Across the room, on the sofa he shared with his sister, Ivan was frowning at his screen. That could only mean one thing.
Dorien.
“I have to go.” I stood up, untangling Aroha’s arm from around my shoulders and handing her back her computer. She flashed me a megawatt grin.
“When the Prince of Darkness calls, his little minions go running.” She rolled her eyes.
“I’ll watch TV with you, Aroha.” Elena slid in beside her, tucking the bottle of wine into her lap. Aroha grabbed the laptop and started scrolling through the selection. I met Elena’s eyes and she nodded. She’d seen the haze in Aroha’s eyes, too. She wouldn’t leave Aroha alone.
In the hallway, Ivan and I exchanged a look. “Faye?” he whispered. I nodded. It had to be. She was the only thing that could twist Dorien up in knots like this.
Faye de Winter.
Her scent followed me everywhere, seeping from the wallpaper, curling from the stuffy furnishings and threadbare carpets, filling my nostrils with the promise of more.
But there could never be more, because Dorien had already stamped his claim. And what Dorien wanted, he got.
Faye was proving a formidable opponent. She’d gone after Ivan and nearly got him kicked out of Manderley. If anyone else had done that, Dorien would tear them to pieces, but he never even considered it. He went to Madame Usher and smoothed things over. Ivan remained at school and we would never speak of the incident again. I hadn’t the courage to ask what Dorien bargained to get that, but I know it had to have hurt him. Bad.
Although we were still ghosting Faye, he seemed to have given up on the plot to destroy her. He drove her to the hospital the other day, and then called to have Harrison pick her up. He snapped at me when I asked what happened, and Faye had been avoiding him and glaring at him across the room. I’d never seen him spun out on a girl before – it was weird. A little scary.
And it sucked, because I wanted her. But Dorien had first dibs, as he always did. Broken Muse was supposed to be a democracy, but we all knew that was bullshit. Dorien called the shots, and Faye was his the moment she walked through the doors of Manderley.
He’ll tear her apart like he does everything in his life, like he did with our band. If Faye thinks being hated by Dorien was hell on earth, then she should try having his love.
As we ascended the stairs, Ivan cleared his throat. I turned to him, but he crumpled under my gaze, swallowing down whatever he’d been about to say. We reached Dorien’s room in silence. I shoved open his door.
“What happened in here? Faye finally give you the tar and feathering you deserve?”
Feathers flew in all directions, spinning in lazy circles through the air to settle on Dorien’s stuff. He lay on the bed with his knees in the air, picking at the down sticking to his trousers. A dusting of duck-down snow clung to his hair, his shirt, even his cheeks. Beside me, Ivan covered his mouth with his hand, stifling a laugh.
“You’re fucking hilarious.” Dorien glared at me. A yellow feather stuck to his eyebrow. “Faye knows about my money.”
That stopped me short. I slammed the door shut and folded my arms. “How?”
“She hacked my account and cleared out everything that was left, not that there was much. She donated it all to some charity for underprivileged musicians.”
I couldn’t help it. Laughter burst out of me like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Dorien glared at me. “Chortle away. She’ll be coming for you next, Van Halen.”
I shrugged. “Let her. Maybe I want her to come after me.”
“What does that mean?”
“I want to ask her out.”
I hadn’t intended to say those words. They’d burst out along with the laughter, and I couldn’t stuff them back in. Ivan glanced between us, pressing his back against the wall and moving his feet into a position to run if things got violent.
Dorien tossed back his head. The laughter started deep in his stomach and bubbled out of him like a volcano starting to erupt. He kicked his legs in the air and caught a floating feather in his hand, crushing it between his fingers.
“I can’t believe this shit. Good fucking luck, bro. We’ve spent the semester bullying her. She thinks you snuck into her room while she was sleeping. If you think you can charm her into overlooking that and giving you a chance, you’re welcome to try. You don’t need my permission – but I recommend packing some groin protection.”
“So you don’t care if I ask her?”
Dorien shrugged. “I didn’t say that. I just said it’s pointless.”
My fingers curled into fists. “You can’t lay claim over her just because you knew her before. You fucked that up, and she’s made it pretty clear she can’t stand you. Give someone else a chance.”
