Chapter 2
Chapter Two
WILLA
T he buzz in the crowd fills the air as they chant my brother's name. I’ve been on to him for a few weeks now. If he thinks I hadn’t seen the marks on his face or the bruises on his side, he is sadly mistaken, but that is Rich. My twin always tries to protect me, and with that comes secrets. It is starting to feel like everyone in my life is keeping secrets from me. It is their way of trying to protect me.
All it does is isolate me. It makes me feel alone and even broken. That I am not strong enough to face reality. That I should be kept in a box. They all think the same of me, that I’m Willa, the bookworm who spends far too much time in her head. Except keeping me in that box only makes that so much more true. Now I know I have to get myself out of it. I have to stop letting people put me where they think I belong.
I decided recently that I no longer want to be who people assume I am. That I am going to do and say whatever the heck I want for once in my life. Rebel a little even.
But now that I’m pressing into Vasily King’s side, I’m wondering if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. I only came here in hopes of getting a peek. I have now landed myself in the deep end only knowing how to doggy paddle.
It doesn’t go unnoticed how people hurriedly get out of Vasily's way. He doesn’t have to say he’s the one in charge. Everyone else's actions around him show that. They all give me curious expressions as we pass by. I can tell they’re wondering who I am.
What's strange to me is that, despite having grown up on this island, I don't recognize many people. When we get to the front, I see my brother stepping into the ring. He shifts his gaze from Vasily to me. I don’t miss the way he clenches his fists.
He mouths the word fuck, but the crowd is too loud to hear it. His eyes dart around me, and I know he's likely wondering where Teddy is. I try to turn to find her myself, but I can't with Vasily having me tucked so tight into his side.
"Hey." I push on his chest. "My friend." I push harder, and he turns his head back toward the crowd. I'm sure he can see over everyone. He tenses, and I try to follow his line of sight, but it's useless.
"Teddy!" I hear my brother roar over the crowd.
"Move!" Vasily barks, his hand wrapping around my wrist before he's moving back through the crowd again.
"What's happening?" I shout to Vasily, but he keeps moving, his hold on me unbreakable but somehow gentle too. My heart is beating a mile a minute.
When we break through the crowd, I see my uncle West. Where the hell did he come from? He lifts his leg, kicking in a door. It explodes inward. There is only one reason he'd be here. Teddy. He has an obsession with her.
The two of them have been sneaking around in secret since he came to the island shortly after my father died. I knew about them. Teddy and I don't keep much from each other. I didn't even know I had an uncle before he arrived, but it wasn't shocking. I am always left in the dark.
I have to run to keep up with Vasily as he begins to move closer to the room my uncle entered. I gasp when we get inside and I see West hitting someone. He doesn’t even stop when the person falls to the floor.
He’s on top of him, throwing blow after blow. My brother rushes into the room, and he and Vasily both have to pull him off. They pin him to the wall, but West still fights them to get back to the person on the ground.
I look down at them and realize that it is Derrick. I gasp, putting my hand over my mouth. He goes to school with us. Teddy appears to be in shock. It’s the first time I’ve seen her look afraid.
I want to go to her, but Vasily pins me with a stare that lets me know to keep my butt in place until they get the situation under control. Well, get my uncle under control, that is.
It doesn’t go unnoticed by me how my body reacts to his glare either. For someone who has been going on about rebelling, I’m finding that I like when Vasily tells me what to do.
“Teddy! Help us here,” my brother shouts to her. She breaks out of whatever haze she was in and rushes over to them.
“West.” The second my uncle sees her, he starts to calm down. You can see the effect she has on him. “Let him go.” They slowly release their hold on West, and he pulls Teddy into him. She tells him over and over that she is okay.
Derrick groans from the ground. He has had a crush on Teddy for a while. But he has banged almost every girl at our school, and I think it irked him that Teddy wouldn't give him the time of day.
Every time he saw her, he would try to persuade her to go out with him or flirt. He ignored me for the most part, but when your brother is Rich Haven, it was that or deal with him.
Derrick coughs and tries to rub his eyes, only to smear them with blood. I cringe, stepping back and running into a hard body.
“You okay, Princess?” I nod my head at Vasily’s question.
I want to ask Teddy if she is okay, but I can tell right now she is not only taken care of but is taking care of West too. I’m happy for her. Teddy is always making sure everyone is okay. West is good for her, but I know things are going to change. Things have been changing since my father's death.
“Take him to the mainland,” Vasily tells two men who have stepped into the room. They follow his order without question. The men pick up a bloodied Derrick and drag him out of the room. The door falls closed behind them, leaving Vasily, West, my brother, Teddy, and me. “I’ll clean this up.” Everyone looks to Vasily.
“Why?” West asks him.
“I have my reasons.” Vasily glances over to me, making my stomach dip. He’s cleaning this up for me? Why would he do that?
“I don’t want him back on this island.” The coldness in West’s tone is chilling. But how can you just order someone not to come around? I’m sure it was all self-defense on West’s part anyway. Teddy wasn’t alone in this room with Derrick of her own free will, meaning Derrick dragged her in here, and I don’t want to think of what he was going to do.
“He won’t be,” Vasily says as though his word is law, making me believe he is a lot more powerful and has a way bigger reach than just running this fight thing. I don’t even know what you call it, but I know it’s not legal. I really have jumped off the deep end here. I have to admit, even though it’s a bit scary, it’s also exciting. A feeling I haven’t had in a very long time, and I can see myself getting addicted to it.
“What the fuck are you two even doing here?” Rich glares at me and then turns to Teddy. Oh, like he has room to talk.
“Watch it.”
“Don’t speak to her in that tone.” Both Vasily and West speak at the same time.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now? That’s my sister, and she is pretty much my sister too. This is exactly why they shouldn’t have been down here.”
“I take responsibility,” Vasily says. “This is my operation, and no one should have been able to get into one of these rooms, let alone without one of my men seeing it.”
“If you can be here, I can be here too,” I fire back at my brother. I'm done with him attempting to control any portion of my life.
“You won’t come back here.” I go to tell him I can do what I want, but Vasily beats me to it.
“Enough!” he roars. For once, my brother actually keeps his mouth shut, but I'm guessing he wants to continue fighting here. I assume that Vasily serves as his boss in some capacity. Still, my brother and I glare at each other. The whole room goes quiet. “Go, you have to wrap up or you won’t be back here.”
My brother stands there for a half beat before he storms out of the room. I know I'll hear about it when I get home, but for once, I don't care. I never make waves or do anything I’m not supposed to. I’m eighteen now. Everyone else is growing up and starting their lives. I should get to do the same. I’m not here telling everyone else what to do.
“You ready?” Teddy asks me. West is still keeping her close.
“You’re not going with West?” I ask. He won't let her out of his sight. The man showed up to our school once.
“You both can come with me,” West says.
“We drove here,” I point out. “And I don’t drive, so I can’t drive it back.” Teddy's car is parked outside, and I am the world's worst driver.
“I’ll handle your car.” West places a possessive hold on Teddy’s hip, making it clear to her that where she goes, he will be going.
“No one will touch it, and I’ll take Willa home,” Vasily says, moving closer to me. I want to stay. If I go home, I’ll just be up in my room all alone. I spend most of my time alone in my room these days. I don’t want to be by myself again tonight, but I’m also not sure if I should be hanging out with the likes of Vasily. I don’t even know him. Yet I can feel this unexplainable pull to him.
“She can come with us,” Teddy pushes, her gaze focused on Vasily. Untrusting. I find it endearing that she is that way when it comes to me. I can’t really be upset with her for worrying over my safety. Vasily is a stranger. I mean a very, very hot one but still a stranger.
“I want to stay,” I tell her, knowing I’m going to win this one. Just a few hours ago, she and I were discussing how things are changing and how I should have the freedom to make my own decisions. Everyone needs to stop making assumptions about how I should live my life.
“Your brother will lose his mind,” she points out.
“I can do what I want.”
Teddy nods. “All right, but I want his number.” She points to Vasily.
“Give me your phone, Princess.” I pull it out, unlocking it before handing it to him. I watch as he pulls up Teddy in my messages and sends her his number. “Now you have it too.” Heat rushes to my cheeks as he hands me back my phone. He wants me to have his number.
I give Teddy a hug and tell West bye, leaving Vasily and me all alone.