Real Girl: Aston Creek High (Book 4)

by Sheridan Anne

  Skylah nods, meeting my eyes once again. “He wants me now more than ever.”

  Damian’s hand slams down over the hood of my truck. “FUCK,” he roars, throwing his hands to his head and pacing back and forth. “When is this shit going to end?”

  “It won’t,” Noah says. “Guys like this don’t stop until they win. They’re not like you and me. They have the funds to get away with whatever the fuck they want and they won’t stop until they get it.”

  “He’s right,” Skylah whispers. “We either fight and win or we lose and suffer.”

  I drop my forehead to hers, knowing there’s no way I can convince her to get in my truck and let me drive her home. “Have I ever told you the meaning of virago?” I murmur, keeping our conversation to ourselves.

  Her brows furrow in confusion, wondering why I’m bringing up her nickname at a time like this. “It’s a violent, bad-tempered woman, just like me.”

  I shake my head, letting a grin pull at my lips. “While all that about you is true, the original meaning of the term virago is a female warrior, a woman with heroic qualities, strength, and courage…a woman just like you. That very first time I called you virago, that’s the meaning I was referring to. I’ve always seen you that way. So, if this is what you want to do, and you’re ready, then I’m right by your side.”

  Her eyes close moments before she brushes her lips over mine. “I love you,” she tells me.

  “I know,” I whisper. “I fucking love you too.”

  She nods, opening her eyes again. “Then let’s do this. Let’s end it.”

  Chapter 17

  I direct Slade to park in the blind spot of Lucien’s ridiculously over-the-top security system. I can’t believe we’re actually going to go through with this, but I need to put an end to it. I refuse to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.

  Slade glances over at me as Rivers’ Firebird comes to a stop behind us. “Last chance?” he questions, always wanting to give me another option. He hates that I’m doing this, not because of what will result from it, but more because of what kind of effect it might have on me.

  “We’re doing this,” I tell him, knowing that no matter what decision I make here tonight, he’ll be standing right by my side, supporting me the whole way.

  Slade nods. “Right, then let’s go.”

  I swing open the passenger’s side door of his Dodge RAM and jump down, stumbling forward as the pain in my feet is too much for me to handle. Damian is there and catches me with his strong hand around my upper arm. “You good?” he murmurs, looking up at the massive gate that surrounds the mansion, making it some sort of fortress.

  “Yeah,” I say with a small cringe, trying to hide just how much pain I’m in, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’ve been, raped, shot, drowned, and even killed a man. What’s a few scratched on bruised feet?

  Rivers and Noah get out of the Firebird and meet Slade around the back of his truck. Damian and I walk over to meet them and we all start hauling shit out and pulling backpacks up our arms.

  Slade meets my eyes at least four times while we grab our shit, waiting for me to break and preparing himself to jump in like my knight in shining armor, more than ready to curl me into his chest and take me home. He wants me as far away from this shit as possible. Hell, had we decided to go straight home and skip tonight, I’m sure he would have packed me a bag, got us both false identities, and ran, leaving it all behind, but he knows I wouldn’t be able to do it. I couldn’t leave Shay and Blake like that just like he wouldn’t have the heart to leave his family.

  On some level, he knows that this is our only option. It’s not just me and my family at stake anymore. Maria and Lucian Valentine are a threat to his family, our friends, our homes, and our future.

  With everything we need, Slade steps in beside me as we walk the fifteen steps to the gate. It’s fucking massive. I’ve always known it was big but I can’t say I’ve ever stood under it like this, trying to work out how to get over it.

  Rivers looks around at our small group. “You all know what to do?” he questions as though this is one of his marine missions. Rivers meets each of our eyes, making sure we’re all on board and not liable to fuck this up. After all, we don’t intend on getting caught tonight and one fuck up could have us all behind bars.

  Rivers waits until we’ve all confirmed that we know our parts and with that, he looks up at the top of the gate. “Let’s go.”

  Slade is the first to move, dumping his things at the bottom of the black gate and backing up a few steps. I watch him with wide eyes. I know he said he’s done this before but no…he couldn’t have. This gate is fucking huge. It’s not possible.

  He strides forward, picking up incredible speed in such a short amount of time before launching himself up into the air. I gawk, unable to look away. He’s fucking amazing. I swear, there’s nothing this man can’t do.

  His hands reach the top of the gate and with impressive strength, he hauls himself up to the top. Slade gets to his feet and turns to look back down at me, chuckling as he sees the disbelief on his face. “You didn’t think I could do it, did you?”

  I shrug my shoulders as Noah moves in beside me and grabs Slade’s forgotten bags. “I mean, I had my doubts,” I say with a grin, reveling in the lighthearted banter that has me able to forget the heaviness if only for a slight moment.

  Slade rolls his eyes as Noah launches the bags up at him. He catches them effortlessly and slips the bags onto his back as Noah turns back to me, interlocking his fingers and leaning down, preparing to propel me up to Slade.

  Well, shit. This is either going to be a shitload of fun or an absolute tragedy. Let’s hope for fun. After all, he is propelling me up to the man I’m crazy about and in my book, that’s always a positive.

  I step into Noah and put my foot up into his hands and Damian comes to my back, ready to catch me if I was to fall. “You ready?” Noah murmurs.

  I nod. “Yeah, just do it.”

  “Okay. 1…2…”

  As the number three comes out of his mouth, I push up off the ground with everything I have as Noah throws me up into the sky. Slade catches my hands and easily pulls me up to my feet beside him.

  “Holy shit,” I breathe, holding tightly onto his arm. I mean, I’ve never been afraid of heights, but I’m open to changing my mind.

  With Slade needing to catch bags that are tossed up here, I sit down on the edge, gripping the thick gate and hoping I don’t fall.

  Over the next two minutes, the guys start helping each other up and soon enough, the five of us are staring up at the big mansion which no doubt, still has a body lying in the hallway outside Lucien’s office.

  Slade drops down into the grass below, landing in a low crouch and I watch in awe as the other three do the same thing. My brow raises and I peer over the edge. There’s no fucking way. I’d rather live for the rest of eternity up here than jump all the way down there. Though, wasn’t it less than twenty-four hours that I jumped down from Blake’s second-story window? It’s amazing how a little fear can motivate a person.

  “Come on, Virago. I’ll catch you.”

  I put the thoughts of my twisted ankle and impending doom to the back of my mind and close my eyes. I trust him completely. There’s no way in hell Slade would allow me to fall.

  Feeling better about the situation, I stop wasting time and step off the gate. I quickly drop to the ground and just as promised, Slade catches me and steadies me on my feet. “Good?”

  I look up and meet the eyes that I’ve missed so damn much over the past two weeks. “Good.”

  His eyes soften and he reluctantly releases my waist. He turns to face the boys, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Alright,” he says, lighting up the screen and glancing down at the time. “It’s 2:23 am. We have seven minutes to get into position. You all remember where to go once you’re inside? Rivers and Noah, you guys are taking the south side, and we’re on the north.”

  Dam
ian nods as Noah and Rivers grunt their confirmation. “Good. We meet back at the top of the driveway at 2:45. Don’t be late.”

  We all nod and as we go to run toward the house, Rivers calls out, his eyes staring into mine. “Hey, don’t try to be a hero, okay? That’s how people get hurt.”

  “Got it,” I tell him just seconds before Slade tugs on my hand, pulling me along.

  Rivers and Noah break off to the south, aiming for the back staff entrance while we head to the north which will give us access by the pool.

  We run and to be honest, most of it is spent with Slade and Damian having to pull me along. The property is huge and it takes nearly the whole seven minutes to get to the house. I’ve never noticed how long it would actually take to run this before. Growing up, if I needed to get around the property, I would take the golf cart. There’s only ever been twice where I’ve run out of here and both times there was too much desperation coursing through my veins to notice how long it took. This time, my head is screwed on straight and I have my boys with me.

  We reach the back entrance with a minute to spare and I lean up against the side of the house, trying to catch my breath. Once we’re in there, we’re going to have to be quiet. I don’t want to get sprung before we get a shot at ending this.

  I watch the clock and the second it hits 2:30 am, I hash in the alarm code, making it possible for us all to get in. The little red dot beeps three times and I hold my breath, hoping to God that the code hasn’t changed. It finally turns green and relief sails through me.

  “We’re good,” I say, grabbing the handle and pushing the door open.

  We sneak in and I try to ignore the way Damian looks around the house as though he’s in some kind of fairytale, absolutely mesmerized by the sheer size of it. These guys wouldn't have seen anything like this in Aston Creek, only ever in movies, and that’s if they were ever watching the movie. I’m assuming guys like Slade and Damian are more inclined to use a movie as an excuse to get their freak on.

  We make our way through the main part of the house and I lead them to the stairs, having complete trust that Rivers and Noah are doing their part. Shit is going to go down and while this is all going to be on me, I don’t want any innocents getting hurt during this.

  We walk through the great hall when Damian stops and stares up at the statue of Maria. “The fuck is this?” he whispers. “What kind of rich bitch has a statue of herself inside their home?”

  I roll my eyes. “You’d be surprised.”

  Damian shakes his head then steps up to the statue, roaming his eyes over every inch. “Is this thing to scale?” he questions, looking over the statue’s tits.

  I nod. “Uh-huh. The nose isn’t though. Maria wanted it smaller but she’s already had three surgeries on it and the doctors wouldn’t operate on it anymore. So, she admires this nose every day rather than looking in the mirror at her own.”

  “Welcome to the sad, sad lives of the rich and famous,” Damian murmurs, stepping into the statue and having a good feel of its titties. “Damn. These have got to be fake.”

  “They are.”

  “Can we get a move on?” Slade demands. ‘We’re going to run out of time if you insist on feeling up every statue in the house. I’m sure there’s probably one of Lucien’s cock if you want to find that.”

  “It’s in the master bathroom,” I confirm.

  Damian gawks, looking back at me. “For real?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  His eye catches something over my shoulder and he grins wide as Slade and I turn around to see what he’s found. Damian cuts through between us until he’s standing at the side of the room, staring down at a bowl of the most expensive jewelry he’s ever seen.

  His eyes light up like Christmas morning and I let out a low groan. Maria likes to meet with her jewelers in the great hall as it has the best lighting in the house and from the looks of it, she must have met with them today and the staff has neglected to put her priceless things away. I’m sure someone’s going to lose their job over that, but it’s not my problem to think about.

  I see the devilish plan inside of Damian’s mind as he picks up a diamond necklace and dangles it between his fingers. “Nessa would really like this,” he says, glancing back at me and Slade, knowing that what he’s thinking is bad and waiting for one of us to tell him that we’re not going to hold it against him.

  I roll my eyes. “Just take it. She has at least forty of those. She won’t even notice that one is missing.”

  Damian silently fists pumps the sky. “Fuck, yeah,” he says with a wide grin, trying to keep quiet.

  The diamond necklace is slipped inside his pocket and I hope to God that Rivers and Noah are also taking advantage of their little roam around this mansion but something tells me that they have a little more self-control than Damian Wilder.

  Getting back on track, we sneak up the stairs and along the landing until we get to Blake’s room. I throw open the doors and barge through with the guys on my heels. I start searching through his closet for a bag and the second I find it, I toss it to the boys who start grabbing all of Blake’s shit, beginning with all his signed basketball jerseys and filling it up, knowing that we'll never get a chance to see this stuff again.

  Damian goes for Blake’s watches and cufflinks, things that would get us mugged in Aston creek and tosses them in until the bag is full. Once I’ve gone through and found all his sentimental things, Slade and I walk out, leaving Damian behind.

  I lead him down to my room and let out a deep breath as I reach the handle. “Is this your room?” he murmurs. “The place where…”

  “Yeah,” I say, reading his thoughts. The place where Lucien raped me.

  Slade nods and grabs the handle over the top of my hand and helps me push the door open. “You can do this.”

  “Yeah,” I agree, stepping into the room. “Let's get this over and done with.”

  Slade follows me in and takes a quick look around. “Is there anything you want to keep?”

  I shake my head. “None of it.”

  He nods and not a second later, he dumps the bag on my bed and starts pulling out one of the many aluminum cans of petrol. He uncaps it and goes to start pouring when I stop him with a hand on his arm. “I want to do it.”

  Slade meets my eyes, looking weary. “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah,” I say, reaching for the jerry can. “I’ve never been so sure.”

  Slade passes it over and realizing that we’re quickly running out of time, I start dousing my room in petrol, cringing as the smell burns my nose.

  After thoroughly drenching the room, we move onto the bathroom, the media room, and all the living spaces except for Lucien and Maria’s bedroom. After all, we’re not murderers here. Well, at least Damian and Slade aren’t murderers. I don’t know about Noah, but it isn't exactly something that Rivers and I want to do again.

  Tonight is about stealing everything from them just as they did to me. They took my parents, my home, and thirteen years of my life. Lucien stole my innocence and Maria took everything else. I know there’s a lot I will never be able to get back, but tonight, I can make a stand. From tonight onwards, they will know to never fuck with me again.

  We meet Damian at the bottom of the stairs and together, we race out the front door, meeting Noah and Rivers halfway up the drive. We all stop to look back at the mansion, looking so peaceful and calm in the night.

  Rivers pulls out a little device from his pocket and hands it to me. “All you have to do is push the little red button and it’s all over.”

  “All over?” I confirm.

  “It’ll light up like the fourth of July.”

  I let out a breath as Slade’s fingers slip into mine. I hold the button up. “Alright then,” I say, unable to take my eyes off the mansion that holds so many horrendous and toxic memories. “Let’s watch this sucker burn.”

  Chapter 18

  There’s a loud boom and within seconds, an orange glow begins app
earing in every single window of the mansion, rapidly getting more vibrant by the second. Flames begin licking up the walls and soon enough, they spread throughout the whole house.

  I can’t tear my eyes away. “Did you get the staff out?” I question Rivers and Noah who stand beside us, looking at their handiwork. Rivers with a satisfied smirk while Noah looks pretty pissed off with himself. He was telling us earlier that he works as a fireman so I bet following through with this wouldn’t have been easy for him, but he wasn’t backing down. I guess we just have to be lucky that we have him on our team to help if things were to go south.

  “Yep, they’re all safe and off the property,” Rivers tells us.

  “How’d you get them out?” Slade questions. “You didn’t tell them what we were doing?”

  “Fuck, no.” Rivers shakes his head. “I may or may not have impersonated a police officer and said there was an explosive found on the second floor. They ran out of there quicker than Noah fell for my sister.”

  I raise a brow. With the tone in Rivers’ voice, I feel as though there’s a story to be heard there, but seeing as though the property I grew up in is currently going up in flames, I might wait to hear the story another time.

  I hear windows shattering and moments later, thick black smoke starts billowing out of the house. “Come on,” Slade says, tugging on my arm as we see the flames completely taking over the lower level. “It’s time to go.”

  I shake my head. “No. I’m not leaving. I want them to see me. They need to know it was me who took it all away from them.”

  “Sky,” he begs.