Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176345 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 882(@200wpm)___ 705(@250wpm)___ 588(@300wpm)
My brows furrow, and my nostrils flare. “After everything they did for us—”
“That is in the past.” She interjects. “We’ve already been grateful time and time again. Enough is enough, and with you acting this way, selling your father’s ring…” She grabs the door before I can throw it shut again. “Nathan Reed is a threat to our family. I need you to kick him out.”
I stare her down just as harshly. “No.”
I get inside, and she sits beside me with indignation marring her face. “What don’t you understand? His family is dangerous. He keeps asking you for money. If we get involved in that stuff, we’ll surely go down—”
“Since when are you afraid of cops?” I growl back.
“Well, I …” She stammers without giving me an actual answer. “I didn’t, I just—”
“Never mind.” I hit the gas and turn out of the parking lot. “I’ll deal with it on my own. Just like I always have.”
“And what about Nathan?” she asks.
“Phantoms stick together,” I reply as we race off. “Always.”
Lana
I stare at my drink and the bubbles fizzing to the surface, but my mind has gone off somewhere else. More specifically, the Shack and all the dirty things that happened there.
I can still see the dead body in front of me, melting away in that pool of blood while those boys pounded into me.
Vicious.
Heinous.
So fucking disgusting.
Yet my pussy still thumps every time a memory of them using me springs into my mind.
I should not be thinking about this. But why can’t I stop?
“Want a snack?”
I look up and almost jolt up and down from the sudden question.
Jason holds out a bowl of popcorn from which he’s casually taking small bites. “Sweet and salty.”
“Where’d you get that?” I ask.
“Stole it from the kitchen,” he replies casually like it’s the most normal thing to do. “Want some?”
“No thanks.”
He shrugs. “Your loss.” And he flops down beside me on the couch.
God, why did I have to bring him to my dad’s house again?
Oh right, my dad wanted to meet him, thanks to Felix blurting out I was half-assed dating him or something.
Felix busts into the room and watches with keen eyes how Jason throws his arm around my shoulders. “Dad says the cooks will have dinner ready at six.”
God, this fucking dinner at my dad’s house could not come at a worse time.
Suddenly, Penelope sits between us. “Hi.”
“Hey,” I reply, shifting in my seat.
I’m happy she jumped between us, though. I really do not want his sweaty armpits all over me.
“Are you okay? You seem a bit off.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I tuck my hair behind my ear. “Just been a bit … occupied lately.”
“Spine Ridge does that, yeah,” she jokes. “Though, I have to admit, it’s mostly the boys that cause it.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” I reply, glaring at Jason.
She gives me a weird look. “What? I’m just here for the food.”
“I don’t mean him,” I say.
“Oh …” Her brow rises with piqued interest. “Well, tell me more.”
I’m not about to tell my brother’s girlfriend what I’ve been up to lately.
But maybe she knows something I can use against them. It’s worth a try.
“Ah, never mind, it’s nothing,” I say, adjusting my long, glittery purple dress. “I just want to know why Felix would make that list, you know? I don’t enjoy him trying to decide who I hang out with.”
She frowns. “What list?”
How does she not know?
I pull my phone from my pocket and show her a picture I took of the list. “He told me never to talk to any of these people. Why?”
“Wow, interesting,” Jason says, but I ignore him.
Penelope scoots uncomfortably in her seat. “Ahh … those Phantom boys are just … not a good crowd.”
“You say that like the Skull & Serpent Society is any better.”
She snorts. “Well, I guess you’re right there.”
“I just want to know if there’s a reason.”
“Oh, the Skull & Serpents and the Phantoms have never seen eye to eye from what I’ve been told. Even back in the day, when your dad was in there, there were always feuds between the different frat houses.”
“Interesting,” I reply. My father never told me about that.
In fact, I know shockingly little about his time before he met … her.
I shiver at the thought of the woman who birthed me.
“Anyway, is that why Felix and all his friends fought with them?”
Penelope looks around to see if he’s listening before she leans in. “Not just once. They fought several times, and those fuckers nearly got me killed.”
“Wait, what? You almost died?”
“Well, sort of. We had this whole fight. Felix, Dylan, and Alistair were involved too. It was quite a mess.”
“Yup,” Jason says, laughing. “I mean, I wasn’t there for most of it, but when I was, it always felt like an all-out war between us and them.”