local when it came time to further my education.

“Reagan,” I heard, and I slowly turned to look over my shoulder.

“Yes, Mamma,” I said to the woman standing in front of the pier.

“Rowan is having some trouble breathing, so I need to give her a treatment. I’ll need you to go inside and make sure everyone gets their room assignments.”

“Is she okay?” I asked.

My twin sister had been struggling since birth with a genetic autoimmune disorder.

The doctors called it Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, and it wasn’t something they could cure.

Thanks to the two different bone marrow transplants she’d had courtesy of me, it had prolonged her life, but it hadn’t changed her prognosis.

Sometimes I used to wonder why she’d been afflicted and I hadn’t, and that was when the guilt would creep in.

I’d gotten all the healthy genes, so my sister had gotten none.

She was forced to live inside with only views from the window of our cottage, while I got to move about campus, swim in this lake, and even hike the mountain trails here.

As identical twins, it would’ve made sense for me to have suffered from the same disease, but so far I’d been healthy.

And Rowan’s condition made it even harder on my mother, who not only had to keep things in check here at Summit Crest Preparatory but was basically responsible for all of my sister’s care, too.

“Sure, Mamma,” I said to her because I knew she needed to get back to Rowan.

“Thanks, baby,” she said to me before turning to head back in the direction of our small cottage.

I let out another sigh before swinging my legs back onto the deck.

I had no sooner stood up when a crack of lightning struck the skies above.

It was followed by a few rumbles of thunder, which were my cues to get inside.

Once on my feet, I hurried toward the main building, where the students would not only be arriving, but also to where my mother’s office was located.

When I reached the building and stepped inside, a sudden onslaught of rain came rushing down.

I had literally dodged getting soaking wet by seconds.

Maybe that was a sign of luck, and a sign to come that maybe mine was starting to look up.

Shaking my head wryly, I knew not to wish for such foolish things.

Keeping myself grounded in reality, I stepped into her office, where the book she meticulously maintained was sitting atop her desk.

Right behind it were two frames. For those who were unaware, they would think we were one in the same, but I could always tell pictures of Rowan from myself because I had more color in my cheeks than she did.

Again, I was reminded how fortunate I was, especially when it came to my twin.

Maybe I would play a game with her later, or at least watch a movie with her.

Our options were limited, but unlike me, Rowan never seemed to dwell on what she didn’t have or what she couldn’t do.

She was the strongest girl I had ever known, and so much more than I’d ever be.

The sound of voices broke me out of my regrets, and I grabbed the book and hurried out of my mother’s office. When I reached the front hall, I moved to the sign-in desk and quickly set down the pages and a few pens for them to use. Once I sat down, the first three kids came over to me.

“Names,” I said to them as they quickly scribbled their signatures down.

They all responded, and I flipped through the pages before telling two of the girls that they would be on the eastern wing in the fourth and fifth cottages.

Another couple of students came next, and I followed the same steps as before.

The last two lingering about were also given their assignments, and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The thunderstorm grew more vicious, and with this lull, I leaned back in the chair and drew my legs up to my chest to rest between my breasts and the desk itself.

Raging storms were comforting to me in a way, so I continued to watch them.

Those few minutes turned into a half hour before the next crop of kids came running inside.

A few had umbrellas, but the others didn’t, and I already knew I would be here later than I’d first thought because I would need to clean the floors.

Three guys came over to me, and I looked up at them. “Names?”

“Jeremy Holbrook,” said one.

“Benny Gamble,” said another, and the third smirked at me.

“Name?” I asked once more.

“I’d rather know your name.”

I narrowed my eyes at the dark-haired kid. “My name’s not important.”

“You’re just a squatter anyway,” he replied, and the other two laughed.

I ignored him and looked for the room assignments for the other two. “Holbrook is in room seven, and Gamble is in room nine.”

“And mine?” asked the nameless one.

“Your name?”

“Whatever you want to scream later tonight when in my bed,” he said, causing the other two to laugh and fist bump him.

I rolled my eyes, then noticed the guy standing behind him. “And your name?”

“Brannington,” he said to me.

I flipped back to the front of the book, and as I dragged one finger down the page, I noticed two of them. “Which one?”

“Cillian,” he replied, then nudged the nameless one aside. “And his name is Conrad Banks.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled to him. I looked at Conrad. “Banks is in room six, and you’re in room twelve.”

“Why did you have to do that?” Conrad asked Cillian who shrugged.

“You’re being an ass. She’s just trying to do her job.”

“Since when did you become such a damn boy scout?” he asked Cillian.

I watched him smirk at the other guy. “We all know that I’m the farthest thing from a boy scout. Go get your stuff unpacked, and I’ll stop in when I’m done with mine.”

“This isn’t over, squatter girl,” Conrad said to me.

“It never started,” I responded, then heaved a sigh of relief as two girls stepped up to the desk. “Names, please.”

I remained at that desk for the next three hours, and by the time I stood up, I could feel the stiffness in my legs.

Before I hung out with Rowan, a hot bath was in my immediate future.

But first...As I looked down at the floor muddied with footprints, I walked over to the janitor’s closet and retrieved the mop.

I was sure he would actually wash the floors in the morning when he got back to campus, but I would help him by at least getting up what I could.

A few minutes later, I returned the mop then stepped out to find Conrad and Benny standing there with red solo cups in their hands.

“You’re a maid, too,” Benny said.

“No, I’m not. Is there anything I can do for you two, or—”

“You can come back to my room and be my whore,” Benny responded.

I rolled my eyes. “No, thank you.”

“She’s probably as good at sex as she is at scrubbing floors. Come on, Benny. She missed a spot,” Conrad chimed in.

As I looked to see what he was talking about, he dropped his cup onto the floor, and the red liquid splashed onto the tile, spreading rapidly.

Annoyed, I didn’t give them a piece of my mind as I wanted to and instead retrieved the mop.

By the time I came back out, they were gone, but their mess remained.

I scrubbed at the dark liquid, which was practically as thick as motor oil.

I had no idea what it was, and I didn’t want to know.

I just removed it before it stained, then put the mop away.

When I came back out, I started to head for the door that led outside when my feet slipped on the slightly sticky surface and I fell.

Okay, it was worse than that. I pitched forward, and I had just barely gotten my hands out in front of me to stop myself from faceplanting on the tile.

I heard two men laugh and realized they had not gone away as I had hoped.

I ignored the throbbing pain in my left wrist and stormed past the guys once I scrambled back onto my feet.

As I flung the door open, I encountered resistance, and when I looked up, I found Cillian smirking at me. I shook my head and threw my hand up, not wanting to hear anything from him either. From there, I fled to the safety of my cottage, getting soaked in the process.

“Happy fucking new school year,” I muttered to myself as I tried to shake some of the wetness off me once on my porch. I twisted and squeezed my shirt until it was mostly wrung dry, then I entered the house.

“Is it all done?”

“Yes, Mamma. I’m going to change into something dry now.”