Wicked Rules

by L A Cotton

  “Then I saw it, the fire behind the stage. I couldn’t see them. People were rushing for the doors, pushing and shoving and screaming. But I couldn’t leave them, I couldn’t...”

  “It’s okay.” I pressed a kiss to her head. “You don’t have to... it’s okay.”

  Lo dragged a deep breath into her lungs, stifling back her tears. “The fire spread quickly. Too quickly. It was an old building, a lot of the wood was... the smoke was unbearable, I could barely breathe, but I couldn’t see them and...”

  She broke down. In a hotel in downtown LA my brave strong girl let her walls down. And although I knew it would help her in the long run, I couldn’t imagine how she felt reliving it.

  “I’m so sorry, Lo. I’m so sorry,” I shifted, dropping my arm around her shoulder and pulling her into me. Her soft sobs filled the room.

  After her tears slowed, Lo untangled herself from my chest, pushing damp hair from her face.

  “That was the last time I ever saw them. Laughing. Dancing... Happy. I can’t...”

  “Ssh, come here.”

  Lo settled beside me. Heartache radiating from her. She’d lost so much. Survived so much. She was strong, I didn’t doubt that. But it was a front. A mask for the pain she carried with her every second of every day.

  But she had people. She had her dad, and Kyle, and Summer, and Laurie.

  She had me.

  And I’d spend a lifetime trying to make her happy, if she let me.

  I leaned down, tilting her face to mine and brushed my lips over hers, reassuring her that I was right here. Silently promising that I would never knowingly hurt her. I would protect her and keep her safe. And most of all that I would love her. Scars and all.

  Lo

  Something changed after LA. The night I bared the deepest darkest corners of my soul to Maverick. I’d never relived the events of that night to anyone. Not Dad, not my counsellor, or the many doctors I’d seen during my time in hospital. I could never find the words… to verbalise my last moments with Mum and Elliot. It was as if part of me decided forgetting—drowning out the memories with drugs and alcohol—was easier.

  I realised now; it was probably what drew me to Maverick. The need to know the darkest parts of his soul. To soothe them. Because just being with him, with someone who understood me, even if he didn’t realise how much, soothed some part of me.

  We were both broken, but together, we were whole.

  It was also part of the reason I decided that regardless of what happened with his father, I would stick by him. I’d survived losing a parent and a brother. Survived a horrific accident. And I’d survived my own demons.

  I could survive Alec Prince and Caitlin Holloway.

  In the end, it was that simple.

  And as Maverick had loved me that night, whispering promises in my ear, I realised something else. I didn’t have to stay silent. I could fight for us too, the way Maverick thought he was fighting for us. It might not make a difference, or maybe it would.

  But I wouldn’t know unless I tried.

  “Lo, you still with me, sweetheart?” Dad’s voice snapped me out of my daydream and I blinked over at him. “I just need to swing by and show my face and then we can head out, okay?”

  It was bad enough we were meeting Stella and Beth for dinner, but now Dad had dropped this on me last minute.

  “I can stay in the car, right?” Eyeing the hotel, I looked down at my jeans and favourite t-shirt.

  He noticed and chuckled. “It’s only half an hour, tops. Come on, humour your old man.”

  “And what exactly is it again?”

  “Just a drinks reception for some investors. Nothing too intimidating. I need to say hello, shake a few hands. There’ll be champagne and canapés?”

  “Canapés?” I raised an eyebrow, and he rolled his eyes.

  “Come on, the sooner we get in there, the sooner we can leave.”

  With a heavy sigh, I followed Dad out of the truck and toward the building. He looked good in his tailored trousers, navy shirt and black tie. And for as much as it still hurt, I was past denying the reason for the new man standing beside me.

  “I appreciate this, kiddo. You know that, right?”

  “I know, Dad,” I said as we slipped into the hotel lobby. I also knew he wasn’t referring to this, here.

  It wasn’t the first time he’d asked me to dine with him and Stella, but every time I had an excuse. Every time, I threw my walls up and pushed away his new life. But it had been almost nine months. She wasn’t going away, and I was tired of being alone in the house. And ever since stumbling across her sobbing in my father’s arms, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Dad told me enough that I knew Beth’s father was giving her problems. Still, I didn’t probe, and he didn’t give away more than he should.

  My eyes swept over the lobby: brushed copper and rich mahogany paneling, abstract art fixed to the wall in neat rows. It oozed money, and I felt like a fish out of water.

  “Don’t look so worried, it’s just drinks.”

  He kept saying that but who did ‘just drinks’ in a place like this?

  In the confines of our modest house, it was easy to forget Dad’s associations. Even at school, or with Maverick at the pool house, I was blinkered to just how wealthy my extended family were. My name—being a Stone—hadn’t changed me. I was still just a girl trying to survive each day. To figure out how to fit in this new life.

  “Smiles on,” Dad whispered around an amused grin as he pushed open an ornate wooden door. The room, a private bar, was set up with shaker style tables, and men in suits far more expensive than Dad’s, milled about chatting and laughing. A couple of immaculate waitresses floated about serving plates of tiny sandwiches and small pastries.

  “Fancy,” I mumbled, trailing after him as he made a beeline for Gentry.

  “Ahh and here he is,” my uncle clapped eyes on us and beamed. “Robert, get over here and meet Lance.”

  Dad slipped away from me without so much as a backward glance and I made for the bar, pulling up a stool. “Drink?” the bartender asked, and I nodded.

  He slid a flute of champagne over to me and gave me a sly wink. “You look like you need it.”

  “Thanks.” I sipped the drink, bubbles fizzing in my mouth, popping as they slid down my throat. Spinning on the stool, I took in the room. Dad and Gentry’s laughter echoed around the high ceilings. My uncle had the men hanging off his every word while Dad smiled and nodded, hands jammed deep in his pockets. He was the quieter brother, but he didn’t look out of place. He looked happy… at home. And even after all this time, it made my stomach drop.

  Thirty-minutes and my second glass of champagne later, Dad showed no signs of saying his goodbyes any time soon.

  “One more then I’m cutting you off,” Wesley, as I discovered the bartender was called, refilled the crystal flute.

  “Thanks.” My lips pressed into a thin line and I grimaced.

  “How old are you? Wait.” He frowned. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to lose my job for supplying alcohol to minors.”

  That earned him a weak smile as I twirled the stem in my hands. I already felt the flow of expensive champagne in my veins. It wasn’t enough to get me drunk, but it helped. Took the edge off.

  “Alec, Gavin, good to see—”

  My blood turned to ice as I slowly turned. Alec Prince approached a stiff looking Uncle Gentry, accompanied by another man. Blond hair peppered with grey, he was tall and broad, with the same unforgiving expression as Alec Prince. But my eyes ran right over him to the other two people with them.

  I spun back around to Wesley and deep lines crinkled his eyes. “I’m going to lose my job, aren’t I?”

  My gaze fixed on the neat line of bottles arranged on the shelf behind him and I choked out, “I’m really sorry to do this to you, but I’m going to need something stronger. Much stronger.”

  ~

  “Sorry, I’m sorry,” Dad rushed out with a strained smile
as he slunk into the stool beside me, loosening his tie. “I didn’t expect it to take so long.”

  “Can I get you something to drink, Mr. Stone?”

  “I’ll have a—” His eyes narrowed on me, on the empty glass in front of me. “Have you been drinking?”

  “You said there was champagne, I thought you meant...” I shrugged, trying to keep my voice even, trying to disguise the storm raging inside me.

  “I cut her off at two, Mr. Stone,” Wesley added, shooting me a discreet glower.

  “It’s fine.” Dad studied me, and I forced a smile. “I shouldn’t have left you so long. We didn’t expect for Alec... never mind. We should really get going before Stella sends a search party.”

  I rose from the stool on unsteady legs. The two vodka and lemonades Wesley had slipped me did little to ease my surprise when my gaze landed on Maverick and Caitlin. Her hand curled possessively around his arm. How her fingers tightened when she noticed me sitting there. The smug flash of fucking delight in her eyes. But I didn’t really want to get Wesley fired and I couldn’t afford to embarrass myself in front of Dad and his business partners. Or cause a scene in front of Alec Prince. So I steeled myself, turned my back to them and sipped my drinks, all while plotting a thousand ways to kill Caitlin Holloway in cold blood.

  But it was too late, my efforts fruitless. Maverick’s eyes burned into my back the whole time I sat there, nursing my drink. Silently questioning what I was doing here, silently asking me to look at him. But I didn’t.

  I couldn’t.

  That was the rule.

  My rule.

  It had been hard enough knowing they were in Sacramento together. I didn’t want to have to see it, to feel it. When he got back, and he found out he’d been accepted into Steinbeck, I thought the tide was changing. I thought it was a sign that everything would work out. But I should have known fate was a cruel bitch, and she’d decided to shove it right in front of my eyes catching me completely unawares.

  “Lo, are you ready?”

  “Yes, yes.” I blinked at Dad, smiling, all teeth and bitterness on my tongue. My eyes travelled the room. Maverick and Caitlin were with their fathers, talking, laughing—looking very together. She shuffled closer, pressing into his side as if she felt me watching.

  “I’m sorry,” Dad said in a low voice. “I had no idea they’d—”

  “It’s fine,” I said. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”

  It was a lie. Dinner would choke me, but he didn’t need to know that. He didn’t need to know I was one second away from grabbing the nearest glass of bubbly and drowning Caitlin in it. Or maybe I’d go for Alec. He was, after all, the reason for all of this.

  For this lie.

  This fucking sham.

  Just when I thought I was getting a grip on it, the rug was pulled out from under my feet and my world crashed down around me.

  I managed to croak out a goodbye to Uncle Gentry and then I was out of there. Marching toward the door, and fresh air.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Dad said as he caught up to me, fumbling with his keys.

  “Starving.”

  “If you say so,” he mumbled as he rounded the truck and climbed inside. He knew me well enough to know I wasn’t okay. But he wouldn’t push. Because that’s what we did. We avoided. We lived in suffocating silence. Besides, he probably thought I was still hung up on Maverick.

  He didn’t know the truth.

  Because that was another rule.

  As I climbed inside, my phone bleeped, and my heart lurched into my mouth, my palms clammy, as I slipped it out and read the incoming text.

  Maverick: I’m sorry. Shit, I’m so sorry. Where are you headed? Give me twenty and I’ll be there. Just say the word Lo, and I’ll be there.

  Shutting it off, I slid it back into my pocket.

  “Laurie?” Dad asked, and I nodded.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m glad you have her, kiddo.”

  “Sure, Dad.” Sure.

  I dropped my head back and closed my eyes but all I could see was Caitlin. Caitlin pressed against Maverick. Her pretty, manicured hand possessively on his arm. Over the top glossy smile aimed in his direction, beaming at him as if he hung the fucking moon. Her moon. Perfectly styled hair, designer clothes and make up a model would be proud of. She embodied money. Wore it like a second skin. And for as much as I hated to admit it—for as much as it made me want to puke all over Dad’s leather seats—they looked good together.

  My fists clenched at my sides until my nails bit into my skin, as I tried to rein in the anger building in my chest. They might have looked good together, but he was mine.

  Maverick was mine.

  He’d made promises to me.

  He loved me.

  But Gentry still needed time. ‘Close’, he’d told Maverick the last time he asked. He was close to finding a workaround for cutting all ties with Alec. But time was something we didn’t have. Because although I’d made a promise, although I’d played by the rules, I was losing myself.

  Slowly, little piece by little broken piece, this whole thing was eating me alive.

  My phone vibrated again, and I debated ignoring it. Just for a little while. But I couldn’t do it. Even though I willed my hand to stop, it didn’t listen.

  Maverick: I love you. You, Lo. Don’t forget that.

  I hadn’t forgotten.

  I just didn’t know if it was enough anymore.

  ~

  Kyle: Cous, come on. Answer the damn phone

  Kyle: Lo…

  Kyle: Do you want him to end up arrested for breaking and entering?

  Lo: Not fair, Kyle. I just need some time.

  Kyle: How much time?

  Lo: Kyle!!!

  Kyle: Fine, I’m going to cover for you. But don’t make me regret it. Take your time and then FUCKING CALL HIM

  Lo: Fine!

  Kyle: Fine!

  Kyle: I love you, Cous. You know that, right?

  Lo: I know. Now leave me alone

  My fingers lingered over the screen. It had been hours since I saw Maverick at the hotel. I’d gone to dinner with Dad and Stella and somehow survived two hours of painful conversation while they fawned over one another. At one point, I thought Beth was going to puke all over her spaghetti at the sight of my dad kissing her mom. We ended up playing eye spy. At first, I hadn’t wanted to like her. What she represented. But it was hard to deny she was cute, and I saw a lot of myself in her. She was lost. Trying to keep up appearances. To process what was going on around her. But for as much as we’d found common ground, I still didn’t look at her and see my sister.

  My stepsister.

  Because from the way Dad and Stella were headed, it was a real possibility. They were sickeningly in love. And he’d already become a huge part of Beth’s life.

  My phone vibrated again, and I half expected to see Maverick’s name flash across the screen. But it didn’t.

  Kyle: Operation distract the Prince has commenced. You have an hour. Two tops.

  Lo: My hero.

  God, he was relentless. I knew he meant well. I knew he didn’t want to see Maverick do something stupid. But I needed time. No one said this would be easy, but seeing them together… seeing her touch him. It stirred something in me. And, in that split second, I understood why Maverick fought. Why he stepped into that ring at the risk of ending up hurt, or worse.

  He wanted it to stop.

  Just for a second, he wanted it to stop.

  The lies… The games… The pressure.

  But this was real life. It was messy and raw and real and sometimes it hurt so much you didn’t think you’d be able to carry on. You couldn’t fight your way out of the hard times, you just had to ride them out and hope you survived. So I would allow myself an hour. Sixty minutes to hurt and sulk and wallow in pity at how horrible my life was, and then I’d brush myself off, paint on a smile, and pretend everything was fine.

  Even if it wasn’t.

&nbs
p; Even if I didn’t know how much more I had left to give.

  Maverick

  “No way, no fucking way.”

  “Watch your mouth,” Dad hissed down the line as I paced back and forth, dragging my fingers over my scalp, letting the bite of pain ground me.

  “I’ve played by your rules, turned up at every event you asked, but prom is mine.”

  And, if I gave two shits about the dance, which I didn’t, there was only one girl I’d be there with.

  “So you can ask the Stone girl and flaunt your sordid relationship in front of everyone? Do you think I don’t know you’re still seeing her? I saw the way you looked at her at Valencia. Jesus, Maverick, I thought you’d have at least half a brain. The obvious choice is Caitlin. Besides, it’s already arranged. Gavin has taken care of everything. You’ll attend with Caitlin, and JB and his date, and then we’ll celebrate on Sunday.”

  “Celebrate?” With JB? Not likely.

  “Gavin and I agreed on a deal. We sign the papers, Monday.”

  Gentry’s man needed to work fast because time was running out. Prom was next weekend, graduation the week after that. If they couldn’t figure it out soon, my future was over. And all this, the last four months, was for nothing.

  “I have to go,” I rushed out, feeling anger spear through me.

  “Don’t let me down, Maverick. Once the papers are signed and sealed, I don’t care if you spit on the girl and throw her to the wolves.”

  My lips mashed together to stop me saying something I might regret. Caitlin was a bitch, the worst kind, but even she didn’t deserve my father’s harsh words. The line went dead, and I threw my cell down on the bed. All those years I spent worshipping him. Seeking his approval.

  What a fucking joke.

  He was rotten to the core. Toxic. And he poisoned everything and everyone around him. It wasn’t any wonder Maxine was out of town so much. Why their kids were barely ever home. I pitied them. But if they knew the things I knew, surely they would have run far, far away from Alec Prince.