Hollow Hearts (The Harkwright Trilogy Book 1)

by B C Morgan

  If you have been claimed this does not mean they will not see any other girl, but they have chosen to spend their nights with you so you should be prepared to have them with you for the foreseeable future. We remind you that as a claimed girl you can still not show any signs of jealousy and the men are free to spend their attention, however they see fit.

  If any of the men give you money for any services you may have performed, you are not permitted to keep said payments.

  One Harkwright has the ability to extend a free pass to a girl of his choice so she can leave the Academy and end her stay without having to pay back any money that has been bestowed upon her and her family. No consequences will befall said girl. However only three passes are allowed to be issued and once they are given, they cannot be taken back. You cannot ask for a pass, it has to be offered and you are not allowed to ask who has the passes. If you should fall upon the knowledge of which man is in possession, then you must not share this knowledge with any other girl!! Failure to heed this advice will result in a strict punishment, which will end in a dismissal, a full payment of an estimation of what you would have been awarded at the end of your stay and a hefty fine on top of said amount. This punishment is not extensive and could result in a lot more befalling the guilty party. Should more than one person be privy to this sensitive information then drastic measures will be taken to discover the guilty party from the innocent bystander.

  Okay, I think I need to take a minute or two so I can digest all of this information, because that is insane! I thought reserves had it bad, I guess it’s good that we can at least defend ourselves but everything else is just plain wrong. If you aren’t allowed to refuse a gift how can you refuse the money? We can’t say no to the Harkwrights yet we can’t say yes to that either, this is beyond fucked up if you ask me.

  No jealousy, yeah that’s fine with me. I’m not about to start pulling some girl’s hair out, but I can think of a few girls who would. Four for instance. Although, I haven’t seen or heard anything about her since Candice and I still don’t know if she survived the stabbing or not. That’s what I should have asked Tucker, for fuck’s sake, you have to despise missed opportunities sometimes, you really do.

  A knock goes at my door once more and my sigh feels as though it comes from somewhere so much deeper this time, why can’t this day just hurry up and end.

  It started off tense, then became one of the best days I’ve had in a long time, and that includes before I even came to this place. I mean I’ve been here almost eight months already, six as a student and that realization has hit me like a freight train. But then Caitlyn came to the door and made me realize just how petty these guys can be and now… well I think I just want to go to bed.

  I pull the door open and come face to face with Liam and I don’t even say anything before leaving the door wide open and dropping back down to the sofa.

  He follows after me, closing the door behind him before dropping down beside the sofa with worry etched on his face.

  “What’s going on? I heard you were dragged away by Tucker, did he upset you?”

  I go to assuage his fears and tell him everything that happened today, but for some reason, I can’t.

  “No, he just took me to get a dress for the masquerade ball and then to the posh restaurant place for lunch. It just wasn’t my scene, he was usual Tucker. Quiet and texting occasionally. Although he was annoyed to find out that no one had given me my new set of rules. I got the impression that someone kept that from me deliberately,” I stare right at him, but I can’t see any signs that he’s the guilty party.

  “That’s fucked up, why would someone want to keep the rules from you? Unless… if they’re loyal to Shane then it would make sense. That guy really has it out for you, do you have any idea why?”

  “Honestly, no. I haven’t done or said anything to him, I wish I knew but it’s a mystery. You leave in about a week don’t you?” I ask, and I know I will miss him more than I care to admit.

  “I’m leaving the morning of the ball, I’d rather go before all that cleaning arises,” He’s laughing but it falls flat. “I’m really going to miss you Luna, our chats and just being with someone who treats me like a normal person,” he takes my hand in his and my heart jolts.

  A lot of my free time has been spent with him lately, almost every day for the past eight months, how can I not be affected by him leaving. I’m glad he’s finally going to get away from this place but I’ll miss the banter and the flour fights when he joins me on one of my late night baking fests. How he holds me when I’ve had a bad day and I hate myself for ever signing up to this place and when the homesickness rises up and tries to bury me under the pain. He makes everything feel a little easier and I’m scared by how much I feel for him.

  “Hey, where are you right now?” His fingers brush my hair away from my face and my breath is stuttering slightly.

  “I’m here, I just didn’t realize how much I was going to miss you,” he smiles at my words before grabbing my hand, standing up and pulling me to my feet as well.

  “There’s a place I want to take you, somewhere you can go whenever you want to remind yourself of my awesomeness,” he’s grinning but I can tell by his words that he’s being serious.

  “This is going to sound mean but I’ve been on my feet a lot today. Can I please go with you tomorrow, I’m so ready to lie down in my bed and just relax.”

  “Hey, no I understand. I really do, come on get yourself comfortable and I’ll leave you to it,” He lets go of my hand but I quickly grab a hold of him once more.

  “You don’t have to go, not if you don’t want to,” he sits down and pulls me into his side and wraps his arm around me.

  “I’ll miss you too, but I bet it’ll be like I never left,” he strokes my hair and my eyes flutter closed. I’m so comfy and he’s fast becoming my new favorite pillow.

  Opening my eyes, I can tell that I’ve somehow ended up in my bed and if the clock is any indication, then it’s more suited to brunch than breakfast. I must have slept the whole day away, it was only four pm when I fell asleep, how can it now be ten am? This is crazy, shit where’s Liam? And I really hope he was the one who put me in here, I’d hate to think I did something stupid last night and now have a weird bout of amnesia.

  I roll over and see a note on the pillow next to me, a smile spreads as I look at his rough squiggle.

  Sorry, I thought it would be weird to stick around while you’re sleeping, but I didn’t want to leave you on the sofa either. I left you in what you already had on and I’ll lock the door behind me and post the key under it. Don’t forget though, this evening is mine. I can’t wait for you to see it, trust me Luna it’s incredible.

  Liam

  No idea why he signed it, who else would it be from? I sit up, shaking my head and get dressed before making myself a pot of coffee and try to work out what I’m supposed to do with myself today. Now that I know I’m not allowed to have friends as far as Shane is concerned, I’m not seeing the point of going down to the mess hall and I still haven’t joined any of the extracurriculars either.

  Screw it, I throw back my coffee and head down to the kitchen and hopefully I’ll get lucky and they’ll be room for me to do a spot of baking.

  Walking in I can tell there’s people in here working and I’m debating leaving when one of the cooks walks over to me and offers me a polite smile.

  “Can we help you hon?” She asks and I smile as I shake my head.

  “Sorry to bother you, I was looking for somewhere to bake but I can come back later,” I say and her smile goes from polite to marvelous in seconds.

  “Frank get yourself over here, it’s the sweet girl who made that quiche,” she says as she grabs my hands and drags me further into the kitchen and I can’t see myself leaving here anytime soon. Guess it’s a good thing I don’t have any plans, but hey can I really complain?

  “Ahh hello there, it was a lovely treat and we’ve been waiting for the chance to thank yo
u for your kind gesture,” says Frank as he makes his way round to me and shakes my hand.

  “It’s fine, I love cooking and creating new recipes and I had the urge one day and thought it would be nice to make something for the people behind the scenes of this place,” I reply which makes the woman smile brighter.

  “You want to cook, go right ahead. As long as we can do what we need and you’re not in the way, you’re welcome in here,” she says and I waste no time in claiming a spot and making a batch of cinnamon rolls.

  I spend the next couple of hours in the kitchen until I’ve made plenty of day and nighttime goodies. I even made Aeron some brownies, just without pot this time. I don’t know why I made them for him, I just couldn’t help but assign them to him in my mind. But hey, I made Liam a bunch of cookies and Tucker some cinnamon rolls, although the first batch is mine. I refuse to share them, I get to eat my baking too.

  Taking them up to my room, I then head to the mess hall to grab myself an early dinner before Liam comes for me. I watch as the guys head up to their table but I can’t see Aeron, Tucker or Scott up there.

  I grab myself a slice of lasagne and cheesy garlic knots. This is going to be delicious. I move forward when I notice Maddox standing next to the food station and I guess I should say hello before finding myself a table. Seeing as no one will sit with me, thanks a lot Shane.

  “Hey Maddox, is everything okay?” I ask, smiling up at him and liking the fact that even though he’s still taller, he isn’t as tall as most of the other Harkwrights. How can they all be over six feet? Aside from Maddox, I think Sam and Dylan are probably below that as well.

  “Hey yeah, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I heard what Scott and Aeron did to your list of rules and wanted to check on you.”

  “Hang on, it was Aeron? Why would he do that?” I can hardly believe what I’m hearing but I’m even more shocked as Maddox takes my tray, sets it down on a free table and takes a seat with me. He should be at the Harkwright table, doesn’t he know what he’s doing by choosing to sit with me? I can’t imagine it will be good for him.

  “Aeron doesn’t always think ahead, that’s all I can say. Tucker’s been trying to find out the exact reason all day but he refuses to say anything,” Maddox looks around almost nervously before returning his attention to me.

  “You don’t have to sit here, I’m okay on my own.”

  “It’s not like that, I’m just making sure Shane stays at the table. I don’t want him causing anymore trouble for you,” he stares at him intently and I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t trust the bastard.

  “I can’t see it ending any time soon, I can’t even have friends as long as he’s around,” I didn’t really intend to say that much, but it’s too late to take it all back now.

  “What do you mean? He’s not allowing you to have friends,” he sounds as perplexed as I felt when I found out. Minus the anger and sadness that was thrown in alongside it for me.

  “He ordered at least one girl to go out of her way to ignore me, I find it hard to believe he only did it once.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” he stands up before heading over to the table but he doesn’t approach Shane, instead he goes over to Bradley and I dig into my dinner and try to block the table from my mind.

  I guess I’m doing a wonderful job because Daria makes me almost jump out of my skin as she suddenly appears beside me.

  “What on earth are you doing over here?” I ask, my hand shooting to my chest.

  “Nice to see you too, I’m your new meal time buddy and please don’t get mad at Maddox, he just doesn’t like the idea of you being ostracized. That and this will piss Shane off so much and that’s always a bonus,” she pats my hand a couple of times before digging into her own meal. But I can’t miss the feel of Shane’s eyes drilling into the side of me, I just wish I knew what his issue was.

  By the time Liam comes and gets me, I’ve been able to shower and wash the weight of Shane’s stare from my skin. I don’t know what it is about him, his unpredictability, the fact that he can go off the deep end on the drop of a hat or his high creep factor. All I know is that he scares me and I hope I never find myself alone with him.

  I shake the thoughts away as I follow behind Liam until he leads me down the south wing and up a set of stone stairs with small arched windows lining the walls. There’s a sconce after every other window and it has quite an eerie feel, especially with the way our shoes sound on the stairs.

  By the time we make it to the top, I am more than ready to sit down but my breath is stolen from me as he positions me by the window at the top of the tower he has led me to. I can see across the Academy grounds and the beautiful sun that is slowly dipping behind the horizon.

  The space within the tower is bare with only a blanket, a couple of pillows and a lantern on the floor.

  “This is where I come when I can’t sleep or if I need to be alone or to think about something. My own little haven within these suffocating walls,” he drops down onto the blanket and I claim the spot beside him.

  “I love it up here, that view is amazing,” I sigh, feeling relaxed and it doesn’t feel as though I’m even in the Academy right now.

  “I’m happy to share my favorite spot with you,” he wraps his arm around me again and I waste no time snuggling within his arms.

  “Do you think you’ll come back?” I ask, arching my neck to look at him and I realize a little late how exposed I am to him and how close my mouth… I mean my face is to his.

  “I think I’ll be closer than you think, but no. They don’t need Liam the cleaner any longer, but I’m glad I did this while you were here,” his face drops closer, his nose brushing against my own.

  “So am I. You’ve made this place bearable and I’m sad that I’ll have to say goodbye to you in a few days,” our breath mingles but neither of us move as we stare at each other, my hand playing with the hairs on his arm.

  “I’m glad I’ve made this place better for you, although surely you realize you could own this place. You just need to own that confidence and make the guys work for your attention. You’re halfway to doing that as it is, but damn Luna, if you put your mind to it I think you could steal the top spot in no time.”

  “I don’t want the top spot Liam, I just want to make it to the end,” I say simply and I catch my breath as his thumbs pulls down my bottom lip before it pops back to its rightful place.

  “Really, I thought every girl wanted to be number one and score themselves a marriage proposal.”

  “Haven’t I told you this before? I’m only here to get enough money to help my family and buy my own bakery. I don’t want to marry a Harkwright, that was never my intention and as for the top spot, who cares.”

  “You could walk away with nearly a million dollars by the time you end here if you become number One. It’s nothing to scoff at Luna, it could make all your dreams come true.”

  “Sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing coming here, surely having people I love and who love me back just as much is all that really matters,” I say and I can’t miss the heat screaming at me from his eyes, and I wonder if he can see the same thing in mine.

  “Is it selfish of me that I’m glad you made that mistake if it turns out to be one,” his mouth moves impossibly closer before we swallow the space up and his lips connect with mine.

  I don’t react at first until I’m turning around and kneeling in front of him. My hands sink into his hair and he does the same and it’s so bittersweet. My emotions are running rampant and even though my head is screaming at me how wrong this is, I can’t bring myself to pull away.

  I feel guilty, given how I feel about Cole but again, how can I be sure what I feel for him is even real? This though, this feels more real than anything I’ve ever experienced before, I can feel tears pricking the back of my eyes knowing that this is the only kiss we’ll be able to share, and how I’ll have to pretend that this never happened.

  I pull away and back
up slightly, dropping my eyes down to the ground. “That was incredible Liam but it shouldn’t have happened and there won’t be a repeat. I’m not supposed to even look at another guy while I’m here and yet I’m kissing one, I can’t risk being sent home. Even though there’s a part of me that is willing to risk everything just to have one more moment with you,” his hand comes up to stroke my face as he pulls me in closer once more and guides my head to rest on his shoulder.

  “I understand, but I do think this is the perfect goodbye. If I see you anymore, it’s just going to be harder to not do this again, so this will be our goodbye to one another.”

  “I don’t want you to go Liam,” I burrow in closer as he strokes my hair once more. “Neither do I Luna, neither do I.”

  I look up at him and just this once I’m going to say fuck it, if it’s the last time I’ll see him before he leaves then it can be the best goodbye imaginable.

  I capture his mouth with my own and pour everything I have into the kiss until we’re both a panting mess and I know when he leads me back to my room that I may never see him again.

  17

  Preparation is Key

  I’m finding it hard to believe that I kissed Liam and I want to regret it but I’m struggling with that as well. Daria has fast become my mealtime buddy and she’s actually really nice even though I was adamant about not liking her out of principle. It’s ridiculous but I hate the fact that she’s only sitting with me because she’s been ordered to, even if she hasn’t come out and said it, I know that’s the reason why.

  Five days until the masquerade ball and Liam leaves and although I felt guilty at first I’ve started to realize that Cole has been a fantasy for a long time but he can never really be more than that. He’s my sister’s doctor as well as working here and I haven’t even seen him since Aeron stole me away.

  “Hey girl, French toast again, huh?” She rolls her eyes and I shake my head and roll mine in return.