by Ivy Clyde
“We all want to protect Paris,” concluded Gabrielle. “Let’s work together on gathering evidence against Lucien. In the meantime, we stay vigilant and keep an eye on our girl.”
Ivanov nodded.
“We’re in agreement,” I said. “Paris is ours to protect.”
Both Gabrielle and Ivanov nodded their agreement.
A deep breath exhaled out of me. I was finally going to have a chance to make things right for Paris.
23
Gabrielle
The smell of coffee in the cafeteria next morning woke up my senses. The residual hangover from last night had almost passed but my head still felt light. A waiter brought me a plate of full English breakfast, complete with sausages, fried eggs, baked beans, grilled mushrooms and thick slices of buttered toasts. Tucking in, I devoured half the plate before looking up.
The cafeteria hall was comparatively empty that morning after the Halloween party. Those few who came to breakfast looked pale and disgruntled. I sat alone at the table as Liam still slept in his room. I assumed he didn’t catch much sleep after Nikolai Ivanov tipped him about Paris’s situation. Just then, my wandering gaze fell on a figure with vibrant indigo hair. Even when her back was towards me, I knew it to be Paris.
Picking up my plate, I walked to her table.
“Hey.”
Vivid green eyes stared up at me. A smile slowly stretched her lips. “Hi.” She looked around the place and then back at me. “Are you alone?”
“Yeah. Do you mind if I joined you?”
Surprise flitted through her eyes as another smile blossomed on her pretty face. “Of course, not.”
Taking the chair opposite to her, I saw the plain toasts and a cup of black coffee before her. It took me a moment to realize how pale she looked that morning. I hadn’t spoken to her since the night of the incident at Liam’s party. Both Liam and I kept our distance from her since then, hoping Brianna and her friends would stop picking on her on our account.
“Aren’t you hungry?” I asked.
“No. I don’t feel too good.” There was a glum look on her face as she stared down at her coffee cup.
“Where’s Zoya? Did you guys have a good time last night?”
“She is still sleeping. I guess she had fun but I…” she shook her head. “I ran into some trouble.” She plastered on a fake smile. “But everything’s okay.”
I could feel her pain underneath that nonchalant smile. A part of me could identify with her. She’d lost her mother and with Zoya still in bed, she had no one to confide in about the horror she faced last night. She was the kind of girl to suppress her own pain so as not to make others uncomfortable.
“Where is Liam?” she asked after a while.
“He’s asleep too.”
She nodded, picking up a toast and taking a small bite out of it. “About that day…thanks for saving me,” she suddenly blurted out. “If you hadn’t jumped in after me, I might not be sitting here today.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that,” I said grimly. My hand closed over hers and I gave it a gentle squeeze. “How about we get out of here?” I said. “Just you and me like last time?”
“With you?”
I nodded. “We could go for a drive in the city, walk around, have lunch somewhere and I’ll take you back to my apartment and you bake me something.”
Her eyes lit up at all the things I said. I couldn’t help the grin on my face. It was so simple to make her happy. Unlike the girls that gravitated to me, Paris had no affinity for expensive jewelry and luxury cars. Just being close to her opened up a part of me that I only disclosed before Liam.
“It’s been a while since I baked,” she added thoughtfully.
“I like chocolate-chip cookies,” I said with a grin. “Just so you know.”
She nodded, chuckling softly. Picking up the remaining toast on her plate, she took a few large bites and washed it down with the rest of her coffee. Slamming the cup on the table, she wiped her hand over her mouth. “I’m ready.” Her green eyes sparkled.
Warmth flooded my chest. I loved how the prospect of spending the day with me made her so happy. Picking up my knife and fork, I quickly devoured the rest of my breakfast.
As we both got up to leave, I noticed the dress she wore. It was a demure knee-length frock made of a soft peach-pink fabric. While she looked beautiful and feminine in it, the memory of her in ripped jeans and a t-shirt rose up in my mind.
“Why do you dress differently than before?” I asked.
“What?” She looked up at me with a confused expression.
“Weren’t you into ripped and faded jeans before? More street-side fashion than this.” I gestured at her dress.
“You remember that day when I came to Knightswood with Zoya?” she asked with a smile.
“Yep. Someone like you definitely stood out in the academy crowd.”
She gave a little nod, like confirming a thought to herself. Glancing up at me, she said, “The clothes I’m wearing now were all given by Mrs. Davenport. These aren’t the types of clothes I would usually wear but I didn’t want to fuss about it.”
“You accepted them so you won’t hurt her feelings?”
“Yeah. I’m not that stuck-up about what I wear anyway. Besides, these dresses are amazingly comfortable. I am getting used to them.” She hesitated before meeting my gaze again. “Do I look funny in them?”
“No.” My response was a little too quick. Her head cocked to the right as she halted in her steps. “You look amazing either way,” I said, putting my arm around her slim waist and pulling her against me. Leaning down, I brushed my lips over hers. Tiny jolts of electricity ran through me at the brief contact, urging me to delve deeper into her mouth but I controlled myself. We were still inside the cafeteria.
“Come on,” I said, tugging at her wrist and making her stumble after me as I ran the rest of the distance to the exit gates. A giggle escaped her as she let me lead the way out. “Meet me near the school gate. I’ll get the car around.”
Parting from her, I rushed away to the school’s garage.
By the time I drove around to the academy’s main front gates, Paris was already standing there, waiting for me. Stopping the car near her, I threw open the passenger-side door. She hopped in beside me, an excited smile lifting the corner of her lips.
“Where should we go first?” I asked.
“How about we drive for a while?” she suggested. “It’s still a bit too early to go anywhere in the city.”
I drove, allowing her to slide the window on her side to the lowest to let in the cold, fresh countryside air. As the long lengths of her indigo strands flew away from her face, a gentle, peaceful expression overcame her features.
It was a struggle to keep my gaze on the road and not be distracted by every subtle change in her emotions. My heart seemed to race faster each time I snuck a glance at her.
Driving some miles away from the town of Knightswood, we came across a patch of woods that still retained some colors of the fall. The place by the roadside looked deserted as I slowed the car down.
“Want to go for a walk in there?” I asked.
“As long as you promise not to murder me with me an ax,” said Paris with a mischievous grin.
“There are better things I can imagine doing to you.” The sudden huskiness in my voice gave her pause. Color flew into her cheeks as she tried to hide her blush with an awkward chuckle. Paris was adorable. I had no idea how Liam could stay in the same house with her and not be as affected by her as I was. My hands craved to touch the flush on her silky-soft skin.
I parked the car to the side of the road. Climbing out, we stretched our arms and legs and looked around us.
“It’s so good to be out here,” said Paris, lifting her face to the sky. “I can finally breathe.”
“Is that so hard at the academy?”
She met my gaze and then looked away. “It feels like someone’s always out to get me,” she said in a
small voice. “Whether it’s Brianna or her friends or some total strangers…I get that no one wants me around. I keep to myself but have no idea what else I can do?”
“You keep being you.”
“What?”
“You heard me. If someone got dealt the same shit as you, they would have already left by now. But you, Paris, you keep fighting. Why?”
A long breath exhaled out of her. “My mom used to go to Knightswood. It’s the last place I can connect with her after…” She swallowed the choke in her throat before continuing. “…after she went away.” Taking a few deep breaths, she met my gaze. “Besides, a diploma from Knightswood will open a lot of doors for me in the future. I don’t intend to be a charity case all my life.” She uttered that nickname Liam gave her in a bitter tone.
“You’re still not over what happened.”
She shook her head. “It’s easier to pretend she’s back home while I am studying at the academy. That way, I don’t have to think about the way my whole life went up in flames in the span of a few hours. I haven’t visited mom’s grave yet.” A choked sob escaped her as her gaze fell to the ground. Drops of tears fell on the dry asphalt.
Stepping close to Paris, I wrapped my arms around her and drew her into my chest. I lost my parents at a young age. There were days when I would pretend they were right with me. Even though a hollow part of me was aware of the truth, I didn’t want to acknowledge it.
“It’s all right,” I whispered, gently stroking her head as she sobbed against my chest.
At the very least, I had my grandfather and uncle to take care of me after my parents passed away. They were patient and willing to give me time to heal. Paris neither had a family left to look after her nor did she get the chance to grieve. Her pain was suddenly mine.
Her hands clutched onto my shirt as she wept hard.
I let her, knowing the only way to heal pain was to fully experience it.
All I could do for her was to hold her and offer my strength. I never felt this protective for a girl before. While the girls at the academy flung themselves at me, I preferred the company of older women. As long as they knew you had money, they had no qualms about following me to my penthouse for a quick fuck. While I slept around, I never had a real relationship with a woman. My heart was well-guarded and only Paris had managed to sneak in.
“I’m sorry,” she said after a while. Brushing away the tears clinging to her thick lashes, she looked up at me. “You wanted to have a good time and I just ruined it for you.”
“You didn’t,” I said, pulling her against me once more. “You needed to get that pain off your chest.”
Pressed against me, she nodded.
Before I could get another word out, the screech of car tires against asphalt caught my attention. Turning around, I found three SUVs parked right behind my car. Men in sharp, black suits climbed out and purposefully walked towards us. Half their faces were covered by black sunglasses. It took me another moment to realize who they could be.
“Stop!” I shouted at them, pushing Paris behind me. “Not now!”
Of course, these men would never listen to me. Within seconds, they fell on me as I tried to fight them but every one of them had mastery over martial arts, easily subduing my effort to fend them off.
While I struggled to get the men off me, I saw Paris being dragged away from the corner of my eye.
“Stop resisting, Master Romano,” said one of them.
“No,” I gritted out, kicking the tall man in the neck.
By the time, I turned around Paris had already been forced into one of the cars.
Several hands gripped my shoulders and arms as I helplessly watched the car with Paris drive away.
24
Paris
The sudden intrusion of the men in black suits broke me out of my daze. Gabrielle was quick enough to react, pushing me behind him to shield me from the strangers. They were tall, muscular men with hard faces. Dark sunglasses hid their eyes, not giving away a single emotion.
Their numbers kept growing as more men came out of the cars. They fell on Gabrielle, urging him not to resist as he fought them off. However, no matter how good he was at fighting, there were too many opponents for him to fend off.
Two men grabbed me from behind. While one held my arms behind my back, the other taped my mouth shut, cutting off my screams of panic and terror. With a metallic click, my wrists were handcuffed behind me. I struggled against the men but they were hard as rocks, taking my occasional kicks to their knees without any sign of weakness.
Once they threw me into one of the cars, they shut the door closed, making me sit between their hulking bodies. One of them held my head in a hard grip while the other secured a blindfold over my eyes, cutting off the image of Gabrielle fighting with at least eight men surrounding him.
It was ridiculous how easily they were able to confine me.
Panic flared in my chest as the car began moving. I struggled against my bindings but the voice to my left stopped me. “Don’t make it worse.”
Cold fingers of dread gripped my heart as my mind went to Gabrielle. What were they going to do to Gabrielle? And who were they?
It wasn’t that hard to think of people who would employ people to hurt me. Brianna sprang to mind, followed by her besties, Holly and Gianna. I knew by now that Holly had a thing for Gabrielle. She hated seeing me get close to him but would she hurt him as well?
The cold face of Lucien Bettencourt rose up in my mind. Did he come back to finish what he’d started last night? Would he let these men hurt me and possibly rape me? What would he do to Gabrielle?
My mind churned with thoughts of violence and pain, driving me to the edge of insanity while I remained captive and bound with the men beside me. They didn’t touch me yet but the threat they posed was too great to ignore.
Suddenly, the car came to a stop.
My heart skidded to a stop. Two pairs of strong, rough hands pushed me to get out of the car.
As soon as I was out, I tried to run. Blindfolded as I was, I had to make an attempt to get away from them. I’d taken only a few steps when a strong arm wrapped around my waist, easily lifting my feet off the ground.
“Let go!” I shouted but only a muffled noise came through the tape fixed over my mouth.
“Stop it,” said a low, deep, unmoving voice in my ear.
My feet found their way back to the ground.
“Walk,” he ordered.
I let them push and pull me, taking me where they desired. At this point, my heart was beating too hard. My mind was fuzzy with every imaginable torture that waited for me.
“Is that her?” said a strangely old-sounding voice.
“Yes, sir.”
My ears pricked at the conversation between my kidnappers and their master. Curiosity snaked its way through the miasma of fear in my mind. It didn’t sound like any of my tormentors from Knightswood Academy.
“Release her,” commanded the voice.
The blindfold came off me.
Blinking against the bright light, I focused on the figure before me. It was an old man, way past his seventies with thin wrinkles marring his sunburnt skin. His eyes were deep and dark and matched the curiosity in mine. Thin wisps of white hair covered his head. Dressed in a luxurious navy suit, he looked imposing despite his age.
I gasped as the tape was ripped off my mouth.
“Gently now,” said the old man as I stared at him unblinkingly.
“Who are you?” I asked just as the handcuffs were removed from my wrists. Massaging my hands, I focused my gaze on the man before me.
The man’s gaze flickered to my right. A commotion started outside the doors. Among the voices, I heard Gabrielle’s shouts. Next moment, he stomped into the room, glaring at the man before me.
“What the hell, Gramps!” he shouted.
“Gramps?” I turned back to look at the old man.
Gabrielle strode forward and immediately pulled me close to him. His
sea-green eyes were full of anger and anxiety as he looked down at me. The back of his hand gently caressed my cheek. “Did they hurt you?”
I shook my head.
He turned back to the old man. “Why do you keep doing this?” he asked with a frustrated sigh. “You can just call me.”
“You ignored my last call.”
“I didn’t. Your farty old brain must have forgotten it was Halloween last night. I was busy. I would have given you a call back later today.”
“You should have called me as soon as you woke up,” insisted Gabrielle’s grandfather. “Instead, you went driving around with your girlfriend.”
“I’m not his girlfriend,” I blurted. Both pairs of eyes turned on me. “Sorry,” I whispered. “Just wanted to throw it out there.”
“I thought you wouldn’t be up this early, Gramps,” said Gabrielle. “You should have at least given me twenty-four hours to call you back.”
“My, my,” said the old man, moving towards a couch in the room. “You’re making such a fuss just because I made you look bad in front of a girl.” He sat down on it and waved his hand away. The men in suits gave a nod and promptly walked out, closing the door behind them. It was only then I noticed the place we were standing in.
I’d expected to be brought into an old abandoned factory or underground dungeon. Those were the images my mind conjured while I was tied up and blindfolded. Now, I found myself in a vast room, decorated with antique furniture and plush leather couches. Bright sunlight shone through clear glass windows, illuminating the whole space.
“Is this really your grandfather?” I asked Gabrielle. He’d told me about being brought up by him after his parents passed away but I had to be sure of him first.
Gabrielle exhaled a long breath. “That’s my grandfather, Peter Romano. Grandfather, this is my friend, Paris Johnson. She recently joined the academy and is in the same year as me.”
I looked back at the old man whose eyes were still staring at me curiously. “Johnson, hmm? I wonder…” He mumbled something under his breath I couldn’t hear. “What is your mother’s name?”