24. Vani
24
VANI
I t’s only the following morning that I realize I gave no thought to asking after my sister the entire time I was with the Vipers. All thought of Reagan had gone out of my head. I can’t help feeling guilty about that. My mom had sent me looking for her with her dying breath, and I’d completely forgotten the first moment a hot guy had shown me his cock.
Okay, three hot guys, but that’s not the point.
They completely distracted me from my mission, and I can’t let that happen again.
Besides, I still have the folder I took from the dean’s office, and, upon inspecting its contents, I discover Reagan was made to sign for her room here. So now, not only do I know what her signature looks like, I also have her room number
And she’s in West House.
I’m excited about her proximity. It’s all I can do to stop myself from rushing through the building to find her room and bang on the door and announce who I am. But I remember my mom’s warnings, and I know I have to be more cautious. It still doesn’t stop me from looking at the faces of every girl I pass, wondering if they might be Reagan. I probably look like a freak, gawping at everyone. I’m also walking somewhat cautiously. I’ve never had that much attention between my legs before, and I’m feeling the effects of it today. They only used their fingers and mouths on me, and I wonder if I’ll be bedbound if I ever give in and fuck them. Likely, if Zane gets that monster of his near me.
Not that I’m thinking about doing such a thing, of course. I’m not thinking about it when the familiar tingling starts up at my core, and I’m not thinking about it when I have to squeeze my thighs together while I’m in class, and I’m definitely not thinking about it when I spot the back of Zane’s head as he walks down the hall.
My heart beats faster at the sight of him, but I hang back and press myself to a bank of lockers, not wanting to be seen.
I have zero experience in this situation. What am I supposed to do? Act as though nothing has happened between us? Will he even acknowledge me, or will he just look straight past me? I haven’t seen either of the twins yet, and I’m grateful for that. Unless I get a good look at them, I won’t know if I’m speaking to Lex or Saint. I’m so confused about them. I’d thought Saint was the decent guy, and Lex was the asshole, but after last night, I’m doubting everything.
I sit through my classes, simultaneously watching for any hint that someone might be my sister, or know my sister, and also being hugely aware of the possibility of running into any of the Vipers. Each time I think I spot one of them, adrenaline kicks through my veins, and I’m left spun out and breathless.
Lunchtime arrives, and I force myself to go to the cafeteria. I can’t live on vending machine food the entire time I’m here. The cafeteria is a bustling mass of students, and, just like any time I come across people here, I scan their faces, hoping I’ll see something in one of the girls’ faces that I’ll recognize. I know it’s stupid, but a part of me is expecting Reagan to be my twin, like I’ll find her, and we’ll stare at each other like we’re both looking in a mirror. That’s not going to happen, though. Not only does she have a different dad, but she also grew up in a completely different lifestyle than mine.
The thought makes me wonder about her life growing up. Has she been happy? Mom said that Jarl Olsen was a terrible man, that he raped her and then threatened to kill her baby—something that breaks my heart every time I think about it. My mom never gave me any clue that she’d gone through something so traumatic, though now I think back, there were often times I’d find her sitting, staring out into nothing, with her eyes teary. Had she been thinking about her stolen daughter? What kind of father would Jarl Olsen have made? Had he cherished Reagan, or had he sent her off to places like this so he wouldn’t have to deal with her?
My stomach growls, reminding me where I am. I’m starving. I have to admit the food provided looks to be far better than anything I’ve had at school before, but that’s hardly surprising considering the insane fee the students’ families are paying for them to go here. On that kind of money, we should be eating smoked salmon and caviar for every meal.
I go to the pasta bar, joining the line, select a tray, then pile my dish with penne. Then I add a scoop of cheese sauce and some bacon bits. I finish it off with a side of broccoli, so I don’t feel like I’m being completely unhealthy.
A male voice comes from my side—one I don’t recognize. He’s speaking in that way people do when they’re pretending they don’t want to be heard, while clearly intending for the person to hear.
“She might want to skip the cheese sauce and bacon.”
His friend laughs. “She might want to skip the pasta, too.”
“I bet someone like her puts on weight even if she just ate the broccoli.”
They snigger together, and my cheeks burn. I’m frozen on the spot, my tray balanced in my hands. I want to vanish. I’m sure everyone has heard, even though such a thing is impossible.
My weight has never been something I’ve been particularly conscious of. I’m aware that I have curves, but I’m normally confident in my own skin. Plenty of the biker girls are curvy, and those men seem to like their women with more than a handful to spare. Here, though, I stand out. I’m not tall and model thin like most of the other girls, and the skin I have is covered in tats. It’s no wonder they’re singling me out.
I draw as much inner strength as I can find and force myself to lift my chin and face them.
“Did you have something you wanted to say to me?”
They exchange a glance, and the first guy clears his throat. I see that moment when the lesser side of his nature wins, and just before he speaks his mouth kicks up in a smirk. “Yeah. You might want to think about the salad bar instead of the pasta bar.”
I grit my teeth. “And why is that?” I hold his gaze and put as much confidence into my voice as I can.
He seems flustered now. He doesn’t like being forced to say it directly to my face. Everyone is looking, too, and the low chatter that had been filling the air has died away. All focus is on us.
“Well,” he says, and gestures up and down my body, “’cause you’re kind of fat.”
I lift my tray, literally about to throw my food in his face, but I don’t get the chance.
A huge fist comes flying from out of nowhere and slams into the guy’s jaw. I stagger backward, somehow managing to keep my tray balanced, as Zane’s massive form fills the space between me and the guy who just insulted me.
The cafeteria erupts in hoots and cheers.
“What the fuck, dude?” the guy exclaims, then he lifts his own tray and takes a swing at Zane.
Mistake. Big mistake.
Despite his size, Zane ducks, avoiding the tray. The guy’s eyes go wide as Zane wrenches it out of his hands, and then uses it to smash him across the head. The tray splits in two, and the crack it makes echoes through the air.
The strangest part of all this is that Zane remains completely silent. In a normal fight, there would be growls and shouts, and insults thrown, but the only noise Zane makes is that of his heavy breathing and the squeak of his shoes on the floor.
The guy goes down heavily. He’s bleeding from the nose where Zane punched him, and now a trickle of blood runs from his hairline.
While Zane doesn’t have a voice, I find mine. “Stop!” I cry. “That’s enough.”
But he ignores me. He lifts one booted foot and slams it into the guy’s ribs. My insulter gives an ‘oof’ of pain and curls into the fetal position, trying to protect himself. Some kind of red wall of rage has descended over Zane, and he doesn’t look as though he has any intention of stopping. He’ll keep kicking this asshole until no more air can enter his lungs.
“Zane! Quit it!”
The shout drags my attention away from the fight. The twins come flying across the cafeteria, one of them leaping a table, the other shoving people out of the way. The fight has created a crowd of onlookers.
Lex and Saint reach Zane at the same time, and they launch themselves at him. Zane is built like a brick wall, but the twins aren’t exactly small either. They grab his arms and drag him away from the bloodied man still curled on the floor.
One of the twins turns to me, though I’m not sure which one. It takes me a moment to assess his clothes, and try to spot the mole on his neck, and then I realize it’s Lex.
“What the fuck happened?” he asks.
I blink, my head spinning. What the fuck did happen?
“I-I think Zane overheard that guy calling me fat.”
The twin’s blue eyes widen. “He what?” Then they darken a shade. “I should kill him.”
Saint turns to me. “All three of us should fucking kill him.”
Despite a big part of me loving the way they are defending me, I know I have to put a stop to this scene. This is the last thing I need. My plan here had been to keep my head down and not be noticed, so I could find my sister without it getting back to either her or her father. Now, everyone is staring at me.
I put my hands up in a stop sign. “No, please. He’s been punished enough. He won’t be doing it again.”
They consider my words, and Zane simply stands there, breathing heavily and looking magnificent. Saint nods once, and I sigh in relief.
Lex throws me a smirk. “Looks like you owe us again, Venom. We’ll let you know the time and place.”
My jaw drops open, because I hardly asked for their help, but I don’t get the chance to respond.
A shout comes from the other side of the cafeteria. A ripple runs through the gathered crowd. Shit, it’s one of the faculty—not Nathaniele, but one of the math teachers.
“Get the hell out of here,” Lex says to me.
I still haven’t had my lunch, but I set the tray down and move. I don’t want to get caught up in some shit when it’s only my third day. I can just imagine my father’s reaction when he gets that phone call. The one promise I made to my dad was that I wouldn’t get in any trouble, and I’ve already broken that promise. If he found out I’d been the root cause of a fight, and that I was involved with men like the Vipers, he and the rest of the MC would be back here like a shot.
I scamper off glancing back over my shoulder to find everyone else doing the same. My guess is everyone will insist they didn’t see anything. Even the guy bleeding on the floor will probably say he fell. These kids come from crime families. One thing they know is that no one likes a narc.
I make it out into the hallway, but I’m stopped by the girls I met the previous day—Angelica, Faith, and Jarena.
“Oh, my God. Are you okay?” Angelica says, her eyes wide. “You were right next to the fight. Did you see what happened?”
I breathe a sigh of relief. So, it wasn’t obvious that the fight started because of me. That’s good. I don’t want people asking questions of me, and I definitely don’t want anyone knowing I’m involved with the Vipers. Not that I am involved with them—not on a relationship level, anyway. They blackmailed me, and I had no choice but to go along with it, but that was all. It’s just physical.
But then why did Zane react like that when he overheard some asshole calling me fat?
I might partly love that he is so protective, but I don’t need him standing up for me. I had it handled myself. All he’s done is cause a scene, and that’s the last thing I want. I’ve grown up surrounded by big men who think they need to protect me, but I can look after myself. I don’t examine the fact that Zane being a big man who protects me makes me feel a little safer here being away from the club. I tell myself I’m an independent woman now.
“No, I didn’t,” I tell her. “One minute I was trying to get my lunch, and the next that big guy was punching someone.”
I feel a little guilty for making out like Zane was completely unprovoked.
“That big guy is Zane Rokos,” the other girl, Jarena, says. “He’s a complete freak. Seriously. He doesn’t speak ’cause he was attacked by someone his father had pissed off before he started here. I think that was part of the reason for sending Zane here, to get him away from what happened. But he’s had multiple reconstructive surgeries on his throat now, and he still can’t talk. He got an infection after one of them, and it made things worse. I don’t know for sure what happened, but he can barely make a damn sound now, and I think if he even tries, it’s incredibly painful for him.”
I pull what I hope will be an expression of sympathy. “Jeez, poor guy.”
Angelica places her hand on my arm. “Don’t feel sorry for him. Seriously, he’s a complete psycho. You saw what he did in there. He’s been known to do worse, too.”
I look between them. “Like what?”
“You don’t want to know. You just started here, and I don’t want to scare you off. Hey, have you had any lunch?”
I shake my head. “No, I abandoned it.”
I do want to know what Zane did, but asking will make them suspicious, and I can’t have anyone find out I’ve been messing around with those men.
Angelica links her arm through mine. “Come with us, then. We’ll order something in from one of the delis in Arbington.”
“Arbington? Is that the town nearby.”
“Yeah,” Jarena says, sliding herself in on the other side of me. I notice Faith is hanging back a little. “There’s not much there, but you can get food, and there’s a small movie theatre. It helps break things up when you get sick of looking at Verona Falls’ four walls.”
She’s helped answer some questions for me without me even needing to ask them. “We’re allowed to leave the grounds?” I check.
The thought of having the freedom to get on my bike and ride the roads around here lightens something inside me. The Adirondacks are known for their beauty, and what better way to take in the scenery than on my bike?
Jarena gives a light laugh. “Of course, dummy. We’re not prisoners here. The high fences and security are to keep people out, not keep us in.”
Angelica arches a perfectly laminated eyebrow. “I don’t know. There are a few people in here who I think should be locked up.”
Jarena giggles. “Let’s go and find a bench in the sun and wait for our food to arrive.”
“How will the delivery person get past all the security?” I ask.
“They won’t,” Faith says from behind me. “They’ll have to leave it at the gate. One of the security team will inspect it, and then have it brought to us.”
“Oh, right.” I’m not sure how I feel about someone pawing through our food before we get it, but now I’m hungry enough not to care.
We step out of the building into the sunshine. Thoughts of Zane defending me, and also what Lex said to me just before everyone ran, threaten to crowd my mind, but I push them away.
I glance around at my new friends and find myself smiling. I’ve never been one to have a group of girlfriends, and now Angelica and her gang seem to have taken me under their wing. I wonder if they know Reagan but decide not to push things too quickly. I need to know I can trust someone before I start asking questions. I can make sure I do this right.
I have plenty of time.