“Samuel Gunner?” the first officer, a black man with a hard glare that says he knows what a piece of shit I am, asks, and I nod. “You’re under arrest for the attempted murder of George Griffin. I want you to stand up, put your hands on the back of your head, turn around slowly, lace your fingers together, and wait.”
I nod again, but Patience holds on to my arm. I’m not sure if she needs me or if she knows I need her. Either way, she has to let go of me now.
“Please,” she whimpers, her eyes beseeching me to make them go away. I want to tell her I will, but I can’t. I can’t lie, and I know it’s not going to be okay.
“It’s okay,” I say, my voice gritty and painful from yelling. She won’t let me go, not even when one of the officer’s orders her to. I have to pry her shaking hands off me. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
She starts to cry louder, her gaze going to the police. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He was just trying to protect me,” she sobs. “It was the dean! He was raping me!”
The last word cuts me to the bone. I squeeze my eyes closed at the pain of it, wishing I hadn’t stopped punching him when she begged me—wishing I fucking choked him until he was blue in the face.
The police officers look between each other, but their guns aimed at me don’t waiver. I don’t expect them to. The police already know me with my extensive history. This just looks like I finally fucking snapped. No one can save me now. No one wants to.
No one will believe Patience over the dean. It’s his word against hers and mine, and everyone knows I’m an asshole.
“It’s going to be okay, Patience. Just do as they say,” I soothe—anything to make her feel better.
She finally lets go of me, and I do exactly as they’ve asked before turning to face the window. They move toward me quickly, gripping my hands and cuffing them behind my back.
“She needs to see a doctor,” I say. “Please,” I beg when they ignore me.
“There are plenty of paramedics downstairs who can take a look at her,” the female officer says in a scathing tone that tells me everything I need to know. She doesn’t believe either of us.
The cuffs are tight, too tight. The metal bites into the skin on my wrists as they lead me down the corridor out of St. Augustine’s to the waiting police car. Lillian is waiting at the bottom of the steps. She holds a hand up to the officers, and like toy soldiers, they nod their heads and step aside, offering me a tight smile. She leans in to my ear. “Good job, Samuel, task complete. Welcome to The Elite.”
“Fuck you,” I growl. Does she honestly think I allowed it to get to this point? She’s the fucking dean’s wife and gives zero fucks what he’s done. “He’s a rapist,” I snarl, and she tuts and rolls her eyes, folding her arms under her tits.
“Is he? Or are these little whores spreading their legs to further themselves?” she goads.
White-hot fury takes over me, and I jerk my head forward, my forehead connecting with her nose in a sickening crunch. The officers grab me and drag me backwards as Lillian stumbles, almost dropping like a sack of shit. Blood pisses from her like a fountain covering her white blouse. Her eyes snap up to mine, the pupils swallowing the color as she pins me with a sinister glare.
“You little fucking brat. How dare you.” Her finger pokes into my chest. “I was going to tell them to release you after you calmed down, but you’ve just crossed a line. I’m all about teaching you boys how to step in line and know your place.” With that, she nods to the officers. “Take him away.”
Patience runs up and walks alongside us crying, her arms wrapped around herself. I think she’s in shock. Too traumatized to speak or comprehend what’s happening right now. But she’ll figure it out soon.
We pass another police officer waiting by the front of his car, and I bark out, “Get her a fucking doctor! Now!”
He sneers at me and turns away. “You’re fucking done!” I yell, fighting against my restraints as my anger flares again. “You’re all fucking done if you don’t get her some help!”
The dean sits inside an ambulance as paramedics tend to him, acting like he’s done nothing wrong. Motherfucker’s making it out to look like this is all about a student losing his shit and turning psycho on him because of bad grades. It fuels my anger.
It must have done the same to Patience too because she finally loses it and begins screaming obscenities at him until they close the doors of the van.
“Ma’am, step back!” another policeman orders, grabbing her arm and pulling her away.
“I want to press charges against him!” she sobs, and the officer frowns.
“Get the fuck off her now!” I growl, fighting against the officer again. I’m going to fucking kill them all if they don’t get off her right the fuck now.
My anger seems to calm her down. She turns to me, her face red and tearstained, her hands curled into small fists. She takes a breath. “It’s going to be okay, Samuel. I’ll tell them what happened. You’re going to be fine,” she sobs, sounding distraught. “My dad will clear this up.”
Jesus, I completely fucked everything up. She just went through something traumatic, and here she is trying to make me feel better. I don’t deserve her, or anyone else.
I duck my head as they push me into the back of the car, smiling sadly at her and nodding. I don’t have the words to tell her it doesn’t matter what she tells them. I’m fucked regardless.
I’m in the mercy of the fucking Elite now, of Lillian.
Which means I’m fucked.
