Pretty Twisted Games: a contemporary age gap, dark billionaire romance

1. Summer

BEFORE THE END

On the daythey buried my mother, the wolf saved me, and I unknowingly became beholden to him.

She died on a Tuesday, beneath a burning, star-filled sky.

After the funeral, I hid under the table, watching feet moving past, and chanting, “Jibber babber, jibber babber.”

There were too many people to count, most of them lingering, picking at bereavement finger foods. Every now and then, a cracker would fall, topped with truffle fromage and raspberry fig jam. No one bothered to pick it up, but instead ground it into the hardwood floor until it was a crumbled, goopy mess.

There were mostly black shoes, without mud or dirt, as if they”d all just come direct from their homes instead of mom’s grave.

They buried her just past the garden, where she could overlook both the flowers and the bay. But, just like the jibber babber chant, I hoped the water didn”t creep into the grave one day and carry her away.

It had been my thought all day as I”d watched the people come and go, wondering who they were and if they knew my secret.

I braced myself as a horde of shoes appeared, overpowering the low and sympathetic murmurs suffocating the room.

”Where”s her husband?” The hissing tone of Mrs. Stetson grated on my ears. I recognized her black Mary Janes, crowded by several other heels. “He ought to be here, attending to the guests.”

A chorus of buzzing agreement followed, and my fear changed into boiling anger.

Tightening my hands into fists, I wanted to punch something!

A bunch of old ladies, gossiping about my father. Judging him. Complaining that they”d run out of shrimp cocktail.

He’d been here for three whole hours—trying to keep himself together. Trying not to break down and cry. That, or to yell at everyone to leave, until, finally, he couldn’t take it any longer.

Unlike the people here, he actually cared about my mom!

I glared through the table, wanting to scream—you shouldn”t even be here! You didn”t even know her!

”She was there, you know.” Mrs. Stetson kept on with her big, fat, ugly mouth, ”The eldest daughter. Heard she witnessed it all. Was even in the car.”

I froze, dread making me jumpy as another one said my name in questioning astonishment. Clasping my hand to my mouth, I hoped they didn’t know the truth.

The thing that had stripped my peace, turning it into sticky tar that sat at the back of my throat.

I gasped in surprise as the black, lace tablecloth was ripped away. Mrs. Stetson’s puckered face appeared, her eyes narrowing. ”I thought you might be there!” Long, bony fingers tightened around my arm. ”You shouldn”t be spying on the adults. And look how dirty and wrinkled you are!” Her grip was like a vise as she dragged me to her, shaking me. ”I knew it. Your mama isn”t cold in the grave and her children are already running wild.”

Stumbling onto my feet, I stared her down. “We’re not wild, we’re just tired of you being here.”

“How dare you!” Sharp talons dug into my skin. ”Young lady, you don”t back-talk. Didn’t your mother teach you to respect your elders?”

Another woman piped up, her manner grave, like the six-foot-deep one, only yards away from the house. ”Someone ought to send her to a school. Now that her mama”s dead.”

“Mmmhmm.” More hums of agreement, nodding of heads and earrings jingling. “You’re right.”

”A proper one,” Mrs. Stetson”s cutting voice slashed through me, ”A boarding school would teach you how to behave.” She clucked her tongue, shaking her head, ”Should”a taught you better manners before she died.”

“My mama taught me enough,” I sneered at them, “taught me to stay away from mean old ladies like you!”

The gasps of shock and looks of disapproval made me bite down on my tongue, trying to keep my tears back. Why were they still here? I just wanted them to leave so I could go to my room and cry.

“I”m going to have a conversation with your daddy tonight. Tell him he needs to send you away until you learn how to behave like a well-mannered young lady. Men do not harbor affection for daughters who act out of line; they want virtuous, obedient children who know their place.”

“Exactly,” another woman piped up, “pure and decent women who understand their role in society.”

I jerked my arm from Mrs. Stetson’s hold. “My daddy loves me! He’ll never send me away!”

They laughed, the sound high-pitched, like a pack of hyenas. I clamped my hand over my ears, charging through the circle of women, breaking free. Eyes and whispers of criticism followed me as I raced through the crowd, searching for the only person who understood me. When I couldn”t find her, I ran into the crowded kitchen.

Benson, our butler, was there, directing servers who struggled to keep up with the demand for more food and champagne. People were acting like it was a New Year’s Eve party.

Bursting through the back door, I sprinted past the garden and towards the salt marshes behind my house. She had to be out here; she had to.

As I got closer, the ground softened, and my steps slowed. I didn’t usually venture into the bay at night. The trees protruding from the water seemed like skeletal fingers reaching for me. There could be alligators or deadly snakes, too. All kinds of things that could hurt me.

“Jibber babber, Jibber babber,” I whispered, pretending I wasn’t scared. My mom had taught me the song for when I was nervous, but the funny sounding words were all I could remember sometimes.

It was just superstition, but the Gullah witches also sang it at weddings and funerals, so maybe there was something to its power.

In contrast to me, my mom wasn”t afraid of the marsh at night—she would take my hand and wade straight through the water. We would sing the jibber babber song out loud and crinkle a bag of chips to get Ollie’s attention.

Ollie was a baby alligator who lived in the area. We knew we weren’t supposed to feed them, but he was so small and skinny. Since he was an albino, he couldn’t hide as well as the other ones.

I felt sorry for him. He was different, just like me and my sister.

We didn”t like fancy parties or dresses like other people.

The girls in my class would giggle at the stains and tears on my clothes—from getting lost on my way to school while picking flowers or chasing after rabbits.

I could count all of Ollie”s teeth on how many times I”d been told I wasn”t ”proper enough for my status.” Called a walking disaster. Reminded of how exhausting it must be just to be alive.

And now, my new nickname was even worse.

But Ollie was just like me. It was harder for him to blend into the swamp, and he looked pathetically skinny compared to the other gators in the area.

Although, I wasn”t an idiot—he was still a wild animal.

I tried to be just like mom, strong and brave. If my sister was out here, I needed to find her. Taking a deep breath, I threw off my black flats and shoved my feet into a pair of abandoned muck boots.

“Jibber babber, Jibber babber,” I said louder, “Jibber babber, Jibber babber.”

The whisper of the water around my ankles was soothing, despite my fear.

I treaded slowly, careful not to step on anything that might move.

“Callie!” Even my own voice sounded haunting in the open night air. ”Where are you?”

”Shh,” she hissed from beyond. I gulped down my horror at the thought of her out so far in the dark.

I waded deeper, the feel of mud and water pressing into my boots. At the sound of an animal in the bushes, a shiver crawled up my spine.

”You”re gonna get yourself killed,” I chastised Callie.

”No I”m not.” Even without seeing her, I could sense the spark of her anger. ”Besides. Even if I did, it would be better than letting those boys find me.”

“That”s not true,” I scowled, my stomach churning with each step deeper into the bay.

”Is so.”

There. A flash of movement. A sway of the long grass. I headed towards it, trampling the cordgrass as I went. ”Not compared to Ollie. She”ll eat you if she thinks you”re bait.”

Something gripped my ankle. I screamed, fear seizing me. ”Ahh!” Instincts kicking in, I vehemently shook my foot, hitting something soft.

”Oomph,” Callie grunted, letting me go. ”Idiot. It’s just me.”

Too late, I stepped on her hand, then jumped back, splashing into the muck. She hissed in pain.

“Sorry Callie!”

”Get down here,” she groused, grabbing me again, jerking at the rubber of my boots. ”It”s going to be your fault if they find us.”

I lay next to her in the tall grass, a mirror of her blonde hair and blue eyes, my heart still pounding like crazy.

It was cold and wet and muddy down here. “Who’re you hiding from?”

“Those boys.”

“Which boys?”

“You know.” She didn’t answer me, though I definitely suspected I knew. The boys who’d been bullying her, though I wasn’t sure why.

I copied her, peering through the cordgrass. The whole bottom floor of our house was lit up, where I knew that people would stay until it was past my bedtime.

“What happened, anyway?” I whispered.

”Nothing.” She tilted her head away from me stubbornly, but her fingers dug into the grass. Either from anger or maybe fear.

“Come on, you can tell me.” If they”d done something to her, I was going to kill them.

”Nah,” she shook her head, “now shush, they”re goin’ to hear you.”

When my sister didn”t say anything else, an eerie silence settled over the bay, except for the large chirp of crickets, hooting owls, and a splash now and then from out towards the ocean. Mud oozed into my fingers and skin and the smell of salt and silt filled my nose.

Something felt different tonight. As if the whole wetland was holding its breath, waiting for something. It was creeping me out.

A shiver ran up my spine at the thought of the ghost of my mom returning to haunt us.

To reassure myself, I pat my pocket, checking to make sure I hadn”t lost my Bugles, intending to feed them to Ollie. I’d kept them since that night; it was the last bag my mom had given me before she died.

Then, I heard them, a sound that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, “Oooo-eeee! Where are ya, little Callie? I know you”re out here.”

* * *

The sound was hauntingand evil.

I felt a shiver by my side—Callie. Pressing her forehead to the ground, she squeezed her eyes shut, breathing heavily. What the heck had they done to make her so scared?

I tried to see through the darkness, finally making them out. Harrison was a red-headed, blue eyed devil-boy, and I could see the glimmer of his copper hair glinting in the moonlight. Could barely make out his scrunched up face, his eyes squinting.

”Come on, Harrison. Let”s go back.” Harrison was flanked by his best friend, Blake, who was just as dangerous, if not more. Except he didn”t pick on girls like Harrison did. “I’m bored.”

”Shut up, you shit,” Harrison argued. ”I”m tryin’ to find that little bitch. She”s out here somewhere.”

Hey!He couldn”t call my sister a bitch. She was barely even eight. I was about to jump to my feet but little fingers grabbed my wrist, making me freeze.

I turned to look at Callie.

She stared back at me with wide eyes, giving me a meaningful look. She shook her head slowly, begging me to keep quiet, for once.

”Why do you even care?” Blake asked, sighing loudly.

“Because I do,” Harrison answered, a sneer to his voice, “believe me, she deserves what she”s got coming.”

“Which is what?” Blake didn’t sound like he actually cared, more like….curious.

”Does it matter?” Harrison huffed, ”Just help me find her.”

”Fine.”

Lying there in the mud, I was torn in two. I didn”t want to upset Callie or freak her out any more than she already was. But I also wanted to pummel the guy—that was my younger sister he was talking about.

Trying to keep my breathing quiet, I waited, my whole body tense. The ground was cold, the grass was itchy, and the air was sticky, making my hair cling to my face.

The sound of water sloshing made a shiver of anxiety zip up my spine. They were getting closer.

”Callie,” I whispered in warning, pointing toward the cordgrass I”d trampled on my way over. I may as well have left a gingerbread cookie trail.

“They won’t see,” she whispered back desperately.

“They will.” I jumped to my feet, ignoring the small squeal from Callie, who clamped her hand over her mouth.

”Hey assholes,” I sassed, my hand on my hip, “what the hell do you want?”

”Well, well,” Harrison’s stare landed on me, his dull, lifeless eyes making me squirm. ”If it isn”t the mother-killer herself.”

Pain cracked its way from my stomach, into my chest and face, and my eyes swam with tears. I grit my teeth to keep from crying in front of these jerks.

”Yeah, it”s me.” Even though I hated the nickname, I didn’t deny it. I couldn’t. Because it was true. ”Why”re you lookin’ for my sister?”

”Because. The bitch thought she could hit me and get away with it.”

Hit him? What was Callie thinking? He was like, a hundred times bigger than her. Hitting that spoiled brat was like opening the door to an oncoming hurricane. Once you were in his path, he destroyed you with everything he had.

Which was a lot. His dad was super powerful.

”Awww,” I crooned, ”was the widdle baby hurt by a widdle girl?” Apparently I had a death wish. ”Want me to see if my daddy has any baby wipes to wipe away your widdle tears?” I really did.

He was going to kill me.

But I didn”t care. Nobody messed with my sister and got away with it.

Surprisingly, Blake belted out in laughter, even catching Harrison by surprise. ”She”s right, Harrison,” Blake’s white teeth flashed in the darkness, he was laughing so hard, ”why do you care what an eight year old did?”

”I told you,” Harrison growled, stomping through the muck towards me, making me take a few cautious steps back. The bay was unpredictable—you could fall into deep water with any step.

”I don”t care who you are or how old you are. Nobody messes with a Vanderhorst.” Harrison got even closer, his eyes blazing with a cold and hard anger.

Vanderhorst was an older southern name, just like mine. And yet, for some reason, the Vanderhorsts acted like they were some kind of royalty around here.

Who gave a crap about all that?

The Vanderhorsts did, that”s who.

Them and their stupid cronies.

”Look, I don’t know what”s got your panties all in a twist over my sister, but you need to leave her alone.”

“And what’re you,” he jutted a finger into my chest harshly, “gonna do about it?” Even leaning over me like he was, Harrison was a lot bigger. “Huh? You gonna do something to me?” His foul breath poured over my face, making me gag. “Mother killer.”

”That”s it!” Callie jumped to her feet. Charging, she tackled him. ”I told you not to call her that!”

His shoes had sunk into the mud, so he fell flat on his butt, with Callie falling on top.

They both lay there, mouth agape, frozen in shock.

It didn’t last long.

Callie tried to climb off him but he was faster.

”You bitch!” he bellowed, on his feet in a second. Yanking his shoes from the mud, he seized Callie by her hair and dragged her through the muck. ”I”ll show you what happens when you disrespect a Vanderhorst.”

Screaming in anger, I flew at him, smashing my fist into his head. He twisted towards me in surprise.

I stilled, my heart racing. I”d just hit Harrison! He was really going to kill me now.

”Oh you wanna play, little girl?” he roared. Letting Callie go, he ran at me.

I dodged his swing, but pain exploded as he grabbed my hair. He yanked me to the ground, tearing my dress. Mud squelched and water splashed under me. I fought as he straddled me. “You might be a Duvall but anyone who kills their mama doesn”t deserve to live.” He spit on my face.

“You asshole!” Callie lunged towards him but he easily pushed her away. ”Hold her down, Blake! She can be next.”

I struggled, trying to break his grip. ”Fuck you, Harrison!”

“Fuck you?” His ugly gaze crawled over the front of my torn dress. I froze at the way he was looking at me. I was only ten, had nothing up there, but his eyes gleamed, anyways. “I just might.”

”Yeah, if you can even get it up!” I didn”t know what that meant, but I’d heard another guy say it once.

”I”ll show you exactly how I can get it up, little girl.”

“Get off me!” I fought against the suction of the mud and him pinning me down. Desperate to break free.

”Harrison,” Blake spoke up. ”Just leave them alone.”

I would actually like Blake in that moment, if he wasn”t holding a screaming and struggling Callie.

”She insulted me! Hit me!” Harrison roared.

”Who the fuck cares!” Blake yelled back. I kicked and wiggled, trying to get away. But Harrison was too strong.

”Dad!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. ”Dad!” If only I could get him to hear me, he”d kick this guy’s ass. ”Dad!”

”Daddy”s not coming to save you,” Harrison tore my dress apart even more. When it wouldn’t budge any further, he gave up. Grabbing the bottom, he jerked it out from under him. ”Last time I saw him, he was passed out in your study. Probably drunk.”

I didn”t care. I kept screaming as Harrison’s hands began to jerk down my strawberry print underwear.

”Harrison, man!” Blake was finally starting to get really angry. ”Just leave her alone, okay? She didn”t even do anything. Besides, you can have any girl in school. Why the fuck do you care about the Duvall’s?”

“Because. I want them.” Harrison was determined now. I could see it in his face.

I wasn”t exactly sure what he was going to do, but I knew in my gut I was going to hate it.

Hysteria took over me. I fought him with all my might. I kicked and screamed at the top of my lungs, thrashing my arms. Then started to cry. “Stop! Stop!”

Callie was screaming and crying, too.

Suddenly the weight on top of me disappeared.

I gasped a breath—what happened?

A man stood over me, heaving. He had a dark, ferocious look on his face. Ready to kill someone.

He’d just appeared out of nowhere.

He wasn’t looking at me, but towards my right.

Had he just ripped Harrison off me?

“Help!” I scrambled to my knees and away from Harrison. He was a few feet from me, his face buried in the muck.

Callie jerked out of Blake’s’ hold and grabbed my arm. She pulled me upward. “Let’s go!”

”Wait, we can”t just leave him.”

Blake and Harrison were now fighting the man, rolling around in the swamp. The man was strong but Harrison was an angry ball of fury. Plus, Blake was kicking his side.

“He’s an adult, he can handle himself.” Callie tried to pull me towards the house, “Besides, we can go get help.”

”But,” I held my ground, unsure what to do, ”he saved me.”

Blake sat on the man’s legs, while Harrison straddled his chest. Harrison was smashing his fist into his face.

Even though the man was still fighting them, it was a lot—with two on one.

I couldn”t run off like this. I had to do something, even if it put me in danger.

Pulling the last thing my mom ever gave me from my pocket, I crinkled the bag, making sure it was loud. Then I began to yell, ”Jibber babber, Jibber babber!”

If Ollie was here somewhere, he”d come with the noise.

“Summer! No!”

”Hush, Callie,” I wrapped an arm around her, trying to calm her crying. ”It”ll be okay.”

“Ollie”s going to eat us,” she sobbed.

”He won”t.” I tried to soothe her. ”He likes me. And he likes you, too. Don”t think I didn”t see you giving him apples the other day.”

She gulped down her sobs, trying to hold still, but she was still shaking in my arm. I held my breath as I waited, crinkling the bag again and again. Then I saw a sudden flash of white in the darkness. ”Look!” I pointed towards it, ”he”s coming.”

Sure enough, I could see Ollie”s eyes blinking in the darkness, his white body swimming towards us.

“Hey!” I screamed, terrified Ollie would hurt the man who’d come to save us. ”Get out of the way.” He was on top now, trying to keep Harrison and Blake down. “It”s a gator!”

That got his attention. He stopped, his hand midair as his gaze searched the swamp.

It didn”t take him long to see the creature swimming quickly towards us. He jumped up and off Harrison and Blake.

”You coward!” Callie screamed as Harrison ran past us, with Blake on his heels.

”At least I didn”t kill my mom!” Harrison shot back. It made the ache in my chest blast back through me in full force.

God, I missed mom so much.

I didn”t hold back the tears now, letting them drip down my cheeks as I broke open the bag, shaking out the contents.

“Get back to the house,” the man demanded. When we didn’t budge, he stood between us and Ollie, pushing us back and out of the way. We watched Ollie crawl closer, headed for where I’d emptied the bag of Bugles.

We all stared in awe as Ollie gobbled them up.

I noticed that the man’s eye was already starting to go black and blue, his expensive clothes torn, wet, and muddy.

He’d saved me, taking a beating in the process. Then stood between us and an alligator, who could easily chomp off his feet.

My heart swelled with love for a man I didn’t know.

It didn’t take Ollie long. When he was done, he glanced at us, seeming to give us a quick smile before turning back towards the swamp. His tail flicked before he disappeared back into the water, his white form gliding through it as he swam away.

A second later, Callie yanked on my hand, whispering ferociously. ”I told you to stay hidden, now you know why.”

My boot was stuck in the mud, it fell off as she pulled me towards the house. “Callie, you have to tell me. What did he do to you?”

“Just shut up and let’s get out of here. We gotta go.”

I saw a final glimpse of the man before the darkness swallowed him. He was staring right at me, a wild and fierce look on his face.

He didn’t return to the house, like I wanted. He’d appeared, then disappeared like a ghost.

Maybe the swamp was holding its breath for him.