Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
Small gasps fill the air, but the only people who can hear us through the wall his men made are Rocklin and her girls, who slowly shift this way.
The man’s nostrils flare, the dude on his left taking a step forward, but Rayo gives the smallest shake of his head and steps closer.
“Your name, boy. Now.” His tone is low, lethal, and promises pain, but that’s alright.
Dealt with plenty of that in my lifetime.
Bring it on.
He steps closer.
I stand tall.
Rocklin throws herself between us. “Enough!” she hisses in her dad’s face before spinning to me. “We don’t want to disturb our guests for no reason, even if they might find a bullet to his head entertaining.”
She’s shaking, biting down on her pretty lip, eyes twitching as her brows dip low and then lower. But then they smooth out, her wretched expression clearing, the turmoil in her pretty green eyes evaporating before my own.
My rich girl is gone and in her place is a plastic prep.
“Who is he, daughter?” Rayo demands, voice rumbling.
Rocklin’s lip curls and not in a good way. Disgust stares back at me, and then she says, “He’s no one. A wannabe interested in joining our school, but like I told him, we don’t hang with the help.”
My temple tics, pulse ready to pound through my skin and leap at her.
I’m overflowing with rage, ready to raise hell and the devil him fucking self, right here, right now, but unlike all these assholes, mine doesn’t show.
I’m stoic as fuck. Straight-faced.
Not a care in the fucking world.
And so I raise a brow and the little brat raises her fucking chin.
“Get out of here and do not come back,” she spits, gaze flicking over me from head to toe. “And return the suit to whomever you stole it from, as clearly, you could never afford something so nice.”
My phone vibrates in my pocket, but I don’t pull it out, instead rubbing my lips together to keep my limbs from shaking, working my peripheral.
Chloe is near now, Damiano too.
Turns out Rocklin ain’t done. “Leave, lackey. Run back to where you came from and stay there. We don’t want your kind around here, and as you can see, we’re trying to enjoy the evening with the people who were actually invited, so unless you plan on taking your last breath tonight, I suggest you get the fuck out.” She blinks once. Twice. “Now.”
When I take a step toward her, her brows jump into her hairline, and her dad flings himself in front of her. He darts for me, catching me around the neck in a tight grip.
Triumph shines in his brown eyes, but when I merely lift my chin, offering him an even better grip, something flickers in his gaze.
“Leave him, Dad.” Rocklin shrugs, stepping toward Oliver, who dares to fucking smirk. She wraps her arm through his and my fingers slip under my sleeve to meet cool steel.
“Why should I let him walk out the door?” Rayo growls, fingers twitching against my skin.
I refuse to swallow or show a single sign of a struggle, even though the air in my lungs is all used up.
“Because he’s no one. Not worth the trouble he rode in on.” She levels her glare, doubling down. “He’s nothing but a poor punk with mommy … and daddy issues.”
Reluctantly, her father releases me, but his eyes stay glued to mine, even though mine flash to hers, narrowing, and goddamn if there isn’t a fucked-up pressure now falling on my chest. My gut twists and I take a step back.
Her lips smash together, but her nose holds high. “You don’t belong here. Now go.”
The vein in my cheek starts to throb and they see it.
They laugh.
Look down on me.
Shake their fucking heads.
The stiffness in their muscles eases, and every single one aside from Rayo fucking Revenaw takes a step back, no longer seeing me as a threat.
My colors are showing now, so fucking bright it blinds.
Dirt brown.
Worthless white.
Blunted black.
They can’t see the red haze of rage clouding my eyes or the promise of retribution aimed right at them.
I’m just a broken boy, mad at the world ’cause Mommy and fucking Daddy didn’t love me.
I told her that shit in confidence and have no fucking idea why.
I should have known better.
She wasn’t ready for it.
One day she will be. I’ll make fucking sure of it.
As for them, I’ll shred their dignity one layer at a time. They’ll see and learn if only the hard way.
Effort I haven’t called on in a long fucking time is needed to move my feet and carry them out across the floor, then out the side doors leading to the garden—the easiest route for a clean break from what I’ve found.
I’m not halfway across the floor when I hear Rayo’s attention called elsewhere, and mere seconds pass before Oliver’s protests follow.