by R Holmes
Tarnished Vow
A Student Teacher Forbidden Romance
R. Holmes
Contents
About this Book
Playlist
Prologue
1. Sebastian
2. Presley
3. Sebastian
4. Presley
5. Sebastian
6. Sebastian
7. Presley
8. Sebastian
9. Presley
Present
10. Sebastian
11. Presley
12. Sebastian
13. Presley
14. Sebastian
15. Sebastian
16. Presley
17. Sebastian
18. Presley
19. Sebastian
20. Presley
21. Sebastian
22. Sebastian
23. Presley
24. Sebastian
25. Presley
26. Sebastian
27. Presley
Epilogue
One month later
Next up
Need more of Bash and Presley?
Rhys
Immoral Confessions- Chapter One
A note from R. Holmes
Acknowledgments
Also by R. Holmes
About R. Holmes
Copyright © 2021 by R. Holmes
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the authors, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, companies, organizations, locales, events and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental. The authors do not have any control over and do not assume any responsibility for authors’ or third-party websites or their content.
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Cover Design: Najla Qamber, Qamber Designs
Editing: Amy Briggs, Briggs Consulting
Photographer: Marx Chavez
Proofreading: Alexandria Goncalves and Jackie Varao
Chapter Art: Daniela Becerra
About this Book
Tarnished Vow is the second book in an interconnected series, best read after Immoral Confessions. Each couple will find their happy end, but the story continues across the books. Tarnished vow is a slower burn than Immoral Confessions so please take note! While the couple’s story IS complete, there is a cliffhanger for the series that will continue on into Book 3, Corrupt Prayers.
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There are dark elements in this story that may be triggering for some. Please heed this warning, and read responsibly.
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Blurb
Running from a life that was going to kill me.
I was after a clean slate, what I found was so much worse.
* * *
And he goes by Sebastian Pierce.
* * *
He was untouchable. A king with a tarnished crown. The rich boy who collected hearts. The last thing I could ever need, but the only thing I seem to want.
He’s my student. I’m his teacher.
He’s my downfall. I’m his weakness.
It was wrong. Illicit. Forbidden.
It was never supposed to happen.... until it did.
Playlist
Upgrade- Jessie Murph
Champagne- Lia Marie Johnson
Like A God- Lia Marie Johnson
Desire- Meg Myers
Glass House (feat. Naomi Wild)- Machine Gun Kelly
Look at Me Now- Brennan Savage
Love song- YUNGBLUD
Drinkin’ Too Much- Sam Hunt
Grey- Why Don’t We
I’m not Pretty- JESSIA
Dear August- PJ Harding + Noah Cyrus
If I Could Fly- One Direction
Power Over Me- Acousit- Dermot Kennedy
All Three- Noah Cyrus
Do It for Me- Rosenfeld
Lose Is a Bitch- Two Feet
Desire slowed- Hucci
La di die (feat jxdn)- Nessa Barrett
Slower- Tate McRae
Where’s My Love- SYML
Keeping me Alive- Acoustic- Jonathan Roy
For the ones who love in the dark.
For those who love in the dark.
Prologue
To have and to hold.
For better, for worse.
For richer, for poorer.
In sickness and in health.
Until death do us part.
I will love and honor you all the days of my life.
* * *
A hollow heart full of regrets.
Haunted by a past of irreparable scars.
Each one irrevocably deeper than the last.
Now, my fear lives in plain sight.
No longer hidden by the facade of happiness.
Veiled by lies.
What was once sacred is now nothing but a tarnished vow.
1
Sebastian
I never asked to be a Pierce. The name itself, while only a surname, is heavier than the weight of the world. What people don’t see beyond the letters adorning skyscrapers and high rises is the insurmountable pressure that comes with it. The weight of constant disappointment and never amounting to expectations, is what it means to truly be a Pierce.
It’s a weight I never wished to bear.
My last name has been a curse more than it has ever been a blessing. When people look at my family, they see privilege. Wealth. An air of respect which isn't earned but bought. I may have been raised with a silver spoon, but it hasn’t made me a fool. I know exactly who my family is and have never pretended to be anything other than the entitled, rich asshole I’ve always been. I have played the part of the dutiful and expectant son. On occasion.
"Sebastian, are you even listening?"
My father’s deep, posh baritone breaks through my thoughts. Thoughts that seem to play on repeat like the fucked up soundtrack to my life.
I look up to see the familiar gaze of disapproval from a mirror of my own steel gray eyes that bore back into mine. If I stand next to my father, there is no denying the blood that flows through my veins. Plain and pure, a Pierce. More often than not, people at first glance call us brothers. Both tall, dark hair that frames a set of broody, bluish gray irises and thick, dark lashes. Lips that were created to spew lies. I’m the carbon copy of the world's modern day devil. In the boardroom he is vicious, at home he is absent. Growing up, I was an inconvenience to his lifestyle and even now as he’s groomed me to take over a business I never wanted, I am still nothing more than the same petulant child. The only thing my father and I have in common is our undeniable looks. Beyond that, he is a stranger in a five thousand dollar suit who pretended to be St. Augustine’s father of the year.
"Yes sir.” I tear my gaze from his, opting to take a sip of water from the ornate crystal glass in front of me. The last place I want to be is at dinner with my parents. Wearing a stuffy ass suit and tie, eating a meal that cost more than some people's weekly salary. But, duty calls and like always when my father calls, I come. It was never a question of whether I would be a pawn in my father’s game. It was expected. I am expected to behave and act like the proper Pierce boy I was raised to be.
My mother, as always, is quiet across the table from me. She’s sta
ring at the now empty wine glass in front of her, lost in thought. From the outside looking in, she’s society's definition of a trophy wife. Her blonde hair is neatly pulled back from her face, not a hair out of place. Everything about her looks effortless, but I know better. If there is anything I’ve learned being a part of my father’s world, it’s that everything is deceiving from the outside looking in. No one truly knows what goes on in glass houses.
After a few moments her trance is broken, and her dull, void eyes drag up to meet mine. Her lips form a tight smile, one that is familiar, but not comforting. A smile that says I wish things were different, although it’ll never be. I stopped hoping for change as a child, and that’s just fucking sad.
“Obviously you were not. As always, your head is anywhere other than where it should be." His tone is sharp. The first of many digs that are meant to make me feel like I'm not living up to my name.
Before I can respond, the waitress reappears with a pitcher to refill our glasses and take our order. Truth be told, I'd rather eat fucking glass than sit here another minute with my father, but getting out of it would only cause a shit storm that I truly don’t have the energy to deal with today.
I hand the menu to the waitress with a smile, the fake one which never feels right, and her eyes linger on mine for a second longer than they should until she turns on her heel and leaves. Maybe she'll slip me her number and I can forget about how shitty this night has been.
"As I was saying, Sebastian, we're working on a major merger with Carlton. They're filing chapter twelve and it's the perfect time to acquire the company as an asset. Their CEO is a right bastard so it'll be even better to watch him fucking burn." My father laughs haughtily, the amusement reaching his eyes which only reveals just how fucked up he is. Destroying other people's lives is what brings a real, genuine reaction of happiness from him...
It takes everything inside of me not to respond with something smart assed, instead I bite my tongue and reply, "I'm sure Max is happy about it."
He nods, taking a large gulp of bourbon before responding, "Of course he is, he'd be a fool not to be. More oil means more money, Sebastian. That's the name of the game, you know that. When you're taking over, you'll have a company of wealth beyond belief. Pierce Oil will be a household name."
My jaw clenches on its own accord, the muscles straining with my frustration. What did it mean for me? My future was planned before I was even brought into this world. I was going to take over Pierce Oil and run the empire my father built when he was too old to run it himself. There was never a question of whether it was what I wanted or not.
Because what I wanted never mattered. I’m a Pierce, I’m going to do what is expected of me. Which means entertaining my father's biweekly dinners so he can drill it into my head what my future is to be like, whether I want it or not.
Changing the subject, I look over at my mother who's still sitting silently next to him. "How are things, Mom? Anything exciting at the club?"
My eyes rake over her as she purses her lips, then plasters on a smile so fake I immediately see right through it. "Oh honey, you know, volunteering as much as my schedule allows. I've been busy around the house and there was a bake sale we did for the nursing home up the road. I've been keeping myself very busy."
Right. Anything that will keep her out of the same room as my father without looking like she's trying to escape. Much like a bird trapped in a glass box, always seeing the outside world around, but never able to feel the sun on its face, breathe in the fresh air of freedom, or expand its wings and fly. I understand better than anyone the feeling of being trapped.
"That's great, Mom."
Thankfully, after a few moments of tense silence, the waiter carries out the entrees and suddenly we're all ravenous. Too busy eating to entertain forced small talk, and for this I'm fucking thankful. My mind is elsewhere tonight and the tie around my throat feels like it’s tightening by the second, leaving me feeling more constricted and trapped than usual.
“I want you to intern at the New York office during Christmas Break. It’ll be a good time to start transitioning as you head to Yale.” My father breaks the silence, and every bite of food I’ve just swallowed feels like it might come back up.
Goddammit.
I knew the conversation would end up here, it always does. Yale. Five generations of Pierce men have attended. My father’s alma mater and one of the most prestigious Ivy League schools in the country. I’m expected to attend and my father will not be bribing anyone to make sure I am accepted. It is something that I am expected to do all on my own.
What I am not going to be doing is spending my fucking Christmas break stuck in an office building in New York City shadowing a middle aged asshole who is fucking his secretary during all of the "late nights" at the office.
"I have a huge course load this year, and with hockey and extra curriculars… There's no way I can leave school for two and half weeks, Father." My voice comes out strained, the anger dripping from each word. Self-restraint is something I know well. I’ve practiced it my entire life which means most of the time I’m fully in control of my emotions.
"I'll hear nothing of it. You know what is expected of you, Sebastian, and quite frankly I don't give a damn how you need to ensure you are there, but make no mistake you will be there. There is no discussion. How do you ever expect to learn the proper way to run the business you are set to inherit if you never put forth any effort to do so?" He scoffs, distaste written all over his face as he picks up his glass for another pull of bourbon.
"That's right, your word is gospel, right, Dad?" I spit.
I can see the vein in his neck bulge at my tone.
"Act like a child, Sebastian, it is what you do best." He leans closer, his tone lowering to a menacing whisper. "The fancy fucking boarding school, the cars, the clothes, the thousands of dollars you blow through monthly... your trust fund. It can be gone with a snap of my fingers."
"Maybe, I don't give a fuck."
His face turns a brighter shade of red until he leans back and tosses the napkin from his lap onto the food in front of him. "Enough," he hisses. Without another word the conversation is finished. Just like every conversation that involves my father and I . He shuts it down the second he feels even a slight bit out of control of the outcome.
"I'm out." I stand abruptly, pushing the chair back noisily behind me, not giving a shit in the least who's watching. My mother gasps quietly, and my father looks like he might have a heart attack right on top of his two hundred dollar steak. I've lost all the fucks I have to give. I've had enough of the constant belittling and being talked down to. Fuck, he wants me to be a Pierce. I'll show him.
I drop a chaste kiss to my mother's cheek and leave without another word.
Instead of driving directly back to campus, I drive through the backroads of St. Augustine, letting my anger simmer as I guide my Range Rover around the tight curves of the road surrounded by wilderness. I can't stop thinking about what my father said, about how suddenly it feels like the world is closing in around me. I feel like an animal backed into a corner. No way out.
My grip on the steering wheel tightens the closer I get to school, and I feel the control I usually have such a tight grasp on slipping away. He's a fucking asshole, that's what he is. Father of the year award. Through the tree line, St. Augustine and its massive campus comes into view. It reminds me there is more important shit to handle than worrying about my father and his threats. Like my best friend sitting in a jail cell while we all sit back helplessly and do nothing.
It's been weeks since we've heard from Ezra, and his piece of shit dad, much like my own, hasn't done a single thing to get him out. Ezra isn't just my best friend, he's my brother. Same goes for Rhys and Alec. The most unconventional brotherhood you'd imagine, but we've been closer than blood since we were kids. All of us from different sides of the spectrum, but somehow we fit together. I'd lie, cheat, steal, and kill for them. I'd gladly switch spots with Ez
ra, and take the time for him. Fuck knows, I’d burn every house in this city down, if it means saving him. That’s the shit you do for the people you love. You sacrifice.
I pull through the wrought iron gates of campus and into the parking lot, then cut the ignition. It's after ten which means Rhys and Alec will be ready to go out to the Abbey but tonight, I'm not feeling it. I want to chill, play Xbox and forget about the shit I had to deal with tonight. Drinking isn't going to do anything but put me less in control and that's the last thing I need.
Grabbing my backpack from the passenger seat, I get out and shut the door behind me then hastily make my way over to the sidewalk. Even with my suit jacket and long sleeves on, it’s starting to get chilly. The wind whips, causing goosebumps to break out down my neck, furthering the eerie feel of the deserted campus.
Fuck, when did it get so cold? Walking across the campus is weird at night. It's dark, completely dead, and it feels like you're stepping back in time with the looming century old gothic buildings surrounding you. I'm almost back to the dorm when someone bumps into me from behind so hard it almost sends me flying. While I barely keep my footing, my backpack flies off my shoulder onto the concrete.