NEFARIOUS: B723 SERIES BOOK THREE, page 30
It’s absolutely everything.
“I wasted two weeks,” I ground out. “Two.”
“I know.”
“And weeks on my dress for New York fashion week.”
“You got it, Rus. You can—“ My hand cracks across his face, the numbing sensation burning at my palm the next.
I hit him because I’m pissed.
That he should’ve never done it in the first place. You don’t play with people’s lives. I didn’t fuck with his in the way he thought.
“Geezus,” he growls out, flexing his jaw against the same stinging pain I feel against the inside of my hand.
“You got me back into school,” I repeat.
“You said that already,” he glowers back through knitted brows before I mindlessly jump up and wrap my legs around his waist.
His hands immiediately catch me, cupping my ass as I enclose my arms around his neck and nestle my face into the crook of his neck. The stumble on his cheek grazing my mine as I close my eyes against how close and good he feels. His scent is comforting and his strength locking my against his frame creates a safe haven against everything that’s happening.
“You got me back into school.”
“Are you bipolar?” he kicks back and surprisingly does not dropping me to the ground. He lets me hug him, caught up in so many different emotions that I just need a minute.
I need him for a minute.
“Thank you,” I whisper, feeling him shudder slightly and I think I’ve imagined it for moment.
“You’re welcome.”
“But please don’t do it again.”
“Don’t fuck me again, and we’ll be straight.” I pry my face from my makeshift safe space and meet his eyes.
They’re beautiful.
He’s beautiful.
This situation of us meeting is ugly.
“You don’t know how much this means to me,” I offer. “It means the world.”
“I gathered that.” His stormy grays trail down my face and to my lips, and they blaze just by his studying of them. “You should eat and take a shower.”
Huh.
Same wavelength.
Slowly, and to my displeasure, he puts me down, but his large hands slide up and hold on to my hips. I like them there. I like how he touches me. I don’t want to be attracted to this man, but I am.
I really fucking am.
“You said you used me against my sisters,” I emit. “Is that why they are so mad at me?”
“Probably.” I urge him on with my eyes, and he presses on reluctantly. “I used very inappropriate terms, and they believed that I enjoyed you over them.”
“Oh.” Body meet a full-on blush. I can feel it from my forehead all the way to my toes.
I need that shower now.
Clearing my throat, I back away, and Mills’s palms fall. I feel the loss of them immediately but keep moving away to not act like a moron again.
“I’m going to go take that shower real quick.” Mills nods, and I pivot, his eyes like hot lasers on my spine as I’d bet he’s watching me go.
About to hit the threshold of my room to use the adjoining bathroom, Mills’s confession stops me cold and hot in my tracks.
“Rus…I did enjoy you, more than I should. More than I wanted. And more than what was appropriate at the time. Still wanted to rip your throat out but not as bad as I wanted to see you come.”
Plopping down in a plush white chair overlooking a gorgeous garden of cherry blossom trees and benches, I glance over at a wide-eyed Juliette Van Doren. Who has currently stopped her white mug from meeting her maroon-colored lipstick.
Her dark brown hair is neatly pinned back and curled. The white suit jacket and matching blouse allude to a gentle creature, but I’m too well-versed in what kind of dealings Mrs. Van Doren is capable of and willing to sacrifice her family for.
Slowly, she places her cup down on the small glass plate then straightens her spine against my placid stare.
“Mr. Mills,” she greets flatly. “I’m sorry to say I’m meeting someone.”
“Then we better make this quick, or this conversation is going to be awkward for you.”
Leaning back along the wicker-backing, I fold my hands over my torso. Her dark brown eyes narrow in like I’m a burden she legit wanted to keep in the basement.
“What can I do for you?” she presses, lips pursed in annoyance.
“I’m not sure yet,” I muse. “I’m still debating.”
She lifts her painted-on brows. “On?”
“How much more I’m going to put your youngest daughter through. I mean, not like you give a shit or anything. However, I still have yet to rock your world, Miss Van Doren. And that skinny little shithead spawn of satan you carried around with you for nine months.”
She sets her jaw and purses her thin lips. “I believe you’ve done enough, Mr. Mills.”
“I’m only getting started.”
She leans forward, her expression as emotionless as stone. “You’ve already turned my youngest against me.”
“You did that to yourself.”
Her face twists at my accusation, bringing out some wrinkles along her eyes. “I did no such thing. She went to the police, was about to splay our name all over the newspapers and social media. Unless…you did something to her.”
“I think her consciousness started eating her alive. Well, that, and how Satan’s spawn sent two men to rape her.”
That gets a reaction out of her. “You’re lying,” she spits out.
“Call your daughter.”
Her jaw clenches and a little vein by her temple begins to bulge. “How dare you come here and spill outrages—“
“Mrs. Van Doren, you either are the most heartless mother I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting, or your head is so far up your ass that you can’t see what’s going around you. Tighten your leash. I see your daughters around Amirah again; I’ll kill them on the spot.”
“Are you her keeper now? Do you think I’d allow—“ A mirthless chuckle cuts her off from my chest.
“Fuck what you’d allow,” I seize. “It’s what I’ll allow.”
“What do you want?” she carps through her teeth. “My friend will be here any minute.”
I glance out through the ceiling to floor windows and watch a young blonde reading a novel. “I want Solange in chains.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Because it’d be a lot harder for you to turn on your daughter than it would be for me. Because it’d eat you alive at night knowing your daughter will spend the rest of her life behind bars.”
“I’ll do no such thing.” She picks up her coffee mug. “You can leave now. “
“Think about It, Mrs. Van Doren. Odette will have scars because of me. She’ll forever remember what I did to her. Hopefully, it’ll cause more nightmares and regret of what they all did to me.”
Juliette takes a sip of her drink, intently watching me as she does. I can see some wheels turning in her head, but the others are locked in place.
And really, I know this was a long shot. I just haven’t made myself known, and my intentions clear to the mastermind before me.
“You’ve wasted your time, Mr. Mills,” she finally says. “Have a good rest of your day.” I rise from my chair when she speaks again. “Watch your back from now on. I might be what you consider a rich wife who only worries about clothes and how long my botox will last, but I assure you, there’s much more than what lies underneath.”
“Challenge accepted.”
“Let it go, for your own sake. I’ll deal with my family in my own way.”
I glare down at her. “Which is nothing.”
Juliette doesn’t peer up at me but continues staring straight ahead. “I would never want Amirah to suffer such drastic things. Solange is overly emotional and a delicate creature that turns vicious when she doesn’t get what she wants.”
“Then put her down. Or I will.”
Day two of school, and I’ve already caught up, finished another piece of my dress that I’m going to go home and sew on tonight, and aced a test.
While I’ve been busy getting back into the multitude of things, I haven’t heard from Mills. I get home, and he’s not there. I haven’t gotten any text messages or hints that he’s going to still be around, and that bothers me in more ways than I care to admit. I’m trying to center my life again, and he’s part of what got messed up. I’ve picked up my cell several times to reach out but immediately decide against it. I have no clue what I’m going to say or even how to say it. His confession still rings loudly in both my ears, and I don’t know what to make or take it.
I will say that I’m glad I haven’t seen him when I think about it. My cheeks pinken again, my body buzzes wildly, and I’ve tried to depict several times how he meant it and why he said it.
I did enjoy you more than I should.
Yeah, same.
In a way.
That demented part of me that I think lives inside scares me. It’s best Mills stays away. I try to ignore his plans of what he’s said he wants to do with Mom and my sisters. Another fucked up thing that pops in my head when I think about all this. I should love and care for my mother and sisters more than I let on. More than I settle on, really. Shouldn’t I feel some sort of way to want to warn them about Mills?
I mean, if stabbing Odette wasn’t bad enough and hinted that Mills was no one to play with. Someone that wasn’t going to take all of this sitting down.
And then with Solange, I can’t stomach how I don’t feel about her. What she did to Laurent. How she used Mills and blackmailed me.
How she really doesn’t give two flying shits.
Striding out of school, my phone rings, and with all the things hanging on my arms, I raise my finger to my Bluetooth headset and answer the call.
“Hello?”
“Hey, sweetheart, how are you?”
I smile. “Hey, Daddy. Just getting out of class and heading home. How are you?”
“Good, how’s the dress going?”
“Excellent.” I begin fishing for my keys in my purse. “We have to turn it in by early next week, so I’ll be working on it all weekend, but I’m extremely happy with it.”
“That’s wonderful,” he replies, and it’s then that I realize I haven’t seen Mom since she summoned me to Sax. How she hasn’t checked in on me, bitched at me, blamed me for her charity event getting canceled over some stupid food poisoning going around at a very exclusive restaurant.
“I have some good news too,” Dad continues on. “My doctor found another donor.”
My eyes practically bulge from my head. Gone is that dark gloom, but the damn sun just bursted out and announced itself.
“Are you serious?” I squeal.
He chuckles. “Yes, I just found out a few minutes ago. Your brother called me, so that’s the only reason why I told him first.”
And I’m second.
My smile widens. “I’ll forgive you. We have to celebrate.”
“You have school, sweetheart. And I have a bunch of work but—“
“This weekend then.”
He chuckles. “You just said you have to finish your dress.”
Using my fob to locate my car by sending off the finder, I veer to the right to where I hear my car honking. “I’ll finish. I want to take you out.”
“Alright, I’ll talk to your mother and get it scheduled.” My heart deflates because, yeah, I do have other family besides the two that care about me. Who call me regularly and shit.
“Sounds great,” I mutter through my disappointment. “Just let me know.”
“I love you, keep doing a spectacular job. I’m proud of you, Amirah.” I soak in his words; I always do. My father’s praises are what I live for.
In a world where I was one of two siblings who was the odd man out, Dad always supported what Laurent and I wanted to do. He also supports Odette and Solange but offers tidbits of them doing something for themselves. He gets responded with frowns and glares, then Mom steps in to change the subject.
“I love you too, Daddy. I—“ Rounding a red SUV, the lights of my car going off two more times before I see Solange leaned up against my white Audi, her green eyes latching onto mine in disgust.
“Still there?” Dad asks.
“Yeah, sorry,” I quickly reply. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Bye, sweetheart.” I hear him end the call on my Bluetooth, and I wish it’d take Solange with it.
Dressed in a black plaid skirt and sweater with matching black knee-high boots, Solange waits for me to approach.
And I wouldn’t be surprised if she had a weapon somewhere in there.
“What do you want?” I snap, carefully rounding her body at my front end and making my way to the door of my backseat. “Don’t you have someone else to harass?”
“You haven’t seen me in weeks, and this is the bitchy ass attitude I receive?”
“I wish I could give you more—“ I place all my supplies inside my car and like how I have something between her and I right now. ”—but I’m not a conniving cunt.”
“You getting the cops involved was pretty cunty,” she retorts back.
“Yeah, well…you’re a sick bitch, aren’t you, Solange?” I slam my door with much more force than necessary and open up the drive side’s. “Get the hell off my car.”
“I will when we’ve discussed what I’ve come to discuss with you.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
“How did you throw those guys to their deaths? Or did you have help?”
I scoff. “You mean the guys you sent to rape me?”
“To break you in.” I step back and close my door, getting right in her face because if she has a weapon, she has one chance to hurt me with it before I pry it from her hands and use it on her.
She’s nothing but a waste of space. Her vile actions have affected people around me, and it needs to stop.
Then let Mills take care of it.
I mentally shake my head. I’m not signing onto something like that. That’s not me.
“Leave me alone, Solange.”
“I heard that Rhett went to see Mom.” I freeze at her words, and she must notice because she doesn’t accuse me of anything. “He wants her to turn me in now.”
I scoff as if she seriously believes Mom would ever do such a thing. “You don’t have to worry your little head about it. I already tried.”
“About that—“ She looms closer, standing about three inches over me in her boots. “—try something like that again, and you’ll regret it. Those men were nothing compared to what I can really do.”
“And you’ll do what?” I challenge, lifting my chin to meet her glare. “Apparently, I didn’t kill Vince. That was all you, big sis.”
Her lips quirk at my figuring it out. “Took you long enough. And look how much I got out of you before you did. Although, it was fun playing you like a puppet because that’s what you are. You don’t have the guts to do things on your own.”
My hand itches to slap her across the face, but for some reason, I don’t. But I have no issue hitting Mills.
That’s fucked up.
“This could’ve been a text,” I deadpan.
“This is a warning. And I’ll make this one to your face, Amirah. I don’t know why Rhett didn’t rat us out, but I’m sure he’s got something up his sleeve. He got you expelled from school, and now you’re magically here again?” Her face contorts. “Did you fuck him to get you back in?”
“I haven’t seen him.”
Not a total lie, so it’s not hard to appear serious about it.
“Stay away from him.” Her impassive stare screams conniving, and I want to ask what she’s planning, but I won’t get the whole story. So, I’ll work at getting anything I can.
“I just want to go to school,” I reply, flipping the script a tad. “I want to get this dress in Fashion Week and graduate. Can I do that? Is that too much for you?”
“Not at all. Do your school thing. You know that never bothered me like it does Odette.”
“Find something else to do. I have no idea what those things may be, but I’m sure I don’t want to know. It’s not worth it.”
“I’ll worry about what I do and don’t do.” I pivot, but she grips my t-shirt and whirls me back around, slamming me into the side of my car.
Then a short blade appears at the side of my face.
“I don’t know why Rhett didn’t get us all potentially locked up, but I think you have something to do with that. And I’m not fucking around when I tell you that, if I find out you’re hanging out with him—“ She drags the blade down and catches my skin. “—I’m going to do worse than two fuckheads who can’t even rape a girl right.”
Placing my hands on her chest, I shove her back. “Get the fuck away from me.”
“Tell me you heard me,” Solange retorts harshly, almost pleadingly. “Tell me—“
“Take another step towards her again, and I’ll skin your ass alive.” Both of our heads snap to the new voice, and a man with red hair and stubble glares at my sister with such animosity that I’m fearful for her for a split second. His golden eyes are captivating, and I find myself staring at them a little longer than I should.
“Who the hell are—“ He jerks his head, his jaw twitching from his temper.
“Get out. You’re not getting three warnings.”
Solange squares her tiny and heel-induced body against his. “I’m not—“ The tall man moves so quickly that by my next blink, my sister is shoved into the red SVU next to mine, and her knife is in his hand.
“You stupid little rich bitches must need an English lesson because when I say get, you fucking move like the dog you are. Too bad I didn’t claim your ass,” he growls. “Or I’d Hannibal Lector you right here and soak up your screams like suntan lotion.
“Get—“
“There you go,” he coos. “She’s with us now. You fuck with her again…I might ask for forgiveness later from my brother.”
Stepping away, Solange quickly slides off the vehicle and scurries away from my Audi. She doesn’t even look back, which surprises me. I was expecting at least a haughty glare, but she leaves with her tail between her legs and me with a new stranger and even worse threats.
