My parents had beaten me black and blue because the dealer refused to do any more business with them until I let him take my virginity. Their attempts at persuasion didn’t go down well because I threatened to stab them both, too—and I did stick my father when he tried to grab me and make me do it.
After I told her about the attempted rape, Diona gasped at the sight of all my scars and I swallowed hard. “I tried to run away a few times after that. I had a twin brother, but I’m not sure what happened to him. Then, in the course of one month, I went from trailer trash to debutante. So, I understand what you’re going through.”
“Tori, I didn’t know,” she whispered as tears pricked at the corner of her eyes.
“I’m not asking for pity,” I scoffed. “I just want you to understand that I get it. I feel what you’re going through, and I’m always here if you need someone to listen to. I don’t know what your relationship with Professor Darren is, but know that I’m always here if you need someone else to talk to.”
She nodded meekly as she sniffled.
“I promise,” she vowed. “If Colten ever gets on your nerves again, you let me know.”
“And you’ll perform your voodoo magic on him?” I teased with a grin.
She laughed, wiping away her tears with a genuine smile. “You know it. After all, a Slytherin only helps a fellow Slytherin.”
I’d yet to watch that movie series, but I smiled back at her, feeling much closer to Diona after this little revelation.
Chapter Eleven
Colten
She didn’t even look up from her flip phone when I approached her in the parking lot. A part of me was furious she didn’t seem aware of her surroundings when I came up on her from behind after she got off work.
“You need to be more careful with your surroundings.”
“I’m not too concerned,” she replied, finishing her text before turning to me. She wore a black t-shirt and skin-tight jeans that made her legs seem to go on for miles. She adjusted the tote on her shoulder and tucked her phone into her front pocket. “After all, I already have one stalker to scare off the rest of them.”
Her comment riled me up. I knew her driver had been picking her up from work every single time she got off. How did I know? Because I fucking came and checked. I’d practically memorized her schedule for both her classes and her job. After those two men the other day, I wasn’t taking any chances that someone would take what I considered to be mine.
Taking out an item I had been carrying around with me all morning, I walked towards her and shoved it in front of her face. She scrunched up her nose and then squinted her eyes. “What’s this?”
“An invitation,” I simply stated.
“For what?” she demanded as she opened up the envelope. God, I felt like such a teenager asking a girl out for the first time as she opened it. It was so quiet I could hear the crickets chirping nearby, along with the trees rustling ever so slightly. As usual, her face was expressionless, giving nothing away. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she looked up. “What am I looking at?”
“I need a date,” I stated.
“So you decide to ask the nobody you’re so fond of destroying?” she snorted as she handed it back to me. “No, thank you.”
“No, you’re going,” I growled out. “That wasn’t an option. You’re going to be my date on Sunday.”
“I have work,” she deadpanned.
“I talked to Yvette and gave you a day off,” I retorted. I also ensured that no matter what Tori did, she wouldn’t be fired from her job. Hell, for all I care, she could throw water on people’s faces and spit on their food, and I’d still make sure she didn’t get fired. “I’ll pay you to come with me as my date.”
She gave me a skeptical look. “Is this some sort of trick to embarrass me at your party with your rich friends?”
“Besides Hudson and Zayn being there, it will just be a bunch of rich adults,” I explained.
The corners of her lips curved upwards. “So you’re admitting you aren’t one?”
I was close to strangling this girl with my bare hands.
“Keep talking like that, and I won’t drive you home,” I threatened. “In case you’re wondering, I sent Reed away already.”
He had been quite reluctant at first. I was surprised by the friendship and care he had for Tori, considering he didn’t even spare a glance when it came to Nina.
She frowned, arching up a brow. “You know his name?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I grunted, shoving my hand into my pocket. “Anyway, you’re coming with me. It’s in two days. I’m sure you don’t have a dress so we can get one tomorrow. I’ll drive us to the mall or something.”
“Can’t you get anyone else to go with you?” She cocked her head to the side. “One of your sheep?”
Truthfully, most girls would kill to go to this event. It was the affair of the century. Being there meant you’d been accepted into our world. You’d be instantly connected, and being seen as my date also gave a boost in power and status. Yet, despite all that, the person I invited looked as if she would prefer to do anything else but accompany me. Another knock to my ego that I didn’t need.
“You’re going,” I said, my patience thinning. “I don’t care if I have to drag you out of Nina’s house kicking and screaming tomorrow.”
“What is it that you want from me?” she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her shoulders sagged, and she looked tired and thoroughly fed up as her eyes met mine. “Why me, Colten? Why me of all people?”
Honestly, I had no idea.
“Why do you think it’s you?” I asked her back, hoping she could help answer or draw a conclusion for me. It made no sense. She wasn’t my type. I loved submissive girls who were willing to give me whatever I wanted. I should be dating someone of the same status. Yet… I loved to see her riled up.
But no, it was more than that. After the kiss and then the pool incident, seeing her at her most vulnerable state, something new in me had started to blossom.
It was a cross between obsession and possessiveness that grew stronger each day as I learned more about her.
Her eyes found mine as she cupped my cheek. It was weird to have us both so calm and collected when we usually collided and burned like a wildfire. “Because you’re bored with your privileged lifestyle,” she started. “You want the first shot at the shiny new toy that doesn’t roll over and give in to whatever you want. I challenge you and you want me to submit. To yield. And once I do, you’ll give up. You want to break me.”
“You’re right. I do want to break you apart,” I acknowledged before taking a step closer to her. She straightened her back, and damn, I could practically smell her arousal from where I stood. She had to be wondering whether I’d manhandle her. “But you’re wrong about two things.”
“What?”
“The first being the assumption that once I get you to yield, to give up, to break, I’ll leave you,” I murmured, my hand slowly caressing her back. I loved the way the hair on her body seemed to stand on end as she took a sharp breath. To have her feel the same way I did was so damn intoxicating, reminding me of our explosive kiss. “I have to admit, it was my initial plan.” My lips were inches from hers.
“Of course,” she snickered, trying to turn away before I tightened my grip on her arm.
“But now, things have changed.” I grinned when her eyes widened. “Now, I want to break you even more. I want you to surrender everything to me, and I want to keep you. Now that I know how turned on you get with how I treat you, I realized the true reason you came to this town: for me.”
She gaped before narrowing her eyes at my revelation. “You’re out of your mind if you think I’m some sort of gift from God.”
“I don’t believe in God. But I believe in fate. It’s fate that you ended up at my party the night I was bored out of my mind and wishing for a new challenge.”
“Bullshit,” she hissed, her nose flaring.
> “I don’t care what you want to call it. Either way, I’m going to break you,” I said, my cock throbbing at the thought of seeing how beautiful she would be when I did. How she’d heed my every command as I took her over and over again. The thought of breaking what I believed to be one of the strongest girls on Earth sent shivers raking down my spine with excitement.
Ever so slowly, she licked her lips, and I followed the movement as if hypnotized. “What will you do after that?”
“I’ll build you back up, Starlight. I’ll make it so you only rely on me,” I vowed. “So that only I can become your home when you stray too far.”
A flicker of new emotion flashed in her eyes before it disappeared again at the word home. I couldn’t get a good grasp of why that word provoked such emotion in her, but before I could start to figure it out, her phone went off and killed the moment. A scowl found its way to my face. I’d come to notice that one particular person called her most often.
Someone named Justin Goodrich.
I had no clue who he was to her—she’d never told me she had a boyfriend. Either way, I wasn’t going to allow her to get swooped up by anyone besides me.
She reached into her pocket and I grabbed it out of her hand. She didn’t even have the chance to protest when I threw it onto the floor and crushed it under my feet. Just like that, the fire in her eyes and the moment we’d shared was gone. She poked me hard on the chest with her finger. “What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why did you smash my phone?”
I was losing my shit thinking that she might have been with some other guy.
“It’s ridiculously out of date. I’ll buy you a new one.”
“I don’t want a new one,” she hissed through clenched teeth, her nose flaring. “That’s it, I’m not going.”
“You are so. I’m hiring you as my date.”
“Don’t make me laugh,” she countered. “It really must be the end of the world if Colten Fitzgerald wants to ask me out after declaring me as his mortal enemy.”
“Well, I did,” I said. “I’m picking you up tomorrow. We’re going shopping for a new dress, a new phone, and whatever other crap you need.”
“I’m not a charity case.”
“I never said you were!” I barked back.
When I’d come to her workplace offering to take her home instead of Reed, I had everything planned out in my head. Sure, I’d felt a little guilty when I threw her into the pool so I wanted to be a bit nicer. Now, I wanted to run her over with my car out of pure frustration.
“Then why me?”
“Because I want you!” I hollered, my voice echoing around the empty parking lot.
Tori barely blinked in response. She wasn't scared in the slightest.
She stared at me head-on, even as I fisted her hair and pulled at it. She narrowed her eyes before I let go of her hair, but her neck tempted me like never before. I had the primal urge to cover her with fresh hickeys as I moved to clamp my mouth down hard on her. She gasped at my roughness but didn’t try to break away as I went away at her neck until I was satisfied.
Jumping up, she wrapped her long legs around my waist and I gripped onto her perfect ass for support while I continued. She ground hard onto me like a horny high schooler. Whimpers and moans tumbled from her lips.
“What are you doing to me?” I murmured hoarsely, pulling away temporarily. “I’ve never felt this way for anyone. Why you? Why fucking you, Tori?”
“Colten,” she breathlessly whimpered. “Fuck…” she continued to cry out as I continued to grind my hardened cock against her core. God, I wanted nothing more than to take her right here. We were both wet and hungry for more as I pulled away to admire what I’d done to her.
She was panting heavily, purple-maroon bruises scattered across her neck so beautifully, I was about to burst. I couldn’t figure out what it was about her, but I was moments from taking her in the backseat of my car, at least the parking lot was empty now, so there wasn’t going to be any witnesses. Something told me she wouldn’t mind, either.
Unfortunately, a car pulled up and honked, interrupting my plans. The headlights from the vehicle blinded us momentarily. A few moments later, I realized it was the Bower’s personal car as Reed got out.
“Reed,” Tori said, walking over to him.
“My apologies for my lateness. I’d heard Master Fitzgerald was going to pick you up but I got concerned when you hadn’t arrived home and didn’t answer your phone, Tori.”
She waved off the apology. “It’s fine. Thank you for checking up on me.”
“Not at all,” he bowed informally as he went to open the car door.
Right before she got into the car, I called out to her.
“Be ready by twelve sharp.”
And because she was Tori, she answered by flipping me off.
Chapter Twelve
Tori
“Where are you going?”
I stared at Nina, who was sitting on the kitchen island with a face mask on. She was wearing a white silken robe loosely tied around her waist with her hair tucked into a white towel. A magazine was propped on the table as she blasted music. She blinked a few times, and I debated whether I should lie to her or not before shrugging.
“To the mall.”
That was technically the truth.
“Finally going to cave in?” she said with a somewhat victorious smile. “Become one of the rich bimbos you said you hated so much?”
I rolled my eyes, but refused to tell her what I was doing there, nor give her the satisfaction of answering her. The last thing I wanted was for her to get on my case again because I was stealing her future husband or whatever.
I didn’t want Colten. In fact, the original goal I’d set up since I’d gotten here hadn’t changed.
I still wanted to get the money and get the hell out of town.
“I’ll be back around six,” I blatantly told her instead, grabbing my bag on the way out.
“Is Reed going to drive you?”
Translation: Is your babysitter going to follow you around?
“Yes,” I lied. “I’ve contacted him today.”
“Good,” she simply replied, not bothering to check if it was true or not. But, honestly, now that I realized it, Reed didn’t work on the weekend unless Nina had to be driven somewhere specifically. Other than that, he didn’t come in.
And I certainly wasn’t going to tell him to come.
The temptation to run away spoke loud and clear, but something seemed to be holding me back. I just had to survive less than one year of this nightmare. However the tiny voice in my head told me that slowly my life was turning around.
Justin’s offer still swirled at the back of my mind. I needed my phone but I wasn’t particularly happy when Colten said he was going to get it for me. Slipping on my black sandals to match with my shorts and tank top, I made my way out to the front and hoped Nina wouldn’t look out the window when what I assumed to be Colten’s luxury car pulled out front.
Of course, I had aggressively applied makeup once more to cover up the hickeys. Unfortunately, they seemed to be even bigger and deeper than last time. They’d taken layers of makeup to conceal properly.
When I first saw his handiwork in the mirror, my core throbbed, and my nipples tightened painfully as I imagined what he was like in bed.
Would he take me roughly if he found out that it was my first time?
Did I want him to?
Better yet, why was I even thinking about all of this?
Colten parked before stepping out with a grin on his face. In retribution, I narrowed my eyes and scowled at him. I really was contemplating sleeping in and letting Nina handle him. But then, I thought about it some more. Nina had already been giving me a hard time, and the last thing I wanted was more drama. Plus, he did smash my phone to a million pieces for no reason.
I’d just keep a tab of how much I’d spend at the mall and make sure to give him back the money before I left. It wasn’t hard to keep a t
ab as I’d been doing it for every single thing Aunt Winnie had given me.
I didn’t bother to thank him as he held open the door.
“Are you ready for our date today?”
“Oh, it’s a date now?” I threw back, my nose wrinkled in distaste. I’d never been on a date, and I felt confident this wasn’t going to be one, either. We were just going to grab a stupid dress he’d approve of and then get the cheapest phone before heading back. Sure, we’d shared two ground-shaking kisses that made me dripping wet for him, but he didn’t need to know. And I certainly wasn’t going to get involved any more than I had to.
If I played along, he’d get bored and leave. So, what he said about breaking me to rebuild me was a lie.
Him saying he wanted me to call him my home was a lie as well.
It had to be.
He started the engine of his car, and it roared to life, grateful Nina was nowhere to be seen. I scowled the whole way, refusing to show him how his reckless driving scared the shit out of me. My knuckles were white by the time we pulled into the mall’s parking garage. But, of course, he had his own designated parking, which didn’t surprise me in the slightest.
“Next time,” I ground out after shutting the door of his expensive car, “I’m taking the bus.
“Oh, come on, Starlight,” he ribbed. “My driving isn’t that bad.”
“You were going ninety at a sixty,” I pointed out, slinging my tote over my shoulder as I followed him through the entrance. “Then, you completely plowed through the stop sign coming into the mall.”
He only gave me a guilty smile and didn’t even try denying it. The mall was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. While most malls I’d been to were located indoors, this was an open-air shopping center. As far as I can tell, it’s only a luxury shopping place, with each store’s pricing starting at four digits already, which stumped me.
“Well, where should we start?” he questioned, tapping his chin thoughtfully as he looked around. His gaze then settled onto me as he frowned. “Do you have a favorite brand?”
Bringing down the Star: Small Town Bully Romance Book 1 Page 8