Chapter 6
ALEX
Living in Devil’s Creek was the polar opposite of my old life. In this small coastal town filled with rich snobs who lived in fancy mansions and drove expensive cars, even teenagers spoke differently. They sounded like kids trapped inside the bodies of well-educated adults.
I felt out of place surrounded by so much wealth and sophistication. Even with my new last name, which drew the attention of everyone at school, I didn’t feel like a Wellington.
I was still an outsider.
Poor white trash.
The students at Astor Prep stared as I walked down the hallway beside Aiden, holding his hand. I wasn’t a little girl anymore, but my brother was protective.
In his mind, we were still gutter rats struggling to survive. Except now, we wore designer labels, had washed hair and pressed clothing. We didn’t have to worry about the source of our next meal.
This was our fresh start.
It was worth the cost.
“Aid, I’ll be okay,” I said to assure him since he was more nervous than I was. “You don’t have to worry about me while we’re apart. I can handle the Salvatore brothers. They’re just boys.”
“No, they’re not. They’re men. I don’t like the way they treated you. And I don’t trust them.”
After our failed meeting, Aiden complained to our grandfather all night about the Salvatore brothers. He begged Pops to let me out of the marriage deal.
He said no.
“Marcello was nice.” I smiled, cheeks flushed. “He’s handsome, don’t you think?”
“Yeah,” Aiden agreed. “Marcello’s hot. So are his brothers. But they’re all fucking dickheads. I don’t want you with any of them.”
My brother was bisexual and never hid it, not even from our homophobic mother. Instead of punishing Aiden when she found out, she tried to beat some sense into me. After that, Aiden never mentioned another boy. He kept his mouth shut to save me from her.
“I need you to be okay with this,” I said, since he was so resistant to the marriage. “If not for Pops, we would still be with Mom and Dad. I can’t go back to Haven. I can’t go back to her.”
Our mother started abusing me when I was old enough to understand that getting locked in a dark closet without food and water for days was not normal. Aiden didn’t care what he had to give up to leave that hellhole, but he hated that, once again, I had to pay the price for our mother’s mistakes.
“We’re never going back there,” Aiden promised, guiding me toward my school-assigned locker. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. But I don’t want you marrying one of those assholes.”
“What if I pick Marcello?”
He shrugged. “He’s okay, I guess. But we don’t know him. Don’t let that pretty face fool you. The Salvatores are fucking snakes. This marriage benefits them more than you.”
Our grandfather hadn’t disclosed why this marriage was so important. But it had something to do with our family owing the Salvatores a favor.
We stopped at my locker, where three Salvatore brothers awaited my arrival.
Damian leaned against a locker, arms folded over his chest. His black Astor Prep jacket was open, and a gold tie dangled loosely around his neck.
Thinner than the other three, his pale skin made his blood-red lips stand out.
A shiver rushed down my spine as his green eyes locked with mine. Damian looked like a vampire prince and not the sparkly kind. He was more like one of the hot brothers from that TV show our mother never let us watch.
Bastian stood beside him, shoving a hand through his dark caramel hair as his gray eyes focused on me. Luca glared at me like an annoying pest he wanted to stomp beneath his expensive dress shoes.
Aiden’s locker was on the opposite side of the school. The Salvatores had influence at Astor Prep and ensured we never shared a single class or lunch period.
So Aiden couldn’t protect me. I was on my own with these three.
I smiled and flicked my curls over my shoulder. “Good morning.”
Kill them with kindness, my grandfather had said the night before. Don’t let them get under your skin. Those boys are like pit bulls. You stare them in the face until they back down.
Being raised in a sheltered environment didn’t make me stupid or naive. Although the Salvatore brothers were monsters, I saw them for what they were and would not let them affect me.
No one said hello to me.
That was fine.
At least I tried.
Ignoring their hardened stares, I slipped between Bastian and Damian. I entered the numbers on the locker keypad and unlocked the door. What a vast improvement from my last school. Everything here was digital and barely required any physical books.
Aiden placed my messenger bag on the top shelf, blocking Damian and Luca from my path. He was used to getting picked on for being poor, so he did what he knew best and went after the biggest bully first.
Aiden got in Luca’s face. “If you hurt her, I will kill you.”
Luca didn’t flinch.
A sexy but creepy smirk tugged at his mouth. “And how do you plan to do that, Wellington? You can’t cut every class without jeopardizing your future at RISD.”
The Salvatores’ connections at the Rhode Island School of Design opened doors. It was my dream school.
After my therapist suggested I try art to cope with all the trauma, I fell in love with painting. Aiden took up sculpting, and it turned out he was really fucking good.
While other kids our age attended parties, our mother locked us in the house, leaving us plenty of time to obsess over attending RISD, planning our escape. But after I got an early rejection, my dreams seemed impossible until our grandfather adopted us.
Marrying a Salvatore was worth it. Or so I told myself every day, especially when they were at their worst.