Rogue came back into the bedroom in record time, his brown hair wet and combed back from his face, only wearing a pair of low slung sweatpants that gave me a fantastic view of his abs and strong arms.
He came to the bed and sat beside me, frowning when he saw that I hadn’t touched the food yet. “You don’t like anything?”
“I love all of it,” I answered, scooting closer to him, like even the few inches separating us was painful. He immediately put a hand around my waist and pulled me against him. “I just wanted to wait to eat with you,” I said.
He hesitated for a second, but then nodded. We ate together without speaking, taking bites of different things, and occasionally, Rogue would pick up a strawberry, dip it in the cream, and insist on feeding it to me. And if I got some cream in the corner of my lips, he’d sweep his thumb over the spot and suck it into his mouth before kissing me gently.
It wasn’t sexual. It wasn’t teasing. It was purely Rogue taking care of me. The love I already felt for him multiplied inside of my chest, like seeds suddenly growing out of the ground and blooming.
When we were done eating, I cuddled into him as we laid down, and Rogue put on some cheesy romance movies that I could fall asleep to. I was nearly asleep, blissful from the way his fingers were running through the strands of my hair, when I heard him speak.
“I was so scared, Scar. When they grabbed you, I—” his voice choked off, and I turned over, holding myself up on my forearms so I could look at him. The torment on his face nearly killed me. “If anything happened to you…”
I leaned up and put my hands on his cheeks, rubbing the pads of my thumbs along the bristles of his facial scruff. “Hey,” I said quietly, looking into his brown eyes. “I’m okay. We’re all okay.”
He put his hands over mine, holding them against him. “I need you,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.
I pushed forward and kissed him tenderly. “I need you, too.” And I did. I needed Rogue so much that it physically hurt to be separated from him. I needed him like air. As long as I could breathe him in, then I knew I would be okay.
He kissed me again, gently, like he cherished me. Like I was the most precious thing in his whole world. But it never went further than that. He pulled away after just a few minutes, leaving my lips swollen and tingling, and then tucked me into the crook of his shoulder. I felt so incredibly safe and loved, that I couldn’t help it when a single tear escaped from the corner of my eye and soaked into his skin beneath me.
Being there, laying on Rogue Kelly with his heart pressed against my ear, was pure perfection. There was nowhere else I’d rather be.
Chapter Thirty-Four
I didn’t want to go to school the next morning, but I had seventeen missed calls from my mama by the time I’d woken up. Rogue assured me that he’d called to explain that we cut class and were hanging out at his house. He’d also promised her an invite to an exclusive charity event that Bonham’s family hosted at the end of the year, which seemed to pacify her some. Guess her worry for her daughter only reached so far.
“Look, I’m glad that you’ve reconnected with your friends, Scarlett Anne. But you have to let me know where you are,” she said over the phone.
Rogue trailed his lips along my exposed shoulder as I held the cell to my ear and listened to her ranting. “Sorry. Something came up,” I replied with a shrug, debating on swatting Rogue away. I couldn’t focus when he touched me like that.
“That’s not a good excuse. You could have at least sent me a text.”
Mama liked to pick and choose when to take on the persona of the overprotective and well-meaning mother. She wore the facade like her favorite winter coat. Slipping into the sleeves only when it was needed, but turning heads with the lavish fur. I was sure that she’d noticed the Heirs had missed class, too, and her reason for calling had more to do with finding out what we were up to, and less to do with genuine worry for me.
“You never cared where I was before,” I grumbled as Luis walked into Rogue’s bedroom, looking freshly showered but still scratched up from the night before. He was clutching a towel around his waist. One wrong move and I’d see his dick. Not that I hadn’t seen it before. Being best friends with four guys meant that there was the occasional dick slip.
With Mama complaining in my ear, I watched as he dug around Rogue’s closet for one of his spare uniforms. “What were you even doing last night?” she prodded.
Luis glanced at me over his shoulder, and with a cheeky smile, dropped the towel just as Rogue nipped at my neck. My eyes immediately dipped to his bare ass as Mama said, “You can tell me.”
I had to cough to cover up my giggles before replying. “Nothing. We just hung out.”
Luis reached around and spanked his own ass, fueled by my amusement and Rogue’s territorial growls. “Y’all can always hang out here,” Mama offered.
“That’s alright. I need to go. See you at school.” I hung up quickly and then burst into a fit of laughter as Luis put on his briefs and crawled onto the bed like a porn star, meowing as he scratched at the sheets, making even Rogue laugh at the ridiculousness of it. He rolled around, kicking his leg up and pointing his toes before bending it like a dancer on stage. I’m sure he meant to cheer me up, but Luis looked sexy as fuck. He could give male strippers a run for their money.
Finally, he positioned himself so that he was laying in my lap and staring up at the ceiling. My conversation with my mama was still festering in my gut, and after a few minutes of comfortable silence, I spoke again. “That woman sure does like to get in a tizzy when it suits her interests,” I said with a frown.
“At least she pretends to care,” was Luis's dark response. I knew that Luis's relationship with his mother was strained at best. I’d learned a long time ago not to comment on their relationship, so I didn’t press him further. With a shaky exhale, he changed the subject. “Last night scared the shit out of me, Scar,” he finally said with a frown.
“It scared me too. But I kinda feel bad for Rocco. Can’t imagine having your daughter taken away by men like that.”
“Don’t feel too badly for him. He had us kidnapped and brought to the middle of nowhere. Rocco once worked for Johnny Jack too,” Rogue said. He was positioned behind me, laying down on the mattress, his voice croaky with sleep.
“Either way, I guess we need to get that evidence from Steph. Can I come along?” I asked, feeling a tad bit vengeful. I couldn’t help the smile that took over my face as I pictured her sour face when she saw me on Rogue’s arm.
“Look at that smile!” Luis exclaimed with a laugh as he looked up at me. “You wanna rub Rogue in Stephanie’s face, don’t you?”
“It’s the little victories, Luis,” I answered.
“I’m far from little, Scar,” Rogue growled in my ear. And soon, both of them were on top of me, tickling me until tears were streaming down my cheeks.
Rogue walked into the school with his arm across my shoulders in a decisively possessive gesture. I skipped gymnastics, opting to walk into the school with all four of the guys surrounding me. As soon as we went through the front doors, the whispers began.
“Heir Chaser.”
“Are they back together?”
“I bet she’s fucking all of them.”
Godfrey seemed to hear that last one, because he pulled me in for a hug mid-stride, and pressed his lips to my neck, just to give them something to talk about. Rogue shoved him away, rolling his eyes at Godfrey’s antics as the two of us laughed.
By the time we passed the cafeteria, everyone’s phone was buzzing. When we made it to my locker and Rogue pushed me up against it and started kissing me, the entire school practically peed their uniformed prep pants.
When Rogue pulled away, he had a smirk on his face, but I was too happy to give him a hard time about being so cocky. “Much better,” he murmured, as he ran his thumb across my bottom lip.
“What is?” I asked, a little starry eyed that we were actually d
oing this—going public. It felt good.
“This. With you. This is how it always should’ve been.”
I saw the flash of guilt cover his face, no doubt while he remembered everything he and the others had done to facilitate my misery for the last several months. “Hey,” I said, bringing him back on the present. “Don’t do that. Don’t go back there. That’s not us anymore. We’re here, together. No point in tripping over something already behind us, Mr. Kelly.”
“Does moving forward include fucking Katie Welsh? Because damn, she looks hot in that cheer uniform, and she’s giving me fuck eyes,” Luis said with a groan beside us.
I rolled my eyes. “Katie Welsh is a bitch. She took a lighter in second period and burned the ends of my hair on the first day of senior year.”
Luis's eyes went dark with anger. “I’ll slash her fucking tires.”
“Well, if you’re handing out punishments, then you might want to start with your homeboy over there,” I said, nodding to Godfrey. “He was the one who gave her the lighter.”
Luis, Rogue, and Bonham all looked over at Godfrey with irritation and incredulity. “Really, dude?” Luis asked him.
Godfrey had the good sense to seem contrite as he rubbed the back of his neck. “What? Rogue said we had to set the scene right off the bat with hating on Scar.”
“Maybe lighting her on fire was a bit far,” Bonham said dryly.
Godfrey seemed to consider that. “Yeah, alright. Hindsight.”
I scowled at him to keep from cracking a smile. “You guys were awful to me. I should slash all of your tires.”
“You should,” Rogue said, digging through my locker for me and then slamming it shut after he grabbed my books. “I’ll even give you the knife.”
I patted him on the cheek. “You’re such a good boyfriend.”
The other guys gagged, but Rogue just reached around to squeeze my ass. “Of course I am. I take care of what’s mine.”
“You guys are officially disgusting,” Godfrey said, before turning on his heel to walk away.
“Love you too, Godfrey!” I called at his back. He flipped me off over his shoulder, making me laugh.
People continued to watch our exchange with rapt attention, and as we started to make our way to class, girls kept shooting me smiles, while guys gave me respectful nods. I had to resist the urge to throw my hand up and flip all of them off. I wasn’t impressed by the school’s fair-weather nature. Smith Academy was full of simple-minded followers, and although having their respect would make the next few months easy, I didn’t get a sick sense of satisfaction on being on top of the world again, I just wanted the Heirs.
Ten minutes. That’s all it took for me to regain my status. But this time, I wasn’t just a friend of the Heirs. Nope, Rogue claimed me for everyone to see. I was untouchable now. It was crazy to see just how much power they had. Although it felt good, I didn’t like how much my acceptance was tied up in their approval. But that was Savannah for you.
After school, we all walked through the campus parking lot, Godfrey told us at lunch that we were on for heading to Stephanie’s house after school to pick up the evidence Rocco needed. I was chewing bubble gum and laughing at Bonham’s impersonation of Mrs. Langley from fifth period when Rogue suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him. The laughter died in my throat, and I instantly tensed.
“If shit goes south, get her out of here,” he ordered Bonham, his muscles flexing in preparation for whatever got his attention.
I peered over his shoulder, and my chest constricted with anxiety and fear when I saw Dean O’Banion, the man from the train tracks, leaning against Rogue’s Range Rover. His arms were crossed, and that confident grin was still on his face as he propelled himself off the side of the car and started walking towards us. The other students gave him a wide berth, shooting them nervous looks. Then three more men converged with him, coming out of nowhere, each of them looking just as terrifying. One of them was easily over six feet tall and had arm muscles thicker than my thighs, which was saying something considering I was a gymnast.
“Why are they here?” I whispered as we grew closer.
Before any of my guys could answer, O’Banion spoke. “Godfrey Taylor. How are you?”
Thankfully, none of the other students stopped to gawk. It was a good thing that Bonham ran the rumor mill in Savannah, or the whispers would be out of control and people might try to butt in.
“I’d be better if you stopped showing up at Smith Academy,” Godfrey replied. He looked pissed as he adjusted the dark aviators on his face, pushing them up the bridge of his nose while wearing a scowl.
“Now where’s the fun in that?” O’Banion replied. “We were wonderin’ how you were doin.’ For about four hours yesterday, one of our guys lost eyes on you.” My eyes flicked over to the three men standing behind O’Banion, and I wondered if these were the men that trailed us. “You’re not plannin’ on doing anything stupid, are you?”
“If we were, you’d be in jail already,” Rogue growled.
“I don’t respond well to threats, kid.”
“You don’t run shit, O’Banion, and don’t try to pretend otherwise,” Luis spat, making the southern mobster glare at him.
By now, the entire student body had disappeared into their expensive cars and were already leaving the parking lot. Only a few cars belonging to faculty remained. One of O’Banion’s lackeys grabbed a metal baton from his pocket and expanded it. He clutched it in his palm before swinging at Rogue’s driver side window, making the glass shatter on impact.
“Johnny Jack is done waitin’,” O’Banion said, as the lackey moved to the rear passenger side and smashed that window, too. Rogue kept an expressionless look on his face, but his arm tensed beneath my hands. The man let out a steroid-sounding huff as glass fell on top of his black boots.
“I don’t like being threatened,” Rogue answered evenly.
“This?” the guy chuckled, looking over his shoulder. “This ain’t a threat, kid. This is us tellin’ you, Johnny Jack is done playin’ nice. Y’all need to hand over the photos. Tonight. Or your girl here, your mamas, and every fuckin’ bitch in this prep school of yours here will be gone come Monday mornin.’ And that’s a fuckin’ promise, kid.”
One of the other men made a move like he was going to punch Godfrey, laughing when he flinched. I saw the change in him immediately, knowing that he was regressing to the state his father put him in when he became abusive. His shoulders slumped, his eyes went to the ground, and he looked immediately defeated. Rogue stepped in front of him, now shielding both me and Godfrey. The gesture made my heart squeeze.
O’Banion and his buddies chuckled. “Just a bunch of rich kids playin’ at the big boys game,” he said, as the four of them started to walk backwards to their car. “Tonight, Rich Kids. Or I’ll make sure I get this one first,” he threatened, pointing to me. “I’ll play with her nice and long before I sell her to the highest bidder. I’m sure the boss could fetch a real pretty price for her.”
Rogue growled and went to move forward, but I yanked on his arm to hold him back. The four men got into their SUV and pealed out of the parking lot, leaving us alone.
A panicky breath shook out of my chest, realizing that the danger was closing in on us.
Bonham shook out his hands, which had been curled into fists. “What do you want to do?” he asked, looking at Rogue.
It struck me right then how terrible it must be sometimes to carry all the weight. Rogue was their leader, for all intents and purposes, and that meant that he had to make the tough decisions and shoulder the responsibility. I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. Not now, when it was a matter of life and death.
Rogue ran his hands through his dark hair, pulling at the strands in frustration. “We set up the meeting. Tonight. Johnny Jack’s men aren’t going to wait, and I won’t risk her,” he said, tilting his head in my direction. “Call Rocco, tell him if he wants the evidence, he’ll need to show up and be p
repared to fight.”
Godfrey already had his phone out. “Good. Let’s get to Stephanie’s and finally fucking be done with this shit.”
We piled into two cars, Luis and Bonham heading to Rogue’s with the plans to contact Rocco’s men with the meet point, while Rogue, Godfrey, and I headed to Stephanie’s.
Everything was coming to a head. I just hoped I still had one by the time this was over.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The ride to Stephanie’s was quiet, mostly because Rogue was too pissed to talk. Godfrey was busy on his phone, making arrangements about where to meet with Johnny Jack’s contact so we could bring him the evidence.
We were playing a dangerous game by trying to set up Johnny Jack with an ambush from Rocco’s people. For all we knew, Rocco could fuck us over and not even show up. Then there was nothing stopping Johnny Jack from killing us all. Once we handed over their evidence, they didn’t need us anymore, and we’d be nothing but loose ends that they’d want to get rid of.
“Rocco better show up,” I muttered from the passenger seat.
Rogue’s only response was to tighten his grip on the steering wheel.
I gently placed my hand on his thigh and ran my thumb up and down, trying to offer a small dose of comfort. It didn’t relax him, but he did look over at me. “If anything happens to you—”
“Don’t,” I said, shaking my head. “Don’t go borrowing trouble. All we can do is play this as smart as we can and show up.”
He nodded and turned his attention back to the road as he brought us into Stephanie’s neighborhood. “Yeah. But I’ll kill every last one of them if you so much as get a scratch on you.”
I smiled sadly and laid my head on his shoulder. When he pulled up to Stephanie’s house, he shared a look with Godfrey. I turned around, catching the resigned flash on Godfrey’s face. “Fucking Stephanie,” he muttered under his breath before yanking open the door. It was incredibly sad to me that he’d basically been forced to sleep with her when he didn’t want to, all so that they could keep up this facade. For someone like Godfrey, who already had a fucked up family life, this wasn’t a good situation.
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