“Where are your boyfriends?” I asked when he slid into the driver’s seat and pulled his door shut. This was the first time all week I’d seen him without Jasper, Evan and Dylan shadowing his every move. When he didn’t reply, I decided to run with it.
“How does that all work anyway?”
This seemed to pique his interest and he arched a brow at me as he revved the engine of my beautiful unicorn car. “How does what work?”
My breath caught, and I needed to bite the inside of my cheek to stifle a moan. Thiscar...
“Your four-way gay relationship,” I pressed on with my snark and desperately prayed my face wasn’t flushing.
A small smile twitched at his lips. “You’re asking who is top and bottom, Butterfly? Does that sort of thing turn you on?”
The rumble of the engine seemed to purr through the seats, and I tightened my thighs as Beck smoothly pulled out into the street and gunned the accelerator. “Fuck me,” I breathed out before biting my lip as the speed pressed me into my seat like a firm hand. Had Beck just heard that? Why, why,whyhad I gotten into this sexy, wet dream of a car? Withhim? I wasn’t strong enough for this type of torture.
Licking my lips and twisting my plaid skirt in my fingers, I risked a quick glance at Beck and found an arrogant smirk on his face that equally made me want to throat punch him and rip his clothes off. It was in that moment that I first considered therapy.
“Where are we going?” I asked, desperately changing the subject from what turned me on. The last thing I needed to do was lose my tenuous hold over my tongue and blurt out that fast cars and asshole guys with god complexes were what made me wet.
Beck turned his attention from the road long enough to give me a pitying look. Long enough for the danger of his inattention at high speeds to spike my adrenaline and quicken my breathing. Thank the gods of school uniforms, my heavy woolen sweater was thick enough to hide how hard my nipples were in that moment.
“We have a company meeting to attend. I told you on Monday and you chose to ignore me, remember?” His tongue trailed across his lower lip in whathadto be a deliberate move. The bastard was too damn aware of his own looks for that to have been accidental.
Using my nails, I pinched the side of my thigh to remind myself who I was messing with. This was Sebastian Roman Beckett. Self-confessedkingof Ducis Academy. Gorgeous or not, I’d still rather punch him in the face than kiss him.
I think.
“I remember,” I gritted out. “I meant,whereis this meeting being held?”
His cocky smirk said he was totally aware of his effect on me, but hethankfullylet it go as he navigated the winding roads back toward the compound where I was currently residing. There was no way in hell I’d ever call it home.
“My house,” he announced with a sarcastic lilt. “Congratulations, Butterfly. You get to step inside the snake pit.”
Anger and dread settled in my stomach, and I realized that Eddy must have repeated what I’d said earlier in the week. I was fast coming to learn that she really couldn’t keep her mouth shut when it came to these guys. She really believed that they ruled her world.
For the first time, I was starting to think she might have been right.
* * *
The Beckett mansionwas technically next door to the Deboise estate. If you considered the three acres of manicured gardens between each property “next door.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about Beck living so close, but there was no time to ponder on this as I was ushered through his front door. If one could call that fifteen-foot-high, six-foot-wide beast a door. On the inside, I was not at all surprised to see long expanses of white inlaid with gold marble floors. This place was cold like the Deboise mansion, filled with expensive artwork and minimalistic furniture. Rich people hated clutter, this was a truth I was coming to realize.
“Stay here,” he ordered, leaving me in the front entrance.
I glared at his retreating back, but he didn’t notice because he was already out of the room. Wandering closer to the large fireplace that was the centerpiece of the room, I briefly thought about just running out the door and hightailing it back to my place. Surely Beck couldn’t forcibly remove me from my own house.
The moment I had that thought I actually laughed out loud. That bastard was capable of anything. He’d been king of this place for far too long, and I was pretty sure part of him actually thought he was royalty.
“Well, if it isn’t the spare.”
I spun to find Evan and Jasper in the doorway, their eyes skating across me. Evan, who had clearly decided “the spare” was my nickname, strolled forward before circling around me.
Crossing my arms, I refused to move and give him the satisfaction of knowing he made me uncomfortable.
“How about, fuck off,” I suggested lightly. “I was kidnapped and forcibly dragged here. If you don’t want me, I’m more than happy to stroll my ass out that door.”
Jasper moved then, until he was right in my personal space. Which at least made Evan stop circling me like a vulture. “Are you nervous, pretty girl?” Jasper said softly, reaching out to touch my hair. I resisted the urge to jerk my head from his hold. His platinum hair glowed under the lighting, and his piercing blue eyes were locked intensely on me. I could see why he always had ten chicks hanging off him, why all of them did. Stupid chicks—these dudes were the sort that crushed everything around them, and I had to get out before I became the next casualty.
“You disgust me,” I said plainly. “Nerves have nothing to do with it, I just hate being in your presence.”
He grinned, and the hold he had on my hair tightened, pulling painfully against my scalp. “Is that righ—”
