Barbie B*tch: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 3)

by Sheridan Anne

  A soft chuckle escapes Charlie’s lips. “Ocean was just saying that she wants to be a hooker to earn some extra cash.”

  I launch a cushion across the room and it smacks Charlie right in his unsuspecting face. “Take that back,” I demand.

  “Why?” Milo questions, a sparkle hitting his eye, the only hint that I’ve just become the target of their taunts. “It’s true. You were just telling me yesterday all the things you wanted to try with Colton. Why not make a little coin while you’re at it. You gotta hustle, girl.”

  Colton’s brow instantly arches as his eyes flick to mine. “What kind of shit is he talking about?” he questions, his eyes becoming hooded with excitement. “You know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make you scream. Just say the word, Jade.”

  “Really?” I question with wide eyes, looking at him as though he holds me in his very hands. “Because Drix told me that Charlie let her shove a dildo up his ass and he loved it so … you know. If you really want to try it, I guess we could.”

  Charlie flies to his feet as Colton’s face falls in horror, not exactly pleased with this turn of events. “The fuck did she say that I did?” Charlie demands, more than ready to start defending his honor.

  “It’s okay, Charlie,” Milo says, knowing damn well that I'm teasing. “No need to be defensive. No one here is judging, ass play is fun.” He turns to Colton. “I think it’s great you guys are keeping your sex life adventurous and exciting. Take my word for it, and I’m sure Ocean’s too, but it’s worth it. Use plenty of lube though. You don’t want nothing going through the backdoor dry.”

  Colton’s face goes white as he turns to look back at me. “Please, baby. You know I’d do it if you really, really wanted me to, but tell me that you’re fucking with me,” he swallows past a lump in his throat. “I’m really going to have to work myself up to that.”

  I can’t help but laugh. This incredible man before me is always so put together, so strong, and ready to face down the world but with me standing in his way, he’d happily shove a dildo up his ass just to make me happy.

  Fuck. Maybe I do love him. What other man would do that for me?

  “It’s okay,” I laugh. “I’m more than happy to live the rest of my life without witnessing you putting a dildo up your ass, but I have to admit, Milo has a point. Ass play is nothing to frown upon.” His brow raises, more than into the conversation again.

  “Ewwwww,” Casey says from the door with her mother and bitchy twin sister following her through with bags upon bags of shopping dangling from their fingers. “Please tell me that I didn’t just hear that.”

  Colton laughs, sitting up on the couch. “You better fucking believe it.”

  Casey scrunches up her face and I laugh it off as I peel myself off the couch and start getting back to work, except I should have known it wouldn't be that easy. “What have I told you about wearing your uniform?” Laurelle spits at me.

  “And what have I told you?” I throw back at her. “The second Colton asks me to put a uniform on, I’d happily do it. Until then, screw you.”

  She steps forward, preparing to hit me because she sure as hell hasn’t learned any new moves.

  “MOTHER,” Colton’s deep roar tears through the living room. “Lay one fucking hand on her and the world will know that you spent over six million dollars on male escorts.”

  The boys behind us laugh in shock as Casey and Cora’s mouths drop in disgust. “You wouldn’t,” she seethes toward her son.

  “Fucking try me.”

  Laurelle strides past me as though I've completely been forgotten. She walks down the three steps into the sunken living room and steps in front of her son, her six-inch heels putting her nearly eye to eye with him. “It’s about time you and I have a little talk.”

  “Yeah, I think so,” Colton says. “It’s about time that you pack up your shit and get the fuck out of my house. I'm done with your bullshit games. You come in here and insult my girlfriend every chance you get, you willingly allowed Melissa Carter into my home—knowing damn well that her son is a rapist—and then you completely embarrass the Carrington name in front of every investor and partner of Carrington Incorporated by throwing yourself at my CFO. I’m done and so are you. I’m not fucking stupid, Mom. After you lit my father’s casket on fire, your motives became pretty fucking clear and I’m not going to stand back and allow you to try to bring down Carrington Incorporated. Dad worked too fucking hard and so have I.”

  “Your father was a monster. How could you take his side?”

  “I’m not taking his side. I'm making my own goddamn side. My father was a monster, but you’re turning out just like him and you’re doing the same to Cora. At least Casey has some sort of spine and can stand on her own.”

  Cora sucks in a broken gasp and for the slightest second, I feel bad for her, but the glare that comes straight after pulls me back in line. She steps up beside her mother. “You’re a real prick, you know that? How dare you say that about me.”

  “How could I not?” he throws back at her. “Have you looked at yourself in a mirror recently? You’re a spoiled brat. I’ve been watching you, Cora and you haven’t got a redeeming quality about yourself. You’re materialistic and the way you’re going now, you’re going to end up married to a rich businessman on his deathbed with your mother still dipping into your pockets, both of you absolutely broke.”

  “You’re not going to get away with this,” Laurelle hisses as the rest of us watch on like it’s an award-winning daytime drama.

  “I already have, mother. Harrison was given the order to start collecting your stuff this morning. Your Uber will be here in an hour to take you back to the airport.”

  “Uber?” she shrieks in horror. “Airport? I don’t ride in Ubers and I sure as hell don’t fly on commercial airplanes. I have my own car and my own jet but they will not be needed because I won’t be going anywhere.”

  “No,” Colton corrects. “I own your car and I own the jet which your access was cut to the second you embarrassed Carrington Incorporated last night. Now, you have an hour to pack the rest of your things, after that, you’ll be considered trespassing and I’ll have no other option but to call the police and have you escorted off the premises, and for the record,” he says, walking back toward the couch for his mic drop moment. “I have a press meeting scheduled in an hour. It’d be a real shame if they were to witness you being taken out of here in cuffs.”

  Laurelle’s face drops. “You can’t. I’m your mother.”

  “Exactly. You’re my mother which is why I've allowed this to go on for so long. You weren’t welcome when you showed up a few weeks ago, and you’re not welcome now.”

  Colton drops down onto the couch and the room remains silent, all eyes on Laurelle, waiting and watching to see her next move. Except, with the pressure of an audience, she finally cracks. She stomps her foot against the marble floor like a toddler and within the blink of an eye, she turns on her heel and stalks out of the room. “You will not get away with this, Colton. Mark my words, you will pay.”

  “Holy fuck,” Spencer howls, roaring with laughter as Milo sits beside him with his jaw hanging wide.

  A slow smile begins pulling at my lips but it falls away as a soft sniffle sounds behind me. The room falls to silence once again as we find the twins standing awkwardly in the kitchen, staring at their big brother.

  Silent tears track down Casey’s face as Cora stands there dumbfounded. Casey glances around, not strong enough to meet her brother’s eyes. “Does that mean us too?” she asks in a soft tone.

  Colton watches them for a second, figuring out his next move. His gaze sweeps to me before falling back to the guys, unsure how he wants to play this. “I don’t know,” he tells them honestly. “Do you want to be here?”

  Casey instantly nods while Cora holds back, not ready to give in to her brother, especially after the way he just tore her apart. Perhaps being away from her mother and living with Colton is what she needs to
gain a little perspective. Hell, it sure worked for me.

  Casey’s eyes go wide, her bottom lip quivering. “Please don’t make me go. I like it here. I actually have friends here who don’t care that my daddy gave me a bank account.”

  “Mom’s going to fight you on it,” he warns.

  She nods vigorously. “I can handle Mom.”

  Cora scoffs at Casey’s confidence and Colton turns his sharp glare on her, making her shrink under his stare. “And what about you?”

  She pauses, looking up at her brother as though she’s trying to find the courage to actually speak. “Did you really mean what you said? You think that lowly of me?”

  “I’m not here to parent you, Cora, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Yes, I think you’re a spoiled brat with a shitty attitude and my first instinct is to send you back with Mom. I don't want your fucking drama.”

  She looks away, and for the first time I see a true emotion come out of her. “I don’t want to go,” she whispers so low that I have to strain to hear her.

  Colton takes a step back, crossing his arms over his wide chest and studying his sisters. “Okay,” he finally says. “You can stay, but there are conditions.”

  “Like?” Cora questions cautiously.

  “Take one guess.”

  Her eyes flick to me before going back to Colton. “No, don’t make me do it.”

  “Then don’t stay,” he says simply. “Ocean is my girlfriend and I plan on keeping her around for a long fucking time and if you can’t get on board with that then you can fuck off to whoever the fuck knows where with mom. I’m not having your hostility in my house. If you’re here, you’re chill. Make things right with her. I don't give a shit if you're besties or not, but there won’t be bad blood between you. Got it?”

  Cora looks back to me while Casey appears to be shitting herself, knowing her fate lies in the hands of her bratty twin sister. Cora slides her gaze back to her brother before letting out a sigh. “Fine,” she says. “I’ll clear the air.”

  “All the bullshit ends,” he says.

  “Yes.”

  “Or else, Cora. You’ll be out before you even know what’s happening. Got it?”

  “Yeah, yeah. I got it. Anything else, oh wise one?”

  “Your attitude fucking stinks,” he tells her. “If you're here, I want you to be an active member of this household. You’re not just coming home, sleeping, and then leaving. You’re going to help plan the parties, clean up after yourself, and be a pleasant person to be around. Those are my rules.”

  Cora and Casey look between themselves and I see the clear begging in Casey’s eyes, desperately wanting this to work out. “Okay,” Cora says. “I’ll make an effort around the house.”

  Colton looks at Casey expectantly.

  “Yep, me too. I’m all in,” she tells him.

  Colton finally sighs and drops his arms from across his chest. “Fine,” he says. “You can stay but you’re dealing with the storm Mom cooks up over it. I want nothing to do with it.”

  Casey runs full steam ahead, bolting into his chest and wrapping her arms tightly around him. “You won’t regret it,” she tells him on the verge of tears. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

  Colton laughs and for just a brief second, he squeezes his sister, overwhelmed with joy to finally have her back in his life. As for Cora, that's a work in progress.

  Chapter 27

  Colton

  What the fuck am I doing here?

  I should turn and walk away but the second Harrison stepped into my office and told me that Marco DeCarlo was back in the city, I had no choice. I had to make this right.

  Mom was gone after raining down hell over me and the twins. Realizing that they didn’t want anything to do with her didn’t sit well and naturally, she blamed that bullshit on me, but just as the girls promised, they stepped up and handled their shit. And just as I promised, I stepped up and handled mine.

  After an hour of screaming through my home, I had her escorted from the premises with cuffs tightly bound around her wrists and cops at her back. The press was in full force and all afternoon, footage of Mom has been splashed across every news outlet in the country.

  I’m not usually one to allow my family bullshit to get out like that, but taking down that woman needed to be done with the eyes of the world on her. She’s too good at hiding behind her precious reputation, but fuck it. I blew that shit right out of the water today and now the world will know exactly who she is. Her reputation be damned. She’s nothing but a gold-digging bitch anyways. What kind of woman blows through that much cash and then goes after her children’s? I didn’t think it was physically possible but Laurelle Carrington has been proving me wrong since the day I was born.

  Crouching by the window of the shitty warehouse that Marco DeCarlo has been calling home for the last two years, I grip the gun that’s been waiting in the waistband of my jeans. My finger runs over the trigger, feeling the power it holds.

  This motherfucker is finished.

  Memories of Maryne begging for her life filter through my mind. Harrison desperately trying to protect her, Ocean standing beside me terrified, Maryne on the ground being dragged from the wine cellar by her hair.

  The gun forced under her chin.

  That haunting echo of the gunshot.

  The blood.

  Ocean’s scream.

  Maryne would have been so fucking scared and I just stood there, unable to do a fucking thing, but that ends now. Marco will not get away with this. Tonight, he is going to learn that coming into my home and threatening my people, was the biggest fucking mistake he ever made.

  Gripping the gun, I spy Marco in his cramped kitchen. His back is to me and despite the dog barking in the distance, warning him that I’m here, he’s too fucking engrossed in the cheap whore he’s hired for the night.

  She sits up on the counter with her legs spread wide as Marco slams into her with a force that couldn’t be comfortable. I don’t doubt that he’s hurting her but because he’s paid for her, he thinks that she’s his to do with as he likes.

  Her pained groans sound through the warehouse walls and has my jaw clenching, even more determined to finish him. It’s pretty fucking obvious that he’s hurting her, but he couldn’t care less.

  I wonder if she knew what she was getting herself into when she showed up here tonight.

  Marco DeCarlo is fucking scum. He has zero respect for anyone but himself, but I guess after tonight, that won’t matter because I won’t be leaving this shitty warehouse until it’s done.

  I just know that Ocean is going to find out about this. With her connections to the Black Widows, she’ll know what I've done before the night is out and she’s going to hate me for it.

  I stopped her from taking revenge on Jude and ending his life knowing the guilt that would have sat on her chest until her dying days. She’s too good, too pure, but me? I’ve been a fucking goner since the day I was born. There’s nothing good left. The only good I have comes from Ocean. She makes me a better person, she makes me want to be her everything.

  She won’t forgive me for this. She thinks I'm stronger, she thinks I have self-control, she thinks I’m different from the guys she grew up with but she’s wrong. I'm just like them. The things I’ve done … fuck, I’m not proud of myself, but I’m my father’s son. If only she knew who I really was, she’d hate me.

  I’ve seen the way she pulled away from Nic when she saw him end another man’s life and it would kill me if she did the same to me. She’s too fucking precious. I want her with me all the time. She thinks she’s this big badass bitch who can face down anything, but truth be told, she’s like a little puppy with a nasty bite. She needs to be protected at all costs because girls like her are fucking rare.

  I never intended for her to find Jude in that cellar but she did, and every day I fear that the darkness I brought down on her is too much for her soul to bear. She’s surprising me though. I don't think I gave her enough credit.
She’s fucking stronger than I ever thought.

  Maybe that’s why I pushed her away so hard at the start. It’s almost as though deep down, I knew she was going to destroy me. She was going to get inside my world and tear it apart from the inside out. I think on some level, I knew that she’d discover all of my secrets, and damn it, I’m so fucking bewitched by her, that if she decided to take me down, I’d go willingly.

  The question is; what’s she going to do with my secrets once she finds them out? Surely she knows me well enough to know that I'd never hurt her. I’m not a bad guy, I just handle the shit that others are too fucking scared to touch.

  I guess tonight, I'll finally have my answers.

  Taking a breath, I unhook the open padlock from the chained backdoor and gently drop it into the overgrown grass. I’m never going to get a chance like this again. It’s too good. Too easy.

  Fuck, I must sound like her father. I don’t enjoy death, but there’s no mistaking the power that taking a life gives you. It’s a rush and for that slight moment, I’m untouchable. I don’t chase that feeling though, not like Ocean’s old man did. Hell, not like her precious Widows still do.

  I kill out of necessity. I kill because it’s the right thing to do. I should have fucking killed Jude, but he was handled. I’m just glad I got the chance to tell him exactly what I thought of him. He’s going to spend the rest of his life behind bars and that’s the outcome that Ocean needed, whether she comes forward or not.

  I push the door open and cringe at the soft squeal of the metal hinges. I pause in the darkness, listening out for Marco but he’s too engrossed in his whore’s raw pussy to notice that his life is only minutes away from ending. I guess he’s lucky to be dying with his dick wet. If only Maryne was offered the same generosity to die doing something she loved.

  Confident that my presence hasn’t been made known, I sneak in through the back door, leaving it open for a quick getaway. There’s nothing worse than having a nosey neighbor peering through the window after hearing a gunshot and accidentally getting your dumbass locked in the house. After spending twelve hours hiding in an attic, I very quickly learned from that mistake.