Reckless Karma (Sinners & Saints #2)

by Chelsea Ballinger

  “That could be,” Jordana says. “I just hope this plan she has is good because once Scarlett sees us coming, I won’t be shocked if she has more stuff up her sleeve.”

  HUGO

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Mandrake.” A blonde petite woman with a tight bun answers Karlie’s door.

  “Good afternoon.” I enter the penthouse. Everything is pretty much white furnished with a grey marble fireplace, floor, and kitchen countertop. Very nice. A dark brown grand piano is in the corner by one of the many windows that display a clear view of the city.

  “The piano came with the place.” I turn around and see Anika. I look at her, like really look at her, and it comes to me.

  “We had a lot of classes together last year.” She laughs, shaking her head.

  “You’ve just now realized this?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I was shocked how easy it was. Low-key, I think Karlie wanted me to pick the same major as you, but there was no damn way I was doing that. But it didn’t matter anyway because you just took whatever classes to piss off your dad.”

  “Yep. So you and Cody?”

  “Cody just happened,” she shrugs. “Seriously, I got a job because I didn’t want to rely on my sister and Cody just so happened to come there with his parents and… that was it. I think I always knew it was to see me, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to get close to anyone from your world.”

  “My world?” I point up, waving my finger around. “This is clearly your world too.”

  “No.” She shakes her head. “This is not my world. This isn’t even Karlie’s world. Her world is your brother. That’s her world. Has been since she was seventeen. Even when she tried to escape, fate got in the way.”

  “Fate?”

  “When I met William Fairchild,” Karlie interrupts wearing an all-white dress.

  “Yeah, when she met that poor fool,” Anika mocks. “Is Cody home?”

  “Yes,” I answer. “Locked in his room, listening to Boyz II Men, hoping their soothing masculine voices will mend his broken heart.”

  “Funny.”

  “I’m being serious and for future reference, tell the truth before you sleep with someone as sensitive as him. Especially virgins.”

  “Oh is that what you usually used when sleeping with girls? From what I’ve heard, your brother didn’t.”

  “See there’s the difference between my brother and me.”

  “Not technically. He sort of told my sister the truth before he slept with her.”

  “That’s a story I must hear soon.” I am surprised by this, given that supposedly Karlie was supposed to be a virgin when assaulted.

  “I’m going to see if I can talk to him.” Anika grabs her purse off the couch.

  “I advise you not to. Cody has always been a wet blanket and the wet blanket finally dried up when you allowed him to explore, well, your wetness, so now that he has discovered that it was partially a lie, he is now about to sink back into his shell.”

  “I am so glad I never tried to get to know you.”

  Anika slams the door on the way out.

  “Listen, I know you are prone to being a son of a bitch, but talk to my little sister like that again and your wit will be the only thing you have left to use in your life.”

  “Good to know that you do care for your sister.”

  “I love my sister.”

  “So much that you made her go to the same school as me just so she could—what? Watch me? Or did you think history would repeat itself?”

  “I didn’t really have a plan. I just wanted eyes on you. Know what you were like.”

  “And Anika knows me.”

  “More than you know. Maybe when you both can chill out, you could talk about it.”

  I walk up to the large window and stare out at the city. My city. The city I have always admired, and now I’m discovering as I watched this city, as I watched the people—my prey—I too was the prey. I too was watched.

  The silence seems to last forever until she finally speaks again. “I grew up in a two bedroom apartment in Queens with my mom and little sister. Our view was just crappy old buildings, so I just didn’t think anything was beautiful about buildings. Like anything. But this view… well, all I can say is the view on Park Avenue makes me appreciate architecture a whole lot more. I never thought I could rule the world, and this view makes me think I do.”

  “So how do you like it so far?”

  “Ruling the world? Well… it has its highs and lows. Sometimes I find myself missing our little apartment.”

  “Sometimes I wish I grew up on a beach. People that live on the beach seem happy.” I don’t know why I admit that to her of all people. I get what Karlie means. Even though I’ve never been poor or middle class, I get it. Less really is more. A nice small home on the beach has always been a calm setting for me. Just the sounds of the ocean and the quiet wind that pushes past you from within the open windows. I think that’s where I’ll be with Juliet someday. I hope it is. Maybe a beach in England.

  Karlie steps back and sits on the couch. I join her, sitting in the chair next to it.

  “So about this NeoLock deal?” I ask.

  “I’ll be the full investor of NeoLock.” She has no worries as she tells me this.

  “I thought Harper needed a few investors.”

  “He did, but after our meeting, he’s found no need for any more investors. I made him promise not to announce it yet.”

  I nod. “Well done.”

  “Yes. Taking that deal away from your dad and Scarlett was kid stuff. Truthfully, I’m not even really interested in revenge on your dad.”

  “It’s the master puppeteer herself.”

  “Yes, indeed she is. I want to cut the strings and use them to strangle her.”

  I chuckle. “I am all for it.”

  She tilts her head, narrowing her eyes at me. She has this faint grin on her face like she knows what I’m thinking.

  “What do you want to know, Hugo?” she finally asks.

  “Everything.”

  “What do you want to know first?”

  Tell me about the first time he approached you.”

  She giggles and that coldness, that pain is washed away and before she can even tell me, I know she loves him. That light in her eyes displays that evidence. His memory is still the beat in her heart.

  GABRIEL

  Karlie Annetta Dale. Beautiful girl. Scholarship student from Queens. Since she’s been going here at Welsh Academy, she has been ranked between number one and three in our class. I’ve always noticed her. Her sweet and caring nature for others. Her simple ways. I’ve never thought much about it. The only thing I ever wondered was how good she was in bed. Now I’m wondering the rest. What makes her her? When it comes to the targets, I want to know what makes them smile, cry, angry, scream. Karlie Dale shouldn’t be hard. At the end of the day she’s like any other virgin. Longing for someone to romance them and sweep them off their feet.

  “What do you think of Karlie Dale?”

  My question sparks frustration in Molly Hanes, who at the moment is occupied.

  “Whaaaat?” she mumbles.

  I continue smoking my cigarette as she removes her mouth from my dick.

  “Are you serious right now?” she asks, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

  I’m watching her right now from the window of Molly’s limo. School is about to start and everyone’s on the school steps conversing. Karlie is talking to some group of girls. Mostly fat chicks and blacks and Hispanics. She’s laughing, smiling like a ray of sunshine.

  “Why the hell do you wanna know about her?” Molly talks like a girl from Orange County, and she practically looks like one with the platinum blonde hair and spray tan. I swear every time we have sex I come out orange. She’s not from LA, but she has an obsession with the O.C. and Laguna Beach television series. Has all the seasons on DVD box sets and plays them while we have sex. One time we role-played. I was, in he
r words, a horrible Seth Cohen and she was Summer Roberts. I fucked the snarky comment out of her.

  “Because I want to know.” I face her. “You can get back to your morning breakfast after you tell me what you think of her.”

  She frowns, pouts, the usual female angry expression, but then looks past me and really looks at Karlie.

  “She’s cute.” True. “A little overweight.” Lie. “And actually I heard her nose might be fake.” Lie again. “But then she is on scholarship so that could be false. Ugh, I guess she’s sweet and nice. Last year she tutored me in Algebra and I actually passed with a C so that was nice of her.” She puts more thought into it. “Yeah, she’s cool. She’s just… genuine. She doesn’t pretend and… I guess that’s really good.”

  I take in what she says and smile. “Good… you may proceed.”

  She giggles like an idiot and heads back down. I continue staring at Karlie until the first period bell rings.

  I decide to approach her in the library. She’s searching for a book on the other side of the shelf. When she pulls it from the shelf, there I am, my face staring back at her from the other side.

  “Hi?” She seems confused as to why I’m staring at her through the small space.

  “Hello,” I flash my usual crooked smile at her.

  She shrugs it off and continues. I watch through the cracks between the books and move as she does until I come in full view of her at the end, blocking her path.

  “Can I help you with something?” I sense a hint of amusement in her attitude.

  “No.”

  “Well then why are you standing in my way?”

  “Because it’s usually my approach to women.”

  “You should work on a new one.” She tries to walk past me, but I step in her way.

  “Why don’t you teach me?”

  She grins. “I think you already have a line of girls waiting to teach you.”

  “Can’t argue there. I guess I should start with an introduction. I’m Gabriel Mandrake.”

  “I know who you are, and I’m sure you know who I am.”

  “Indeed, I do. You’re Karlie Dale.”

  “Yep.”

  “So you’re wondering why I’m approaching you.”

  “No, I know why you’re approaching me.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes… my mom always warns me about people like you.”

  “People like me? Handsome? Charming? Intelligent?”

  “No,” she shakes her head. “Rich, spoiled, self-entitled little white boys looking for a charity case, especially in the Spanish and African American community, to use for unlimited sex and gain an unlimited supply of plagiarized term papers until you attend an Ivy League school and get married to a pretty blonde.”

  Well that was unexpected. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled this big before. I am impressed.

  “Actually, I prefer brunettes.”

  I expect her to roll her eyes, call me an asshole and walk away, but she doesn’t. She laughs. Like hysterically laughs. My smile tightens and for the first time I’m speechless.

  “I bet you do,” she says and brushes past me. I watch her. Pride, confidence, and courage waver over her long strides, and I finally see how beautiful she truly is. I can’t wait to ruin it.

  KARLIE

  “He hooked you, didn’t he?” Hugo asks me, smirking.

  “He gained my interest,” I admit. “Everyone knew who Gabriel was. What he did along with the rest of the Sinful Saints. And I’ll admit I was attracted to him, but I knew I never wanted to give him my heart. Unfortunately, after that day he just became more persistent and that damn charm worked,” I smile. “It must be the Mandrake charm.”

  “It’s a poisonous thing.”

  “It is.”

  “So what made you fall for him if you knew?”

  “Maybe it was the attraction or maybe not, but it’s like I could just see him sometimes for who he really was.”

  “When? When you first met him?”

  “No.”

  I think back on it and it’s still a clear memory of the moment I knew Gabriel was going to change my life.

  GABRIEL

  “What the hell are we waiting by the buses for?” Chad asks.

  “You could go home,” Noel says and Scarlett snickers. Noel and Chad hate each other. I could care less about either one. Neither of them are of my standards. One’s a drug addict who likes to watch Scarlett and I have sex and the other is over his head when it comes to keeping up with the rest of us. Noel isn’t psychotic like Chad, cunning like Scarlett, or soulless like me. He’s just trying to fit in. But here we all are, the Kings and Queen of the school. We are feared and envied. Sunglasses, school uniforms on, cigarettes in hands. We are the definition of cool today and I love it, but I don’t need it. I don’t need anything because everything eventually ends. Watching the poor board their polluted buses, I realize that I’ve never been on a bus before. I ride in a limo or a BMW every day, and Karlie Dale rides the bus every day. We are from two different worlds—a classic love story—except this won’t be a love story.

  “There’s your girl,” Scarlett whispers in my ear before licking it.

  I smile as I see Karlie walking our way.

  “Karlie Dale.” I grin and hop off the limo. She laughs to herself and shakes her head.

  “Gabriel Mandrake.” She keeps walking and I get in her way.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Home.”

  “Well get in. We’ll give you a lift.”

  “We will?” Chad rudely asks.

  “These are my lovely roommates.” I display sarcasm in my voice.

  “Yeah, I know,” she says. “Hi.”

  “Charmed,” Scarlett grins.

  Chad stares at her in that rapey way Chad stares at girls. “Wonderful to meet you.” He grabs her hand and kisses it.

  Karlie is uneasy at his gesture. Like she can see right through him. Even though I am a monster, I wouldn’t want any woman around Chad either.

  “I need to go catch the subway,” she says. “So I’m gonna walk.”

  “Not the bus?” I ask confused.

  “I have to take the subway today to meet my little sister. Thanks anyway.” Her smiles turn me on. They’re so big and cute. I watch as she walks away and gaze at her ass in the plaid skirt. It’s a very nice ass.

  “Wait up!” I call out. I look back at a shocked Scarlett.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Tell the driver I’ll text him the address and to not be late.”

  “Gabriel.” She grabs my wrist and speaks low. “No amount of pussy is worth getting on the subway for.”

  “Your words, to be exact,” Noel reminds me.

  I grin mischievously. “This one is. Only making you proud, princess.”

  “Don’t get mugged while doing it,” she says before I catch up with Karlie.

  “What are you doing?” Karlie asks.

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “No way.” She shakes her head in disbelief.

  “Yes way. Shall we?” I take her backpack and carry it. Shit it’s heavy. “What the hell is in this?”

  “My homework.”

  I make a disgusted face and she laughs at that. She has a nice laugh.

  “I’m not having sex with you.” Her abrupt words echo in the quiet train cart that is filled with weird looking people who ironically give us weird looks. An old lady turns her nose up at us while a man snickers from across.

  I take off my sunglasses. “Who said anything about sex?”

  “I know your reputation. You’ve had it since the eighth grade. I especially know that you love virgins.”

  “You’re a virgin?”

  “That’s what everyone thinks.” She looks away annoyed.

  “Is it true?”

  “It’s nobody’s business.”

  “So it is true.”

  “You are unbelievable. I have to admit I’m shocked at your c
alm state on the subway.”

  “What makes you think this is my first ride on the subway?”

  She just gives me a look, challenging me to further my bullshit.

  “Okay, fine it is, but it’s not as bad as I thought.”

  She keeps staring at me.

  “What?”

  “You usually keep your sunglasses on. I’ve never noticed how blue your eyes are.”

  “Does it turn you on?”

  She rolls her eyes and smacks her lips.

  “Yes, it just makes me want to take off all my clothes,” she deadpans.

  “If you insist.” I begin to untie my school tie and unbutton my shirt.

  “Oh my God, do you take anything seriously?” She tries not to laugh.

  “Yes, a lot of things actually, but the world is a horrible place and you might as well joke until you die.”

  “Cynic.”

  “In some form.”

  “Cynic with blue eyes. Anything else about you? What about you and your roommates? I heard you guys partake in orgies and ruin people’s lives.”

  “I didn’t take you for a gossiper.”

  “I’m not. Unfortunately everyone came to me with all this when they saw you talking to me.”

  “So you received your fair warnings of the big, bad wolves.”

  “Sinful Saints.”

  “Yes, the cute nickname for us. It does fit well.”

  “Where’s your family?”

  “My father lives here. He’s an asshole. Mother’s dead. I have two brothers. Identical twins. August and Hugo. August is autistic; he lives at Ms. Eleanor’s house with us also.” I mentally check off the list of everything you need to know about me.

  “What about your other brother?”

  “Hugo? He’s in a boarding school. My father sees him as the last chance in having a true successor.”

  “How old are they?”

  “I think fourteen now?”

  “How do you not know?”

  “August stays in his room, banging his head against the wall, drawing masterful lines, and I haven’t talked to Hugo in months. We’re not a close-knit family.”