When Chloe’s eyes glanced over at Elle, she knew she could break through.
“It could have been worse, you know?”
“How?” Chloe whispered back.
Elle smiled. She had gotten her to talk. “Well, the worst thing that could have happened from the whole thing was the milk carton could have busted. Chocolate milk is a bitch to get out.”
When Chloe attempted a smile, Elle relaxed.
“So, what do you think they’re going to do when they find out who threw it?” Elle looked up at the four guys staring at them.
“Something tells me I’d rather not know.” Chloe lowered her voice even more, not wanting them to know they were talking about them. “I thought Nero might have been crazy, but did you see Vincent? He has a multiple personality disorder that’s way worse than being bipolar.”
Elle kept her voice down, as well. I definitely don’t want them to hear. “I noticed that, too. He went from Brad Pitt to Rambo in two seconds.”
When Chloe let out a chuckle, Elle couldn’t help giggling with her.
Elle saw the boys walk over.
“Oh, crap, did they hear us?” Chloe asked nervously.
Elle looked at their pissed-the-hell-off faces. “Quick, act like you’re still upset.”
Elle saw Chloe’s head snap back down as the boys closed the gap.
Vincent sat down beside her and wrapped his arm around Elle’s shoulders. “How do you feel, sweetheart?”
Elle looked at Vincent’s baby-blue eyes. He was back to being Brad Pitt again. “Good. I kicked that chocolate milk’s ass, right?”
“Yeah, straight to the ground.” Vincent laughed.
Elle and Leo laughed with him and even Chloe let a laugh escape, but Nero and Amo didn’t think the joke was funny.
Vincent took the chance to ask Chloe, “And how are you, sweetheart?”
“I-I’m fine.” Elle couldn’t guess if she was still trying to play along that she was upset or couldn’t handle Vincent’s flirting.
“Would you two happen to have a feeling of who might have thrown it?” Elle wondered why Vincent was asking all the questions. When she looked at his pretty boy face, she found out why. He was trying to use his good looks and charms on them to find out what they wanted.
“Nope. Do you, Chloe?” Elle turned to Chloe, hoping she wouldn’t dare open her mouth, either.
“Me, either.” Chloe shook her head.
Vincent gave a smile. “How about, maybe I should start to ask someone?”
“Maybe a lunch lady saw. I’d start there.” Elle smiled back.
“I say we start with Sebastian,” Amo said.
“That the psycho from yesterday?” Leo asked.
“That’s him. Let’s get the girls back to class.” Nero sounded like the boys wouldn’t be heading back to class.
Elle reluctantly stood. She didn’t want to go to Spanish since she couldn’t keep an eye on him there.
Nero gave her a look to go on and start walking, but Elle needed them all to understand something.
“Listen, I’m going to say this, and I really hope you all listen. That was the first time since I started coming here they were too scared to show their faces. Usually, they stand right in my face and do whatever they’re going to do while the teachers look the other way.
“I’m not rich, and my family doesn’t have power; that’s why they get away with it, and that’s fine. But you can’t go around hurting the kids whose parents would come in here and blow a gasket, threatening to pull their kid out.
“Legacy Prep only wants one thing, and that’s money. If I leave because of bullying, then they get to keep my scholarship money, and that is a hell of a lot more than my paycheck and tips I give them for the rest.” Elle hoped she drove her point home.
“We’re just going to talk to them, sweetheart,” Vincent said, standing up.
Let me make it clearer.
“Let me paint a picture for you guys. If you three go and start a bunch of fights, then you get kicked out of school. That leaves Chloe and me stuck here alone with all the people you just pissed off. So, you all think about that when you go to talk to them.”
“That isn’t going to fucking happen,” Amo said, crossing his arms.
When Elle went to open her mouth again, Nero shut her up. “Elle. Class. Now.”
As Elle stomped off, ready to wring all their necks, she heard Chloe getting up to run beside her. Nero caught up to her, attempting to hold her hand, but she wasn’t in the mood. Unfortunately, Nero couldn’t have cared less, and as such, she was forced to hold his hand back to class.
When they reached her classroom, Elle had some parting words.
“None of you better do anything stupid.” Then she walked off without even telling Nero goodbye.
* * *
“Does she know who she’s talking to?” Amo asked when Elle slammed the classroom door.
“Oh, yes, she does, and that’s the problem.” After what he had done with her in the locker room, she was very aware of the kind of man he was.
Nero saw the guys all shake their heads. We’re all going to be lucky to come out of this sane.
Looking over to Leo, Nero spoke. “Go on to class. Ask around. Let me know if you find anything out.”
“All right, catch you guys later.” Leo walked off.
Nero and his crew were going to miss the last part of class again to have some alone time with Sebastian once more.
Vincent started walking toward the back of the school. “Three guesses where the bitch is, and the first two don’t count.”
Chapter Twenty
I Bet You Can’t Even Aim Your Piss in the Toilet
Nero followed Vincent out the back school doors; they were hardly used and only there in case of an emergency. Walking out, they headed along the school building, following the smell. When they reached the rich-boy douchebags smoking pot, it was everything Nero could do not to beat the shit out of Sebastian right then and there.
“Get the fuck out of here.” Nero wanted to make it clear they didn’t want to finish their weed, but mostly, he enjoyed watching them run.
When Sebastian tried to make a run for it, too, Nero pushed him hard, making him fall backwards. “I don’t think so.”
“Hey, I didn’t do anything.” Sebastian held up his hands.
Nero squatted down beside him. “Nothing? Really? So, you didn’t happen to fucking throw the milk at Elle’s face?”
“No-no, of course not. You think I could really throw something across the cafeteria and not miss?”
Nero watched Sebastian practically shed a few tears. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I bet you can’t even aim your piss in the toilet.”
Sebastian tried to smile and laugh. “Yeah, I can’t even do that.”
“I guess you didn’t happen to see who did, then?”
Sebastian violently shook his head.
Nero looked up at Amo and Vincent standing above them. “What do you think? You think he’s telling us the truth?”
Vincent smiled. “Maybe we should help him remember.”
Sebastian was practically crying now. “No. I-I don’t know anything, I swe—”
“All right, calm down.” He needed Sebastian to get his next message. “Now, I’m going to give you one last chance. You tell us right now everything you have done to Elle and Chloe, and I will make sure I won’t let Amo kill you.”
Nero watched Sebastian look up toward Amo. Amo didn’t have to make himself look scary. He’s already scary as fuck.
Sebastian thought about his next words. “I haven’t fucking touched them.”
Nero grabbed Sebastian’s face over his mouth, squeezing as hard as he could without popping his fucking head off. “If I find out you’re fucking lying to me, I promise, you will be unrecognizable by the time I get done with you. Understand?”
Sebastian nodded as hard as he could and Nero shoved his face down, making his head meet the concrete floor. Sebastian
finally let his tears run.
“Now you can get the fuck out of here.”
Nero watched Sebastian get up and scramble off. Yeah, just like a little bitch. He really couldn’t do much more to Sebastian no matter how much he wanted to smash the liar’s face in. Elle was right; they had to be smart about what they did on school grounds. However, outside of these walls was going to be a completely different story.
Nero stood back up and noticed his crew didn’t look very pleased. Hell, Nero wasn’t pleased that he couldn’t hurt Sebastian the way he would like.
“We find someone to talk and tell us everything. Then, we get him outside of school.” Nero needed them to focus. Like Elle said, look at the bigger picture.
“Fine.” Vincent wasn’t happy about his choice, but he wasn’t the one calling the shots.
Amo started walking away. “I’m going back to class.”
Nero had known Amo wasn’t going to approve. When Amo wanted to hurt someone, he didn’t care if they were innocent or guilty; he would kill and not give a shit. Nero knew this because he normally would act the same way, but this time, it was different. He had to take Elle into consideration, and he wanted this handled properly.
Nero watched Amo walk away and out of sight. He leaned his back up against the school and squeezed the bridge of his nose. He was starting to really regret his decision.
Vincent leaned against the wall beside him. “He’ll come around. You know how Amo gets when he wants to kill something.”
“Yeah, which is making me want to change my mind.”
“As much as I want to chop Sebastian’s fucking dick off, you’re right. It’ll be much more fun hurting him after we know what he’s done.” Vincent said exactly how he felt, and it helped Nero accept his decision.
He relaxed his muscles. “It will be, won’t it?”
Vincent smiled. “It will, but I don’t know if it will be as much fun as what you and Elle did in the girls’ locker room. I’m guessing you took complete advantage of the situation?”
Nero had taken advantage of Elle being hit in the head. I deserve something from it if I can’t kill someone.
Nero looked over at Vincent and saw him look at his neck. Nero smiled, remembering how hard Elle had bitten him. He would have never guessed Elle would be the rough type. The bite had caused him to give in and play with her.
“Of course I did. She got me good, didn’t she?” He hadn’t looked at it yet, although he could feel he had a nice mark on him.
Vincent laughed. “She did. Damn, please tell me you took my advice.”
“Oh, I got her on her knees, but I want her crawling.”
“Oh, God, you didn’t. Nero, it’s the polite thing to do; girl gets on her knees and you give her something to do.” Vincent started shaking his head at him.
Nero smiled at him. “Just think about how much more fun it will be after she’s been down there a while.”
“Man, you’re fucking lucky I know you actually like her; otherwise, I’d show her the hospitable thing to do. Wait, you like her, right? Because we do have a good thing going with the other girls at school.”
Nero didn’t even have to think. “Touch her, and I’ll chop your fucking dick off.”
“So, that means I can at least think about her suck—”
* * *
Elle couldn’t wait for Spanish class to end. She was too anxious to see if the guys would actually be there because, if they weren’t, well, she and Chloe would no longer be able to continue at Legacy Prep.
When the bell rang, Elle wasn’t anxious anymore to get up and see if they were out there. I know they couldn’t help themselves. She thought about how pissed their faces were in the gym. There’s no way they couldn’t.
Elle reluctantly got to her feet and headed for the door. When she looked out into the hall, there they were, leaning against the lockers. Well, what do you know?
Elle noticed Vincent was kind of hobbled over, holding his stomach, and his face looked like he might be sick. She became worried and started walking up to him.
“Vincent, are you okay?” Elle walked closer to him, passing Nero.
Vincent held up his hand. “I-I’m fine.”
Elle stopped walking toward him; however, she didn’t think he sounded very good, either. As a result, she took another step and held up her hand to check to make sure.
Vincent waved his hand in front of her. “No, don’t come any closer. I’m fine.”
What is wrong with him? Elle didn’t know what had happened to him.
Nero grabbed her waist, pulling her toward him. “He said he’s fine.”
Elle looked up at him, and Nero took the opportunity to claim her lips. He gave her a quick, firm kiss, making her forget about… Wait, what was I talking about?
“All right, Amo. You can take Chloe to class,” Nero said, nodding toward Amo.
Elle had been taken off guard by his kiss, but she was quickly brought back by his words.
“What? No. We need to all walk together.” Elle couldn’t let Chloe walk with only Amo after what had happened with all of them sitting at the table.
“Come on, Chloe.” Amo motioned for Chloe to start walking, everyone acting like they hadn’t even heard a word she had just said.
Elle pushed at Nero’s chest for him to say something when Chloe looked down at the floor and slowly started walking. Nero just squeezed her hips tighter without saying a word as they watched them walk to health class. Elle tried to squirm out of his grasp as he held her around her waist with one arm. One arm? Really?
Nero lifted his other hand and grabbed her hair, pulling it down. “You need to stop questioning me. I’m the one with the dick, and the sooner you realize that, the easier this will be. Trust me, baby, you’ll start to like it that way.” Nero dropped his hand from her hair. “Come on.”
Nero took her hand and led her in the same direction as Amo and Chloe had gone. I do not understand him sometimes. They followed them at the same distance as they had the day before. Elle saw Chloe was still walking at his back. Old habits die hard.
When Amo stopped and turned around, Elle saw his scary-ass face say something really low to Chloe. Moreover, whatever he had said to her made her quickly move to stand beside him.
Elle and Nero laughed at the two, and Elle could hear Vincent attempt a laugh, but a sound of pain escaped instead. Elle turned her head to look back at Vincent and saw he was walking farther back than he usually did. When she looked him in the eyes, he swiftly turned his head in another direction. What is going on today?
Elle turned her head back to watch Chloe safely walk to the classroom. When they were a couple feet from the door, Chloe tried to run. She had her hand on the doorknob when even Elle could hear Amo loudly scream, “Chloe.”
Elle tried to run to Chloe, but Nero held her hand tightly, making her stay in place. Elle had to remember the words Nero had just spoken to her—‘I’m the one with the dick.’
Elle reluctantly stood there and watched as Chloe dropped her hand from the doorknob. Amo closed the distance and grabbed the door handle himself, opening the door for her. Chloe kept her eyes down as she slowly walked into the classroom like she was defeated with Amo following her in then slamming the door.
Nero started walking again, pulling her hand to head to their class.
“Does Amo know we’re following him?” Elle couldn’t tell.
Nero shrugged. “I haven’t told him we are, but he might know on his own. Don’t get used to this, though; she needs to learn not to depend on you.”
Elle smiled up at Nero before she laid her head on his arm. She liked when Nero could actually be sweet. Well, try to be sweet.
Elle noticed Vincent could hardly keep up and had fallen way behind. She decided to ask Nero what had happened to him.
“Why is Vincent acting so weird? He won’t even look at me.”
Elle could have sworn she saw Nero smile before it vanished. “I don’t know.”
E
lle tried again. “Do you know what happened to him? It looks like he got hurt or something.”
“I think he just got a little winded.”
Elle decided to give up. There’s no telling what they got into.
After Nero walked Elle into their classroom, she took her seat while Nero went to get their posters in the back of the class. Elle started pulling out some blank paper and a pen from her bag when she noticed Nero hadn’t come back with their posters. She looked up and saw he was practically sandwiched between the two bimbos.
Elle’s heart started to ache. This ache was the type that felt like her heart was splitting in two. She could only watch as Nero went through the posters on the back table with the two girls on either side of him, their bodies rubbing up against his while they talked to each other. Elle couldn’t hear what they were saying, though.
She had to look down before her heart ripped in two. I can’t watch.
She picked up her pen and quickly started writing. Nero joined her a few seconds later with their posters. She didn’t pull her face away from her papers to look at him; she didn’t want to see his face. Which is probably smiling from ear to ear right now.
She also didn’t want the bimbos to see they had hurt her; therefore, she never picked her eyes up from writing the entire class period. It was hard for Elle to concentrate and write words fluidly without Nero noticing she was attempting to ignore him. She later realized she didn’t want Nero to see she was hurt, either.
She didn’t even know if she had a right to be upset since she hadn’t seen Nero respond to them. Yeah, but he didn’t try to stop them, either. She couldn’t stop picturing them pressing their boobs into his arm. I have a fucking right to be upset.
Nero had tried a few times to gain her attention by flirting with her throughout the class period. However, Elle never gave in and kept her attention on her writing. When the final school bell rang, Elle leisurely put her papers back into her bag.
Nero didn’t talk until the classroom had cleared out. “Is there a problem?”
“Nope.” Elle sat there, playing with the zipper on her satchel. She knew better than to get up this time.
Nero (Made Men #1) Page 13