Tangled: A New Adult Romance Boxed Set (12 Book Bundle of Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Royalty)

by Lakes, Krista

  “You don’t need to talk to him.” Derek’s body vibrated with suppressed rage.

  She knew what that coiled form meant. Just one word from her, and he would make a move against Angelo.

  “Jaike?”

  “No. I have to do this myself.” She forced herself to say the words even though all she wanted was to lean on Derek and let the inevitable happen.

  Jaike pushed her way into the throng of couples crowding the poolside, stopping only when she stood half a foot away from Angelo and the unknown girl in his arms. Shouldn’t Angelo have sensed her presence by now? They were still oblivious, and that hurt even more. Angelo used to know the moment she came into a room he was in, no matter how many other people were with them, no matter how noisy, no matter how busy he was.

  The pain of his betrayal began to sink in, and she struggled to control her chaotic emotions when the other girl enfolded Angelo in an embrace, pulling his head down for an open-mouthed kiss.

  What now, she wondered. Should she scream and make a scene? Should she burst into tears like she wanted to and wait if Angelo would comfort or ditch her? In the end, all she could think of doing was...tap. Her fingers played on Angelo’s broad and hard shoulder like they were a piano.

  Nothing.

  She had to tap thrice.

  Oh God, he was so into the other girl Jaike – his girlfriend - had to tap thrice!

  Angelo finally tore his mouth away from the girl’s. When he turned to her, there wasn’t even a flicker of surprise, no sign of guilt or regret coloring his gaze.

  The Angelo she knew had been the gentlest and sweetest man alive, a guy who always did what was best for her.

  The Angelo in front of her was a stranger. He was still the tall, dark, handsome Italian-American Jaike had cared for, but those were the only things that she could recognize. Everything else was different. His eyes used to be so bright when looking at her, but now they were completely hard. Even his clothes were all wrong, with his gray silk polo unbuttoned almost all the way to his navel and even a bite mark in the middle of his bare chest. He wasn’t the typical flamboyant Latin lover, but now he could easily pass for a first-class gigolo.

  “What’s wrong, caro?”

  Jaike wanted to gag. Angelo had asked her to call him ‘caro’, too, which meant ‘darling’ in Italian. Now this girl was doing the same, in front of her, and in such a shrill voice that Jaike half-expected Angelo to curse right after.

  Angelo hated shrill voices, and it had been one of his few explicit requests that Jaike speak with him in a soft voice all the time because it soothed his ears. But the seconds ticked past, and Angelo still hadn’t spoken, didn’t even seem to hear the girl freaking out next to him.

  “Do you want me to talk to her?” the girl demanded more shrilly when Angelo still hadn’t uttered a word. She turned to Jaike, chin jutting upward aggressively.

  Recognition instantly hit her and Jaike’s eyes widened in disbelief. Rosie Parsley? Angelo was cheating her with Rosie Parsley? Sure, everyone knew Rosie was a hot lay, but that was the problem itself. Everyone knew the fact firsthand, and she couldn’t imagine someone as possessive as Angelo wanting a girl who liked being every male’s common property. He used to brood all the time when Derek so much as glanced at her, but now he was cheating on her with someone who practically did everyone on the varsity squad. For three sports.

  Rosie’s gaze insolently traveled over Jaike’s form from head to toe. “Are you just going to stand there or what?”

  Jaike forced herself to look away from the other girl, focusing on Angelo. Her voice shook as she asked, “Angelo? Can we talk?”

  “No, you can’t,” Rosie snapped.

  Jaike didn’t even look at her, keeping her gaze at Angelo. “Please, Angelo?” She wasn’t above begging. She needed him so, so badly.

  Angelo’s eyes darkened with something that so closely resembled regret it sparked a light of hope inside Jaike. But then it was gone, his gaze cold once more and Jaike knew she could have only imagined it out of desperation.

  Just when she thought he would leave her hanging, Angelo said quietly, “Later. Just go home and we’ll talk about it later.”

  A part of her, Jaike realized sickly, wanted to do just that. She had never disobeyed anything Angelo asked of her, never. She had craved Angelo’s controlling nature the way a junkie needed to be high. If he was in control, she was in control. It was that simple. But now it wasn’t.

  “I need to know why you’re doing this now.”

  “You really want to do this now? Here?”

  “Yes.” She had barely finished answering when Angelo gave her what she asked.

  “You’re the coldest, most boring prude I’ve had the misfortune to date.” Angelo raised a brow. “Is that reason enough for you?”

  Numbness wrapped around her heart, the shock so great she couldn’t even feel hurt by his words. Tears stung her eyes as she stared at Angelo, but his face didn’t soften. He had always been gentle with her, never raising his voice, never losing his temper or patience. The most he did was frown to show his disappointment, and she would be so damn eager to make it up to him.

  Jaike no longer felt. She simply existed.

  Angelo’s arm went around Rosie’s waist. “Now that you’ve—-”

  “Jaike?”

  She spun so fast at the sound of that voice she almost stumbled. It was a sound she used to run away from but now it was that one and only sound she could cling to.

  Derek stood before her, utterly at ease being the cynosure of everyone’s eyes. He gazed at her like she was the center of his world, uncaring of the silent and expectant crowd that had gathered around them. His beautiful face showed no clue to his thoughts and feelings, making the next words that came out from his mouth all the more surprising.

  “Is everything all right, baby?”

  Chapter Four

  Derek crossed to her side immediately, his jaw clenching hard at the sight of Jaike’s tear-stained eyes.

  Jaike numbly watched a small frown crease Derek’s forehead as he bent close. It was only when he cradled her face and wiped her tears away with his thumbs that she realized she had been crying. “I’m here, baby,” he whispered, concern mingled with fury darkening his gaze.

  “Who the hell are you calling baby, Christopoulos?” Angelo roared from behind, but Jaike couldn’t see him, with Derek’s tall and lean form blocking almost everyone from her view.

  “My girlfriend, who else?”

  Jaike’s eyes flew to Derek, stunned at his words. He gazed back at her expressionlessly, as if leaving it to her to accept or denounce his claim. Her lips parted, but no words came out.

  He gave her a tender smile, as if reassuring her that there wasn’t any rush. “Are you okay?”

  Even as Jaike nodded, her body started to tremble, the shock of what had just transpired finally catching up with the rest of her. Derek moved away reluctantly, stepping back to stand at her side.

  The first thing Jaike saw was the distance suddenly separating Angelo and Rosie, the other girl fuming when she reached out for Angelo’s hand and he batted it away instead. The second was the look of betrayal in Angelo’s dark gaze, sending a shaft of such acute distress through her that she almost cried out.

  Even though a part of her wanted to go to Angelo, she held herself stiffly in place, her hand instinctively searching for Derek’s and gripping it as tightly as she could. Why was Angelo looking at her like she had hurt him when he had been the one to break them apart? His unexpected betrayal was like a chainsaw that had hacked her heart into pieces, something she didn’t know how to survive without Derek at her side.

  “Baby?” The aching sweetness in Derek’s voice made her look at him, unconsciously pleading for something she couldn’t put a label to. All she knew was that Derek was the only one who could give it to her.

  The look of surrender in Jaike’s eyes nearly had Derek undone, but he managed to keep his control even though all he wante
d was to snatch her into his arms and finally have a taste of her lips. Keeping his voice gentle, he asked, “Did you tell him then?”

  Jaike found herself suddenly being pulled to Derek’s side, one arm going around her waist with casual intimacy. She shivered again, for an entirely different reason. The touch felt like the start of something she had waited and avoided for so long, the moment when Derek Christopoulos was finally claiming her as his.

  His gaze on Jaike, Derek caressed her cheek with his knuckles as he told Angelo, “I don’t understand why you have to be so furious, Valencia. You seem to have someone else in your life as well. Jaike didn’t mean to fall in love with me but she did so she went here to do the right thing and tell you.”

  The words he didn’t say but implied were clear to everyone. Jaike had the decency not to play around. Angelo didn’t.

  “I wanted to be the one to tell you, but she wanted to do things right.” It was another not-so-subtle dig.

  Angelo visibly bristled, but he still remained silent, his lips stiffly pressed together.

  Derek’s broad shoulders moved in an elegant shrug as he turned back to Angelo with a smile, his hand moving down to curl around the side of her hip. “But now she’s said it. Don’t you think it’s better if we put the past behind now and move on?”

  Jaike jerked in shock when she realized where Angelo was staring, his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flaring in fury as he stared at where Derek’s hand was holding her with familiar ease, a place that even he hadn’t ever touched. His face was filled with loathing as he glanced at her, snapping, “Is this true?”

  And slowly, she heard herself saying, “Yes.”

  Beside her, Derek’s body relaxed, and it was only then she realized how he had been standing so tensely while waiting for her answer.

  “You’re right.” The coy smile Rosie flashed at Derek made Jaike feel sick. “We should let bygones be bygones and just be happy together.”

  Jaike wanted to throw up. She couldn’t help turning to Angelo, searching for any signs of dismay in his handsome face. Couldn’t he see how the other girl was flirting with Derek? She knew Angelo was out of her league. She had known that from the very start, but at least she was and would have always been faithful to her, something Rosie could never be.

  But Angelo was no longer looking at her or anyone else. “Fuck you, Christopoulos,” he said brusquely, and then he was walking away, dragging his date with him.

  Marcy suddenly bounced into view. “Oh God, I can’t believe you had the courage to tell Angelo the truth and then this happened!” Her voice was unnaturally loud, making Jaike wince. Subtlety was so not Marcy’s forte.

  Derek still had his arm around her. Five minutes ago, his touch would have sent her into a panic but now it was something that kept her world in balance, something she actually felt desperate not to lose.

  “I want to go home,” Jaike whispered, more to herself.

  “I’ll take you,” Derek said immediately.

  Marcy nodded helpfully. “Yes, take your girlfriend home now, Derek.” Her eyes twinkled.

  If she could just summon enough energy, she’d be glaring at Marcy by now. She was not Derek’s girlfriend! She wasn’t anyone’s girlfriend! She was an ex-girlfriend. That was what she was. An ex-girlfriend! The thought threatened her resolve, making Jaike shudder involuntarily.

  Fifteen months. For fifteen months she had allowed herself to dream, had dared to believe that her life was finally going to be perfectly predictable because she had the right man next to her.

  She remembered laughing with Angelo as they argued about her choice of paperbacks in the bookstore. She remembered the times he would wake her up with a sweet chaste kiss on her lips if he caught her asleep on her laptop. Jaike remembered a lot more, but the memories that used to make her smile were now like knife stabs into her heart. They were so beautiful, and they were so fake.

  Derek’s arm tightened around her, and his voice was tight with worry when he spoke. “You don’t look good.”

  “I’m...fine.” She was. She had to be. She had been alone before. She could do it again.

  The walk back to Blake Hall was spent in silence. All she could do was concentrate on breathing and doing her best not to break down.

  Derek’s arm remained protectively curled around her shoulders even all the way up in the elevator. When they reached her floor, her fingers trembled as she fumbled for the keys inside her bag.

  Jaike turned around when she finally managed to unlock her door. “W-would you like to come in?” The words felt like they were from a Nicholas Sparks movie – it was that unreal, a bad omen that would somehow get a happily-ever-after.

  Was she really asking Derek Christopoulos to come inside her room?

  Derek stared at her for a long moment before nodding. “I’d like that, thanks.”

  And then he stepped inside with her and closed the door behind him.

  Jaike stared at Derek, a bit of her sanity returning and causing her to experience a sliver of panic as Derek’s gaze settled on her, his thoughts hidden behind the blank mask on his face.

  The room suddenly felt smaller and hotter, dominated by the sheer impact of his presence. She forgot about Rosie, about Angelo, about everything else. All she could see, feel, and think of was Derek.

  “Jaike.”

  Just that one word told her everything she didn’t want to know. The way he said her name, the way his eyes burned with a purposeful glitter—-

  Once she had asked him why he kept bothering to be nice to her, when he so clearly didn’t lack for female company and she so clearly wasn’t comfortable in his presence. Then, he had only given her a smile that could have meant anything.

  But tonight, he was answering her.

  Derek Christopoulos wanted to be her fucking Dom.

  Literally.

  Chapter Five

  Three Years Earlier

  Angelo Valencia, dressed in his usual pretty-preppy boy shit, was making a move on the girl Derek wanted more than anything in his life. Eighteen fucking years old and Valencia dressed like he was headed to the NYSE. Who the fuck wore a tie to a post-orientation bash for freshmen? They were called fucking fresh for a goddamn reason.

  Unfortunately, the chick that had caught his eye seemed to dig Valencia’s style. Derek knew this for a fact since he stood close enough to hear every word exchanged between her and the prick.

  “Don’t let those girls bother you,” Angelo was murmuring.

  Derek knew the other guy was talking about the bitches that had surrounded the girl earlier. He was usually laidback, but even his hackles had immediately risen at the way those stupid bitches had talked shit about Jaike. He had been about to go over and help her, but Angelo had appeared out of nowhere, beating him to the punch.

  She smiled at the other man, her face softening. “I never do. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  Angelo grinned. “Good. I was afraid I’d have to join my first bitch fight just to protect you.”

  She laughed, the melodic sound stroking Derek like a siren’s call.

  The two spent more than a few minutes chatting and laughing. Her smile was breath-taking. It was the most beautiful thing about her, lighting her face up in a way that made him want to find out if she would give him that smile if - no, when – he took her body.

  His fists clenched as Jaike kept on smiling at the other man. Derek wanted to hoard her smile so that no other man would know how lovely she was.

  “I have to go,” Valencia said when a faculty member waved him to come over from the opposite side of the auditorium. He stepped in front of Jaike, which placed him directly in Derek’s line of vision as well.

  A possessive warning glinted in Valencia’s gaze just before he bent down to kiss Jaike on the cheek.

  Fucking asshole. Derek wanted to beat the other man up but knew it wouldn’t help him. He wasn’t blind. A lot of girls went for the bad boy – the rebel without a cause, but he knew that Jaike H
epburn was not like that. She would choose Valencia over him because she was the type to want someone she was comfortable with, someone who wouldn’t make her heart race or force her to lose control.

  Jaike Hepburn would not want someone like Derek Christopoulos – even if she needed him as much as he needed her.

  “Hi.” He strolled towards her as soon as Valencia turned his back, uncaring if the other man heard him or not.

  She had the look of a cornered rabbit as she took in all of him. Derek almost groaned at his bad choice of words. They made him imagine Jaike on her knees, taking his throbbing dick into her mouth.

  “H-hi.” It had taken Jaike quite a while to speak, and Derek tried not to be offended at how she clearly didn’t want to look anywhere but him.

  “I’m Derek by the way.” He suppressed a smile as she ducked her head so she could pretend she didn’t see his outstretched hand.

  “Jaike Hepburn,” she mumbled.

  “I know.”

  Her head snapped up.

  “I’ve been watching you the moment you arrived.”

  A bemused look entered her eyes.

  “I’m thinking maybe we could go out after this, just to get to know each other better?”

  Her face turned red. “Umm, no, sorry, but thanks.”

  It took more than a moment for Derek to realize that she had shot him down.

  He tried again. “Are you worried because I’m a stranger? I’m a Christopoulos.” He tried not to flush at the words. He had never used his name as a bargaining tool, but for this girl he was apparently willing to do anything. “The whole school can vouch for me.”

  “I know you’re a...a...Christopoulos.” She had a cute frustrated look in her eyes, but it wasn’t enough to make him take pity. His pride was stung, knowing that she was implicitly choosing Valencia over him. Was she really that much of a fool to think she would be satisfied with second best?