Chapter Twenty-Seven
TOREN
The plan this morning was to get under Xaden’s skin by wearing Vox’s old playing jersey from when he played as the QB at Haven Prep.
Carnage said wearing another man’s number would tip him over the edge and the fact the guys had his jersey on hand was a bonus.
I just hope Nova doesn’t lose her mind if she finds out I’m wearing her man’s name across my back.
I was gleeful at Xaden’s reaction and thought I executed my part perfectly.
I knew he wouldn’t expect me to show up at school after what he did, but I need to be unpredictable and being here is doing that.
It’s fucking hard to be in his presence, knowing what he did but I have—no, I need to do this.
Kellan trusted me. He told me the truth about what he was doing and gave me the intel I needed to have a chance at surviving this war.
I’m doing this in his memory. I just need to remind my pussy to stop clenching and getting wet every time I see the asshole who murdered my friend in front of me to teach me a lesson.
I was doing so well until I heard my brother shout my name.
Masen’s eyes are red-rimmed and bloodshot, telling me he’s been crying.
His blond hair is disheveled. He’s still in his uniform and has clearly come straight here from practice.
His team mates try to grab their captain but he shrugs them off, he’s wild and too unhinged to hear reason. He’s coming straight for me.
I don’t cower. I straighten my spine and keep my head high as I meet his furious look.
I can see the truth in my brother's eyes. He hates me and is here to cause me harm. If he wants to fight, then so be it, I’ll go down swinging.
Before he can reach me, Harp tries to step in front to shield me but I shake my head, forcing her to remain where she is.
Masen lifts his arm and I fight not to flinch, thinking he is about to strike but he presses his forearm against my throat and drives me backward until I collide with the lockers behind me.
My head bounces from the force and I grunt in pain.
Harper screams for him to stop and let me go.
Cas is there holding her back, refusing to let her come to my aide.
When I spot Maddison rushing toward me to help out of the corner of my other eye, my heart warms, but Xaden cuts her off and mimics Cas's move, holding her back, leaving me to face my brother on my own.
Good.
It’s about time he and I had this out. I’m not weak anymore.
I know how to get out from beneath him but choose to remain where I am, giving him the illusion of control.
He bends so he is right in my face, the hatred I’m seeing in his eyes burns like acid.
I may be furious at him and want to sever all ties to him and my father, but it still hurts to see that look in his eyes.
No matter how much you prepare or think you are ready for the person you once loved more than anything in the world to turn on you, you never will be.
My own flesh and blood looking at me like he wants to tear me in half and piss on my corpse, it stings like a blade slicing through my flesh but like a cut, that wound will heal and so will my heartache.
“You killed my best friend!” he roars and spittle hits my face. “You left him there on the ice!”
His arm presses against my throat harder but I don’t let the pain show. If he thinks he can come in here and place blame on me, then he can fuck right off with his holier than thou attitude.
“What are you talking about—”
“I saw the photos!”
I flick my eyes to the side and the look on Xaden’s face tells me all I need to know. He set this up. He got photos of Kellan to my brother, and now Masen thinks it was me who killed him.
“I didn’t do shit, Mase! Your lies and treachery killed your best friend,” I scream in his face, then cringe when I realize everyone is recording and that shit can never hit the web or we’ll both be fucked.
“Delete that shit now!” Xaden roars. Fucking prick is willing to save me from going viral but not from being manhandled by my brother.
“You just started something you can’t finish. I'm going to let all of the men take turns on you before I get you so hooked on heroin that you’ll be turning tricks on a corner just to fund your habit, that is supplied by me.”
I harden my resolve and blank my face of all emotion as I meet his stare. “Your reign is coming to an end, Brother. When I cut off the head of the fucking snake, I’m taking his throne.” Masen’s brows draw in.
“You fucking killed him just so he would give you the location of Walter House so—”
I cut the dense prick off. “I didn’t need him for that.
I already knew where to go, remember? You and Dad locked me up there so I would take the rap for you!
” I yell. His eyes widen and he increases the force of his hold on me.
Tired of this shit, I do what Carn taught me and go slack, allowing his forearm to bear the brunt of my weight which throws him off balance and has him tipping forward.
His hold shifts to the left. I bring my arm up and shove him to the side, making him stumble.
Before he can right himself, I grip the back of his head and slam it into the lockers.
I use my grip on his hair to turn him toward me, then release him and deliver an uppercut to the underside of his jaw that has him roaring in pain.
I’m not done. I strike out and kick him right in the dick.
An agonizing cry of pain erupts from him as he drops to his knees.
I spy Darren stepping forward, then snap my head to the side to shoot him a scathing look.
“Give me a single fucking reason, Parker, and I’ll drop your ass right beside my brother.
” He steps back and drops his gaze to the floor.
I focus back on Masen, who is cupping his cock and whimpering like a little girl.
I loom over my brother, loving the shift in power and being above him.
He tips his head back and sneers. I crouch down in front of him and beam at the weak bastard.
“I want you to hear me clearly. I am going to say this once. I am coming for this family. I am coming for the Cosa Nostra. And I’m coming for you!
You are not my salvation, Brother. You are a part of what I’m here to take down and take for myself.
The only difference between you and them is it’ll hurt to watch you fall. But it won’t stop me.”
I push to my feet and turn on my heel to face Xaden who stands there with his arm wrapped around a seething Maddison’s waist. He looks like a thunderstorm ready to erupt and wreak havoc on the Earth.
I say nothing as I stalk past him. I ignore the whispers and looks from the others as I make my way to my first class. It’s about damn fucking time that I embrace who the fuck I am, and today is that day.
I’ll no longer be a victim to Xaden’s mind games.
I won’t allow him to use the hold he has over my body against me.
I need to lock my feelings for him down and remember he is the enemy, just like my father and Masen.
I drew a line in the sand and showed them that I am now a contender in this war.
When we come for them and cut off their supplies, they won’t have to look far.
They will know it’s me that dared to fuck with them and that notion is exhilarating.
I feel strong and for the first time in a really long time, I actually feel hopeful that I will be able to get my life back and be free of all the deceit and backstabbing from both sides.
By the end of the day I’m exhausted and ready to get home and sleep, but then I remember I have a shift at the library.
I drag my feet the whole way to work and wish I could have had the day off, but I need the money.
Halo told me I need to always hope for the best but expect the worst and if this plan blows up in my face, I’m going to need money to run.
Harper calls out and waves to me as she climbs in the back of her Uber.
I wave back and silently brood that she gets to go home while I’m stuck here.
At least when I finish tonight I don’t have to catch a ride or walk.
Carnage said that I could use their car and they would pick up a new one today.
He didn’t even bat an eye at forking out more money for another car, he just said it so casually, making me think these brothers must be well off.
When I step inside the library I slow to a stop and frown.
The lights are off and there isn’t anyone here.
Maddy isn’t behind the desk. I purse my lips and walk through the stacks of books, inhaling the musty scent and wishing I was born into a different family so I would be able to go to college and learn how to restore the old stories in the back office, breathing new life back into them.
I knock on the office before I push it open thinking Maddison might be in here, but the room is dark and empty.
“What the fuck,” I breathe out. “Maddi—” The remainder of her name dies on my tongue when I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My shoulders droop and I exhale in tiredness. “I’m not in the mood for your shit. Where is Maddison?” I grit out in an angry tone.
I stiffen when I feel him plaster himself against my back. I don’t move. There’s no point trying to escape, he’s blocking the exit. He reaches around and grips my throat. I close my eyes and will my body to side with my mind and not give into how good it feels to have his hands on me.
I know what he did and I’m disgusted by it, but I can’t shut off how alive he makes me feel.
God, have you ever looked at the sun because of how beautiful it is, even though you know it will burn your eyes?
That’s how it feels with Xaden. I know I’m going to get burnt, yet I can’t fucking look away.
I can’t allow him to fuck with my head any further. He’s already under my skin and that makes fighting against him so fucking hard. For him, killing me would be as easy as breathing, but for me… I would hesitate.
“No one’s around to hear you scream now, Tink,” he says in a gravelly tone that sends shivers down my spine.
He’s the fucking devil. He’s pure evil and he doesn’t hide it.
He’s a nightmare dressed in a glorious package to lull you into believing he could be a dream.
Xaden Devlin is malicious, cunning, cruel and down right cold, but I can’t stay away from him and that’s a fucking problem.
My mind and body are at war with each other.
My body craves him, longs for the next time I’ll feel the heat of his flesh pressed against me and how fucking good it feels to have him inside me, claiming me and marking me as his.
My mind is screaming for me to push him away, tell him to fuck off and that I hate him.
When he bends down and brushes his lips against the shell of my ear, I whimper. I feel him smirk and hate that he gets the satisfaction of knowing what he does to me.
“Looks like you have been keeping things from me, Tink?” He may have whispered the words quietly and tried to veil them as seduction, but I know him. I hear the underlying threat in his tone.
I swallow and attempt to pull out of his hold, but stop when his grip tightens. “I want to leave,” I say quietly.
“And since when do you think I started giving a fuck about what you want?” There it is, the monster I knew was simmering just beneath the surface.
“Let me go,” I grit out.
He bites down on the lobe of my ear, making me cry out.
“I say when you leave and you’re not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck I want to know.
” His hold vanishes and I suck in a deep breath.
He shoves me forward. I catch myself on the edge of the desk and whirl around to face him.
He uses his body to cage me in, placing his hands on either side of me, then bends down.
I grip the edge of the desk for something to keep me grounded.
His eyes appear pitch black in the dark room, while his shadows encircle him and suck me in.
“You're taking the Cosa Nostra down, huh?” He dips his head and buries his face in the crook of my neck, making me gasp.
“You're gonna take it for yourself?” he mutters against my skin, then licks a trail up to my ear.
My breathing is erratic. He shifts until his lips hover over mine, my breath lodging in my throat.
One hand grips my waist while the other wraps around my ponytail. He tugs on it, making me grit my teeth.
“Xaden,” I pant when he trails his hand from my waist and glides it over my pussy.
I can feel the heat of his touch through my jeans and it’s sending shockwaves of need coursing through me, like an electric current.
He pops the button on my jeans one handed like a pro, then pushes his hand inside my pants, making me gasp.
His gaze bores into mine as he pushes my panties to the side, forcing me to widen my legs as need pulses through me.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to beg him to touch me and give me the release I need.
Fuck, I really do need it after the day I’ve had.
The moment he slides his finger through my folds and presses his finger against my clit, I cry out.
He pushes a finger inside me and I moan like a wanton hussy and thrust my hips, needing more.
He darts his tongue out and licks my lips.
“Imagine wanting to kill someone only to spread your legs for them mere hours later.” His words are like a bucket of ice water.
I try to shove him away but he curls his finger inside me, making me weak against his pull.
The fight drains as he continues to finger me. “This cunt belongs to me,” he snarls.
“Oh, fuck,” I cry out.
“I want your cum on my fingers, Tink.”
“Yes,” I pant as I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him in closer so I can kiss him.
We may be at war and want to see each other fall, but in this moment, none of that matters because I need him inside me, so I can feel him once more before the real battle begins.