Cruel Intentions: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Kings of Hawk Academy Book 2)

by Sarwah Creed

  I nodded and then tried to maneuver her back to our suite to have a word with her, if she was up to it. I was selfish in wanting to talk to her alone before James came back, but really, all that was on my mind was what happened to her. I needed to focus on making her feel safe.

  Vicki felt like a lost lamb as I continued to hold her and move her in the direction of our suite, it was as if she couldn’t stop crying and that nearly broke my heart.

  “I didn’t have my phone with me then and I don’t now. Damn, I’m so stupid, sometimes. I’ve left it in the kitchen. I just remembered.”

  I shook my head, “It doesn’t matter. Let’s just get you back to our suite, and then we’ll take it from there.”

  James said, “Right. No one’s in there. Let’s go back to our suite and take it from there.”

  Before I could say another word, he’d left and decided to go back to the front door of the house instead, but at double the speed that we were going. I didn’t want her to get startled or even feel pressured to do anything more than she was doing at the moment so, we walked at an even pace. I think having my arms around her made her feel safe.

  I pushed her away a little to ask her a question that was bugging me. “Why didn’t you come to my room or even call me? Jesus Vicki, you spent all night like this: why?”

  My mind drifted to her, saying that she wanted revenge, and now, when it came to it, she was shaking like a leaf and couldn’t even face him at the idea of seeing him.

  She shrugged as if she didn’t have the answer to my question. I pulled her back tight against my body as we walked back to our suite. I felt as if I was holding her up, as if she was too weak to walk. As soon as we got to the door that divided the academy and the right wing; James used his key and then I expected him to say something, anything to break the awkward silence.

  I let out a sigh of relief as we got near to our suite. The night had felt as if it’d come to a dramatic end for Vicki. She breathed as if she’d been holding her breath the whole time and could finally let it go.

  “Did I tell you how beautiful you are?” I asked her, trying to change the conversation. She ignored me as she headed to my bedroom without hesitation. It made me feel guilty, seeing her being such a wreck and thinking about the way that I’d dismissed her yesterday made me have such a heavy heart.

  “I need to see Claire. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” James said as he hovered against the door, ready to leave.

  Usually, I would tell him that this wasn’t the time to be fooling around, besides I’d had enough of him leaving and running back to her whenever she clicked her fingers. I hesitated in asking him when they spoke and made this arrangement, but as my eyes darted to Vicki, I realized that this was the perfect time to figure out what happened to her earlier.

  As I headed to my room, I thought about the fact that it was our room over the last few days, and the one time that I turned my back on her, she’d ended up freaked out because there’d been a man in her room.

  “James said that there was no one in your room, now. Maybe you freaked out because you were alone. I mean, why would he come here of all places? How would he even know you’re here?”

  She shrugged and attempted to say something, but then she looked completely drained as if all the life had been sucked out of her by the memory of the man she’d seen coming from her room.

  I took a deep breath to steady myself, this wasn’t the time to give her the third-degree when it was clear that she was in some state of shock, but curiosity got the better of me.

  “Maybe it was Hawk. You said that he was back.”

  She disagreed as she stood in the middle of the room as still and lifeless as a statue, “No. I told you that he texted me to say he wouldn’t be back until today, re,e,ner? His flight was canceled. He sent me a text.”

  “Oh,” I wondered if it said more than that, but I had to put aside my own selfish needs and think about her. Something that I wasn’t used to doing, but with Vicki, it seemed to be so natural.

  She didn’t want to eat, sleep, or even be left alone, and she wasn’t shedding much light on what happened last night.

  “Vicki,” I whispered and felt bad when she jumped as I called her name. “Let’s get you into bed.” She nodded and seemed to let me take control as I stripped her of the uniform that she must have been wearing the previous day. She smelled stale as if she hadn’t changed clothes or showered since then, and for a second, she seemed embarrassed about it, but then her fear took over as she let me take control. It was as if being here was her safe haven compared to what could or rather who could have been outside her room.

  “Do you think that I’m a freak?” She asked as I tucked her under the covers.

  I shook my head, “No. Just get some rest. I’m going to stay up and wait for James, but I won’t leave.”

  “I wonder why Hawk is still away?”

  I shouldn’t have said anything more about the topic, but part of me was curious as to why he hadn’t made an appearance yet if he was back.

  “He said that the flight was cancelled, and he was tired so he was going to stay at a hotel, but I had no idea where he was or is right now. I haven’t seen him today, so I guess he’s not back.”

  I asked, “He put all that in a text?”

  She nodded, and part of me felt silly asking the question. What difference did it make if he wrote or called her? Well, it did a bit, Hawk was a man of few words. The idea of him picking up the phone and giving Vicki an explanation as to why he hadn’t come back tonight surprised me. It made me think that he was getting soft in his old age, or maybe it was the idea of him having the child that he’d always wanted.

  “Trent?”

  “Yes,” I replied as I noticed that Vicki was staring at me.

  “Can you hold me while I sleep?” She asked.

  I nodded and then kissed her as I stroked her hair back. She didn’t need any more reassuring as I could hear her quietly calming down. Her body stopped trembling, and she had some sort of peace as her quiet breaths were replaced by gentle snores. I smiled as I listened to her and felt a warm glow flow through me as I realized she’d found some sort of peace in my arms. She wasn’t frightened anymore. I’d protected her from the one thing that stopped her sleeping the night before and I felt proud about being that man. For once, I was doing something good, instead of always doing something bad and it gave me a warm tickling feeling inside as I smiled and found myself drifting off to sleep with her. Knowing she was safe, somehow made me feel safe.

  “Trent, are you okay?” I heard her whisper. I must have woken her up when I woke up from having a nightmare, I didn’t even know what it was about. I woke up confused and disorientated.

  It was only eight, so early still, but I had a feeling that all Vicki wanted to do was sleep.

  “Hey, you want something to eat?”

  “No, but I don’t feel comfortable. I really need a shower before sleeping again. Before I felt drained, but now I just feel foul as if I need cleaning and I don’t smell too great.” She laughed, “I’m not sure if I can sleep with this smell anymore and I feel embarrassed about it.”

  I smiled and kissed the back of her head and then I got up and held her hand like a child and guided her to the bathroom. She said that she wanted to sleep, but I knew that having a shower would help her have a good night’s sleep.

  “Here’s a towel, and I’ll get you a shirt to change into, I’ll leave it on the bed. Don’t worry, I’ll just be outside the door if you need anything.”

  She stood looking at the shower as if she had something on her mind, and I wanted to tell her that the best thing for her would be a shower, it would help her sleep, but I didn’t have to say anything as she nodded in agreement.

  I shut the door behind me and headed to my room to look for a shirt. I had to find something to cover her, or I would get tempted and take advantage of her, and that wouldn’t be right. I hunted for one of my old football shirts, that were big enough to cov
er her and some stretchy shorts. Once I felt satisfied with my choice, I decided to lay them on the bed and then head to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

  I laughed as I noticed that my evening meal consisted of either a pepperoni pizza or a Hawaiian pizza. Or I could go downstairs and get something to eat, but if Vicki came into the living space and I wasn’t there she might freak out again and I didn’t want that. She’d been through enough already. I’d noticed James wasn’t back yet as I opened his bedroom door.

  I had to eat one of the pizza’s and be satisfied for the night. It was bad enough that I couldn’t go out, but the only time I tended to eat pizza was when I was slightly drunk and needed something to eat to help sober me up. This wasn’t that night, but I wanted strength to be there for Vicki. I popped the pizza in the oven and waited for her to come out of the shower or for it to be ready, I didn’t care which one happened first.

  I heard my phone chime and then fished for it in my pocket. A message, no doubt from James as I suspected.

  Don’t wait up. Not coming back tonight.

  I was just about to reply when Vicki finished in the shower, and at the same time, the oven timer told me that our pizza was ready. If she was going to have some, it was ready. I smiled as she came out of the shower.

  “Are you sure that you don’t want to join me for dinner?”

  She smiled, “You go ahead. I want to sleep. I’m tired.”

  Part of me was relieved that she said that, because my stomach was roaring, and I didn’t feel much like sharing.

  I turned to the oven and eating a pizza didn’t feel like such a bad idea, now. I quickly put the pan down, then transferred the whole thing to a large plate. I sliced it up and ate the whole thing like a fucking beast. I went to see if Vicki was alright, and I saw her lying on the bed with her eyes wide open. She wasn’t sleeping and I wondered if she was waiting for me before she allowed herself to drift off.

  I curled up to her and held her in my arms and then stretched over to turn off the light. She whimpered in my arms, and I could tell that it was enough to help her sleep. Enough to make her feel safe and that was enough for me to sleep too. I smelled the vanilla in her hair and inhaled deep. Her hair was still damp, but I didn’t care. I wanted to protect her, not hurt her, because I didn’t want to go back to the man that I was before but be this new man, instead. The idea of it scared and thrilled me at the same time.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Hawk was supposed to come back last night, and he didn’t. Once again, my mom was missing in action, too, and my brother didn’t come back to our room. I was sitting next to Vicki in class. I was so fucking upset that we didn’t even talk about what happened a couple of nights ago before class started. We made small talk this morning, and all that was on my mind was where the fuck was James?

  It seemed to be a recurring problem at the moment, I didn’t realize how much our lives revolved around each other, but now it was clear as day. I couldn’t stand on my own two feet without him.

  Not really.

  Maybe, now that Hawk and Vicki had found each other, Vicki would be the one that would get bored, and I would be the one that would be dumped like a sack of potatoes. The same thing that I’d done to so many girls before. That would be as some would call it ‘poetic justice’. Claire would be happy about that. My head fucking ached right now.

  Lunchtime rolled around and I found myself following Vicki with a tray of food in my hands to our normal table.

  Vicki whispered as we sat in the crowded cafeteria, “Trent are you alright? It’s like you’re not here. Well, you are physically, but not mentally.”

  I blinked and stared over at her; my jaw gripped tightly. Fuck! I forced my body and jaw to relax so I wouldn’t frighten her. I was moving on autopilot today and hadn’t noticed where I was at all. I was too busy worrying about the past and the present. The future felt so fucking far away. I didn’t even hear the noise from the cafeteria until Vicki spoke to me.

  I thought things couldn’t get any worse until both James and Hawk walked in, side by side.

  Hawk had his eyes on Vicki, and I had mine on him.

  What the fuck was going on?

  She said that he’d twisted his ankle, but he was walking as if he was fine and had nothing wrong with his leg, let alone his ankle. Was this my brother’s new game, just to fucking wind me up even more? He’d decided because I was with Vicki, that he had to be with someone too. But why Hawk of all fucking people? Shit, what the hell was wrong with us? Couldn’t we be alone for five fucking minutes?

  They were both headed in our direction with Claire behind them like a bad smell. She was walking holding a tray; I was sure that it wasn’t hers but my brother’s food that would be neatly laid on the table for him as soon as he sat down.

  Fucking hypocrite!

  What happened to new beginnings?

  I felt Vicki hold my hand under the table as he got closer, the noise in the cafeteria came to a halt as Hawk’s presence became known. Fuck, even the cleaners, stopped talking as he went by. I thought that James and I had presence, but we were nothing but pigeons compared to the Great Hawk. One part of me admired him for it, and the other part hated him for having that much power. Even when we went on vacations- skiing, sun, or even the city; it didn’t matter where we went, Hawk had presence. He would walk into a hotel and all heads would turn and stare at him, both women and men too. He had the bluest eyes that made him seem angelic, but he wasn’t much of a fucking angel. He had a child the same age as James and I and he’d left her. He didn’t mention her until now. Even then, he disappeared the minute that he did confess that she was his daughter.

  What the fuck was wrong with him?

  At times I wondered if he was a man or just a robot. One with no feelings. I thought that he had feelings when he married Mom, he was a different man back then. He’d married the woman whose husband had tried to burn her and their two boys. She called him her knight in shining armor. The one that saved her from the nightmares that she had about Rick, but that didn’t last long. Before we knew it, she was drinking even more than she used to do before, I didn’t know how he’d blinded my brother to make him believe that he was better than us. I knew that, no matter what, I would make James see him as clearly as I did from the moment that Mom said I do. That he wasn’t the man that James believed him to be.

  “Afternoon,” Hawk slurred as he drew nearer to our table. He wasn’t speaking to me, but directly to Vicki, who was shaking like a leaf. The same way that she was when we rescued her from her room last night.

  She nodded at him but didn’t say a word. Her eyes darted from him to me. As if she needed permission from one of us to speak. I didn’t say a word or even give her a hint as to what she should do; she was her own person. Besides I had my own issues. Like what the fuck my brother was doing with our stepfather?

  “I went to your room. I knocked and waited for you, but as you didn’t answer the door, I assumed that you weren’t there this morning,” Hawk said and part of me was kind of surprised that he was saying it in open public for all ears to hear as if he didn’t want to hide the fact that Vicki was in the right-wing with him. Sure, we all knew it but for him to admit it? Seemed weird. Maybe even kind of creepy to everyone else who didn’t know the truth, that she was his daughter.

  That was when I realized that while Hawk stood at our table, the cafeteria went quieter, and most of the students ran out like chickens as Hawk approached Vicki. As if they wanted to avoid being scolded or even worse, a detention or some other punishment for something that they may or may not have done.

  “She was with me,” I said waiting for Hawk to go crazy, he’d told me not to have anything to do with Vicki, and now I’d just told him that she’d spent the night with me. I expected his face to go red, but he adjusted his collar. That was his nervous tick, that was when I knew that I was getting to him, and he didn’t like it.

  James decided to explain the reason why his daughter had been w
ith me.

  “Vicki said that she saw someone come out of her room and she was scared about being alone. She doesn’t really have any friends here or know anyone else, and you weren’t around so we brought her to our suite.”

  Fuck! My brother had a big mouth. He had to say all that in the cafeteria? Why didn’t he fucking bend down on his knees and shine Hawk’s shoes too, while he was at it?

  Hawk scoffed, “I doubt it, not with the security. If someone was in your room, then the authorities would have been called. Vicki, I hope that after class, we can have a word. Maybe at dinner?”

  Again, she looked at me as if she wanted to know if it was okay to have dinner with him. Again, that annoyed Hawk as he adjusted his collar once again. Why the fuck did James tell him about there being someone in her room? I could tell that it upset Vicki, and that it was something that she planned on dealing with herself in her own time.

  I smiled at her, and she said, “Yes. That would be nice.”

  He nodded his head and said, “At seven. I’ll expect you at dinner.”

  “Okay,” she breathed a sigh of relief as he left the table. I expected James to follow him out the same way that he’d followed him in. Instead, he sat next to Vicki, and I looked at him. He avoided my stare.

  “I need to talk to him.” Vicki broke the silence. “You understand, right? It’s just that what he said kind of makes sense. There are cameras, if there was someone in my room, then they would have been spotted. I must have just imagined it.”

  I held her hand, “Do you think you did?”

  I knew the answer to my question before she even shook her head.

  She held even tighter on to my hand, as if the idea of her imagination going wild one minute was erased by my eyes the next.