“I know I didn’t have to, I wanted to. The more I have here to make you comfortable, the less likely you are to go back to your room. I can keep you here forever,”
“That sounds a little captor-ish mate,” Daylan snorts as he sips his whisky. “You hoping for a little Stockholm syndrome to kick in,”
I smirk and open my mouth to reply but Ruella beats me.
“I wouldn’t mind being your captive,” Her irises shine. “I don’t need the Stockholm though,” she leans in and whispers. “I’m already there,” Then she kisses my neck and I almost explode in my pants.
This is the future Mrs. Vander.
“Okayyyyy. Can we get back to the reason we are all here,” Corden interrupts as I shift under the blanket with her to hide my growing erection. Piper side eyes me with a wide smile a little shimmy in her shoulders. She is clearly excited I am spending less time being a grumpy bastard and more time showing someone else the softer side of me she always gets to see.
She has seemed a lot happier and bubbly since meeting Ruella, the old Piper is starting to shine through again. I hate what I am about to put her through but protecting her and now Ruella is the most importing thing. I clear my throat and shift closer to the white-haired beauty beside me. “Listen,” I give Piper my full attention. Her smile vanishes at my change and her hands tangle in her lap. Jacob catches it and stretches his arm around the back of her chair, rubbing soft circles with his fingertips on her delicate shoulder.
“We are about to bring up things that are going to be uncomfortable for you, but just know that if I had another choice, I would never willingly put you through this,” Her eyes fill with tears as the vein in her neck pulsates wildly. She eventually nods.
“You don’t have to tell these guys anything about what you personally went through, but I will have to mention the parts from my point of view. It’s to make sure what happened never happens to you or anyone else ever again. Is that okay?”
“Yeah,” Her voice is soft but sure. “I feel ready to talk about it and I trust everyone in this room,” She takes a deep breath. “I just want this to all be over and for no one else to be hurt,”
Jacob leans closer and whispers something in her ear, the rest of us miss it but the calming effect he has on Piper means I don’t care what it was. He has been her rock through this, and I will never be able to repay him for his help.
I glance around the room and everyone’s attention is on my sister, their face’s filled with curiosity but more so concern, especially Ruella’s. Her eyes are watery with unshed tears, but not for herself, for whatever she sees in Pipers. Almost an understanding before she has even opened up to us.
I swallow away the lump in my throat.
“Ready?” I ask my sister.
She rolls her shoulders, straightens her spine and lifts her slightly wobbly chin.
“Ready".
THIRTY
RUELLA
My stomach is in my throat. I have no clue what happened to Piper, but I can tell by the tightness in her expression and the quick rise and fall of her chest, that it must be bad. I want to rush over to her and hug her, so she knows she isn’t alone in all of this, but I stay put allowing her the space she needs to open up when she is ready.
Corden sits in silence opposite me, I think it is the first time he has not been speaking or cracking an inappropriate joke in my presence.
“You wouldn’t know this because you are both new this term, but the Piper you see before you is nothing like how I used to be,” She begins. “I was a friendly, confident, straight A student. I wasn’t even supposed to be here this year, my father told me if I made it as a corps de ballet in a company I was auditioning for, then I could finally drop out and pursue my dreams,”
“Corps de ballet?” Corden asks.
“A main group of dancers in a ballet company,” Jacob inputs. It’s the first time I have heard him talk to someone who isn’t Piper without the usual venom.
Piper looks over to him, smile soft, appreciation oozing out of her.
“So, you didn’t get in?” Corden asks again and I throw him a look that I hope reads as‘shut the fuck up and let the girl speak’.
“Sorry,” he says then brings his fingers to his lips, zipping them shut.
“She got in,” Asher speaks up from beside me, a proud glint in his eye. “Youngest ballerina in the company,” I reach my hand out to cover his under the blanket and give it a squeeze. He is such a good brother; you can see the love they have for each other. I wish I had that relationship with Marlowe.
“Yeah, I got in,” Her shoulders slump slightly. “But, before I got in, I was burning myself out with training and keeping my grades up here. I hardly spoke to anyone other than these guys and my lecturers. The week after my audition I was a nervous wreck, sitting and waiting to hear from the company was what I thought was the worst thing that I could live through,” She snorts sarcastically, looking off to the side. “One of the girls from the year above who I had recently became friends with through PAing for Mr. Chapman, convinced me to go to a party her friend was throwing in Deveroux house. We had a great night, I danced, drank and let all the worrying about my future go,”
A lone tear falls from her eye, and she quickly wipes it away with the back of her hand. “Unfortunately, I got way too drunk,” My heart pounds. Shit, I think I know where this is going.
“When I woke up, I had no idea where I was. It wasn’t my room or anyone’s I recognised,” Jacob shifts, the muscles in his jaw feathering with the tension.
