Chapter 8 – Olivia
OLIVIA
On my first day of school, I woke up to Lovelace calling my name, telling me it was time to wake up. She was a bitchy little AI diva. But she came in handy. If she hadn’t ripped me from another nightmare, I would have overslept.
After sleeping on the ground for months, the mattress was softer than a cloud. A little slice of heaven. I’d taken for granted so many simple life pleasures. And now that I had this dream life, I didn’t want to throw it all away.
I wanted Drake to keep me.
Forever.
I held onto the hope that one day he would see me as worthy. He’d already given me his time and attention, but I wanted everything.
With Tate at Marine Corps boot camp, the house felt colder than usual. It was bulletproof glass, providing the perfect view of the bay from all angles. The Battle Fortress lived up to its name and felt like something from a movie.
Lights turned on as I walked through the house, guiding the way. Drake had programmed Lovelace to do this so I wouldn’t get lost. In a home of this size, that was easy to do.
On the dining room table, the chefs had prepared baskets of bread, pastries, and various carafes of juices, along with coffee. At the head of the table sat a plate covered by a stainless steel cloche. Beside it, there was a handwritten note.
Liv,
I had planned to drive you to school for your first day, but something came up at Battle Industries. Carmella will take you to Astor Prep and pick you up.
You will do great.
Don’t be scared.
Call me if you need anything.
~ Drake
I was about to text him on the fancy new iPhone he’d given me to ask who Carmella was. And then, I heard a woman’s voice behind me. She didn’t sound like a computer-generated person.
“Good morning, Olivia.”
I spun around and found a gorgeous blonde in her early twenties with curly hair down to her hips, huge breasts spilling out of a low-cut top, and a short skirt that hugged her slim waist. She was a vision, like a model from a magazine.
In a pair of expensive pumps, her legs looked even slimmer, her body shaped in all the right places.
Meanwhile, I looked like me.
Average.
Plain.
Nothing special.
Of course, Drake would be involved with someone like her. I was so stupid to think he would ever see me as anything but his ward—his responsibility.
“Hi,” I said, nearly choking on a bite of buttered toast. “You must be Carmella.”
“I am.” She moved toward me, flashing a smile. “It’s so nice to meet you. Drake has told me a great deal about you and Tate. It’s a shame I didn’t get the chance to meet him before he shipped out for boot camp.”
Funny, he never mentioned you.
I wanted to scream. Cry. Throw a fucking hissy fit. Here, I had been planning this imaginary life with Drake in my head, and he was already taken.
“I was on vacation for the past week. Otherwise, I would have been here to greet you both. I’m Drake’s assistant. If you ever need anything, just ask.”
I finished the toast and downed a cup of coffee in two gulps. Already running behind, I needed to get my ass in gear. I knew firsthand how much it sucked to be the new girl at school. All the awkward stares. The whispers behind your back. Rumors that spread faster than smoke in the wind.
“I’m ready to go,” I said, slinging a backpack over my shoulder.
Carmella tilted her head. “Follow me.”
We strolled down one of the many long hallways that seemed endless.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to follow the lights illuminating the floor because Carmella knew where she was going.
She led me through a side entrance and into a covered parking garage.
The space housed at least two dozen exotic cars, armored trucks, and SUVs, as well as a handful of luxury cars.
Carmella flipped open a wall panel and grabbed a key fob. She clicked the button, and the brake lights of a Maserati flashed. “We’ll take this one. It’s my favorite.”
“Does Drake let you drive all of his cars?”
She nodded. “What’s his is mine.”
My blood boiled in my veins at her response. He’d said something similar to me last week. A part of me felt entitled to Drake, like he belonged to me. But in reality, I was his ward for the year.
I slid into the passenger seat and pulled on a seatbelt, tucking my bag between my legs.
Carmella got behind the wheel and started the engine, her flowery perfume filling the space.
Her hair was so long that she gathered it in her hand and tossed it over her shoulder.
Otherwise, she would have been sitting on it.
Flawless and perfect, she was everything I wanted to be.
“I went to Astor Prep,” Carmella said, flooring the gas pedal out of the garage, racing down a strip of asphalt toward the front gate. “You’ll love it.”
“Did Drake go here, too?”
She laughed. “No, Drake is way too smart for this school. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Astor Prep is one of the finest high schools in the state.
Only the children of the elite can afford to attend.
But Drake is…” A dreamy smile spread across her face.
“He’s not like the rest of us. Drake is brilliant.
A genius. Did you know he has a 182 IQ?”
I shook my head. “No, but I can tell he’s intelligent. That was one of the first things I noticed about him.”
“Drake is not like other people. By the time he was your age, he was already working on his doctoral degree in bioengineering.”
“Wow,” I muttered. “That’s wild.”
“He’s already changing the world with that big, beautiful brain of his. Just wait and see. In a few years from now, Battle Industries will take over the world.”
Carmella was the ultimate fangirl. I could see how much she admired him written all over her face, and hear it in her voice. She loved him. Jealousy stirred in my chest, causing my insides to ache.
“How long have you worked for Drake?”
“Oh, let’s see.” She flew off the property as the tall wrought-iron gates opened for us. “About four years now. Drake was your age.”
“He doesn’t seem that young.”
“No,” she agreed. “He looked in his mid-twenties when I interviewed for the job. Acted like it, too.”
I leaned my elbow on the armrest, glancing at my companion. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-three. Only two years older than Drake.”
She took a sharp right turn off Founders Way and darted down a steep hill toward another guarded gate that walled off this part of Devil’s Creek from the other homes.Carmella pointed out the window.
“That small coastal community to the right of Devil’s Creek is Beacon Bay.
Half of the town has million-dollar homes.
Kingston University is also on the north side.
But on the south side, it’s mostly run-down houses, apartment buildings, and factories.
A few gangs and mafia families lived over there. ”
“Oh, I’m familiar. I used to live there with my mom and brother when I was younger.”
“On what side?”
“North,” I said proudly. “But my mom lost everything when I was five.”
“That’s a shame you had to grow up that way. You’re so lucky Drake found you when he did. He mentioned that you and Tate almost starved.”
What else did he tell her?
This woman seemed to know way too much about me. Yet, this was the first time I had ever heard about her. My mind raced with dozens of petty thoughts. Why didn’t Drake tell me about her? Why did he spring her on me at the last second?
“You should be grateful,” Carmella said in a sharp tone. “Men like Drake Battle have a lot to offer. Many people have taken advantage of his generosity. You would be wise to appreciate every gift he’s given you.”
Her words had an edge to them. Like she thought I should be on my hands and knees praising Drake for taking mercy on me. In some regards, I should have done precisely that.
Drake was my hero.
My white knight.
My savior.
I owed him everything.
“I’m very grateful,” I told Carmella. “I don’t need a reminder.”
At that, she snapped her head at me. The muscles in her face tightened for a second. I expected her to shoot back with a clever retort. Or another reminder that I was Drake’s charity case and was lucky to walk on his pristine marble floors and share his dinner table.
For the rest of the ride, we remained silent. No more small talk or pleasantries. From the outside, Devil’s Creek looked like any other uber-wealthy neighborhood. Sprawling mansions with manicured lawns, shrubs trimmed into odd shapes.
Neighbors waved to each other as they stepped outside to collect the daily newspapers. Kids climbed into their mother’s high-priced SUVs. People walked their dogs.
As we arrived at Astor Prep, students drove onto the gated property, driving cars that cost well over a hundred thousand dollars.
Through the window, I watched hot guys lean against their vehicles.
A few girls sat on the tailgate of a truck wearing skirts, their long legs dangling off the side.
Football players wearing Astor Prep black and gold uniforms threw a ball to each other.
“I’ll drop you off here.”
Carmella pulled up behind a few other parked cars and held out her palm. “Let me see your phone.”
I reached into my bag and handed it to her. Her fingers sped across the keypad, and then she gave it back to me.
“I programmed my number. Call if there’s a problem.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her. “Why would you think that?”
She eyed my freshly pressed uniform, the light dusting of makeup on my face, and my new haircut. Drake had spared no expense for my makeover, transforming me from a gutter rat to a lost heiress.
“The kids at this school can be cruel if you’re not from one of the well-known families. You don’t have Drake’s last name, which would have gone a long way here. But you have access to his wealth. I suggest you use that to every advantage, or you won’t survive the year.”
My stomach twisted into knots, the toast in my belly ready to make a reappearance on the floor of this expensive car.