Wicked Promises: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Fallen Royals Book 3)

by S. Massery

  “Leave her,” Eli says behind me. His voice is wooden.

  I glance back at him, then out into the street.

  He’s picking up his belongings, stuffing them back into the box, but his movements are robotic. I can’t tell if he’s pretending to be okay with her reaction or if he saw it coming.

  “You okay?” I ask.

  He finishes gathering his things and stands, putting it under his arm. “Me? Perfectly fine, Wolfe.”

  I sit back down. He drops the box next to the couch and disappears down the hall, reappearing a moment later with what looks like expensive vodka.

  “Nothing but the best for me,” he murmurs, uncapping it and taking a sip straight from the bottle. He makes a face. “Okay, proceed.”

  His friends eye him, then turn back to me.

  “Under normal circumstances, we’d probably be focused on what the fuck just happened,” Liam says. “But…”

  Eli chuckles darkly. “Yeah. But… Margo and Caleb’s fate is a bit more important than my relationship going up in flames.”

  “Do you know why she—?”

  “If I had any fucking clue, I wouldn’t still be sitting here with you all.” Eli shrugs.

  Caleb clears his throat. “Margo, I’m just gonna blurt this out.”

  I wave him to proceed, my throat suddenly tight.

  “The car belonged to Tobias Hutchins.”

  I blink. And then… blink again.

  My mouth gapes open and closed.

  What?

  “He was your dad’s—”

  “I know who he is,” I snap. “I… Riley and I…”

  Caleb narrows his eyes. “You what?”

  I hesitate.

  “See? Totally worth not going after Riley,” Eli whispers to Liam.

  Liam elbows him.

  I take a deep breath. Yep, all my sleuthing is about to come out into the light.

  “We ran into him in New York City,” I remind him, “and you told me who he was later.”

  Caleb’s eyes narrow. “I told you his name was Tobias, and that he was your dad’s lawyer.”

  “Right.”

  “And I know for a fact that there aren’t any online articles about it—”

  “Correct,” I interrupt. “I know. But, there can only be so many Tobiases in New York City. And a lot of law firms actually list their lawyers on their websites with nice headshots, so…”

  “You found him, I take it,” Caleb says drily.

  “Went and visited him,” I admit.

  His hand curls into a fist. “You did what?”

  Eli laughs, waving the vodka at Caleb. “Want this? Might make the bad news easier to swallow. Pun totally intended.”

  “Shut up,” Theo hisses.

  “Anyway,” I continue, “he was pretty fucking shady.”

  He doesn’t really seem mad, just irritated. And appalled. And… stumped. I, Margo Wolfe, have rendered Caleb Asher speechless. It’s about damn time I’ve had the upper hand.

  “So he knows Matt?” I ask. “Obviously you didn’t just stop at finding the car’s registration or whatever—”

  Caleb winces. “Tobias might not know Matt, but he certainly knows my mother.”

  I go still. “From seeing her in court?”

  “From before that,” he admits. “He and my mother have been friendly over the years. I think they went to undergrad together.”

  “That had to have been a conflict of interest.”

  Caleb sighs. “I think my mom paid him off.”

  I shoot to my feet. “Caleb Asher, what are you saying?”

  He stands, too, and steps toward me. “You have to remember this next part, Margo. I know you were there. You were hiding in my room from my mom and someone you didn’t recognize.”

  I close my eyes, trying to think back.

  It comes slowly, towing the memories from deep underwater. Voices. I was searching for Caleb.

  “You’re being unreasonable,” Mrs. Asher hissed.

  “Me? I’m the unreasonable one?” A male voice, but not Caleb’s dad. “This is insane, Lydia. You can’t expect me to go along with this.”

  “I can, and I will,” she snapped. “Lord knows we pay you enough.”

  “There isn’t enough money in the world to help us if we get caught,” he answered. “Something I’m sure you’re well aware of.”

  I shake my head. “Your mom and Tobias were… why were they upstairs?”

  He sneers at me. “Why do you think?”

  Oh god.

  The Ashers are wicked, wicked people.

  How we ever got caught in their web is almost inconceivable. Dad should’ve known Ben wasn’t the same person he went to school with—that money had corrupted him.

  Or maybe he was always corrupt, and Dad accepted it.

  Still, in the end? It got Ben killed.

  Dad in jail.

  Mom addicted to drugs.

  And Lydia… well, she’s an outcast.

  “Did your dad cut your mom out of the will?” I ask.

  Caleb stops short. “How do you know that?”

  I hum. So the rumor Lenora heard was true. It made sense, what with everything we’re learning. “Lydia and Tobias were in bed together—figuratively and literally. She left you with your uncle and went where, to work in a shitty diner for the rest of her life?”

  Theo whistles. “She’s finally asking the right questions.”

  “Assuming Tobias and Lydia are still relatively close—does that mean she knows Matt?”

  Liam and Theo are standing now, too, creeping closer. Our voices are getting softer. This type of thing, it’s too big to talk about loudly.

  I look over my shoulder, toward the front door. I closed it, but… maybe I should’ve locked it, too.

  “She knew Matt,” Caleb says. “He was my friend, she had seen him around.”

  “But does she know him currently?” I prod.

  He stares at the ceiling, blowing out a breath. “Fuck.”

  “Oh, that’s not an answer,” Eli calls from the couch.

  The miserable sap is drowning his sorrows in vodka, it seems. At this rate, I don’t know if he’ll be able to stand.

  “Eli—”

  Caleb wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. “I know you mean well, love, but just leave him.”

  “You were saying?” Theo asks.

  “Right. Matt took me to the diner, and my mother recognized him. Greeted him by name.”

  “The plot thickens,” Eli sings. “Fuck girls. Not you, Margo. Hey! We should go to a party.”

  “It’s Monday,” Liam reminds him. “And we’re not partying.”

  He stomps over and snatches the bottle from Eli’s grip.

  “You want to be upset? Do it sober, for fuck’s sake.”

  Eli tsks. “I could punch you for that.”

  Liam raises the bottle, squinting at how much is left. “Could you really? I’d like to see you try—”

  “Nope,” Theo cuts in, stepping between them. “Don’t really want to test your theory, Liam.”

  Liam chuckles and comes back toward us. “Since we have nothing better to do than help you, what’s next?”

  “Matt’s a dead end,” I say to Liam.

  His eyebrows go up, and then his gaze goes down to the pocket of my jeans. Slowly, a grin spreads across his face. “Atta girl.”

  “That was your idea?” Caleb growls.

  “Nope!” I put my hand on his chest. “My idea.”

  “Just Liam’s knife.”

  “We’re going in circles,” I groan and rest my head on Caleb’s shoulder. “Matt, Lydia, Tobias, my mother, the mystery girlfriend—”

  Eli gasps, almost choking on his own spit.

  “You don’t think Matt’s girlfriend is Caleb’s mom, do you? The fancy old cougar—”

  “Shut your fucking trap before I shut it for you,” Caleb threatens.

  Eli just laughs.

  I clap, getti
ng their attention. All of them. We’re falling apart here, and besides the immediate questions, no one is in immediate danger.

  Well, I might be, but that’s another matter.

  Eli’s parents aren’t coming back until after dinner, which leaves Caleb and I just enough time to go find Riley. Or, more specifically, it leaves just enough time for Caleb to drive me to find Riley. And we could use the alone time.

  “Someone put him to bed,” I say. “Caleb, we need to go for a ride.”

  Caleb smirks. “Where?”

  “Riley’s house.”

  He grimaces. “No.”

  “Yes.” I cross my arms over my chest. “You can’t just block me from seeing her after—”

  “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  “That’s why I said we.”

  It’s a standoff. I’m not sure which one of us will win. He’s glaring at me like I’m a temperamental doll, and I can only hope my expression is just as fierce.

  In a quiet voice, he says, “You leave tomorrow. Which means…”

  Last night together.

  “Yeah, I know,” I say. “Which means we need to get to Riley’s, and then after…”

  Theo and Liam come thundering back down the stairs. “Boy’s passed out.”

  “Good,” Caleb says. “I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow.”

  It’s a dismissal, and everyone knows it.

  They leave, closing the door behind them, and Caleb smiles at me.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi,” I laugh.

  “You’re not mad at me?”

  I take a closer look at his face, surprised when I discover that he’s being vulnerable. Open, for once in our lives. Well, recent lives. I used to be able to read him like a book.

  “I’m not.” I run my hand up his arm, to his neck. “And I’ll be less inclined to get mad if you kiss me.”

  He leans down. “I think I can oblige.”

  His lips touch mine softly. Butterflies erupt in my chest. We’re used to being greedy with our kisses, always demanding more of each other. Now, it stays honey-sweet. His tongue runs along my lower lip, but it isn’t demanding. It’s slow, and I feel it so much more, down to my toes.

  Whoever said kisses could be toe-curling was clearly talking about this kind.

  “So, to Riley’s house,” he says against my lips. “You sure?”

  “Maybe I should just text her…”

  He grins, moving down to kiss my neck. He hovers over my throat, expectant.

  “Oh, you mean right now?”

  His teeth nip my skin.

  I laugh, but it’s more of a breathless sigh.

  Still, he doesn’t move until I’ve pulled out my phone and dialed her number.

  “H-Hello?” Riley answers.

  “Hey. Are you okay? Do you want me to come over there?”

  Caleb resumes his attack on my neck, and I bite my lip to keep from moaning into the phone.

  “I’ll be okay.” Her voice is hoarse, and it tugs at my heart. “You have a lot going on, and I’m just going to be moping around.”

  “Tomorrow. My house. Ice cream and action movies.”

  Caleb’s tongue touches my neck, and I jump. I try pushing him away, but he just latches on with his teeth. Evil man. Each touch is an electric zap bouncing through my body. I’m ready to tear his clothes off right here in the living room, in front of the windows—

  “Sounds good,” Riley says.

  My mind is already a mile away.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? And if you’re skipping school, come hang out with me.”

  She manages to laugh, which I consider a win.

  “You got it,” she answers.

  As soon as she’s off the phone, I push Caleb away. “Stop, stop.”

  He smirks at me, but it slides off his face when he sees my expression. “What’s wrong?”

  He follows my gaze to the window.

  “Margo. Do you…”

  I get goosebumps.

  And I swear, it isn’t because Caleb most likely gave me a giant hickey on my neck.

  I race to the front door, flinging it open and bounding out onto the porch.

  A car screeches down the street.

  “What was that?”

  “I keep feeling like someone is watching me,” I say. I hate, hate the fear in my voice. I thread my fingers with Caleb’s and hold on tight. “And that—”

  “Unknown. You’re sleeping in my bed tonight,” he says firmly. “I don’t give a fuck if the Blacks have an objection, or if they find out. You’ll be safe with me.”

  I blink back tears. “Thank you.”

  “No thanks necessary,” he says, holding me close. “We’ll find them. I promise.”

  22

  Caleb

  Margo is freaked out. Information overload, plus Robert in the hospital and learning that her mom is only a town away…

  Yeah, I’d probably find any excuse to lose it.

  But she doesn’t. She holds on to my hand hard enough to crush my fingers, and she sure does sound scared, but… she doesn’t look it.

  On the outside, she’s strong.

  I scoop her up and carry her down the stairs, and it’s then that I feel the way she shakes. It’s more of a shiver than anything else, but it doesn’t stop even when we’re downstairs.

  Dusk has set my room in strange blue hues, making it seem all the more eerie. I turn on the lamp by my bed and lay her down.

  “You always go straight to bed,” she comments.

  “Seemed the most logical,” I answer. I pull the blankets up over us. “It’s your safe place.”

  Her eyebrow goes up. “Is it?”

  “After every incident, you come here—whether my choice or yours. It’s just habit now. You’ll relax.”

  “It’s not your bed,” she mumbles.

  It has to be. After I found her in the woods, and then when I was out with my friends instead of being here for her—

  “It’s you,” she says, lifting herself up. Defiance flashes in her eyes. “It’s not this bed, Caleb. It’s you and your presence and knowing that if you’re gone, you’re coming back here—”

  Those words unravel my self-control.

  I slam my lips on hers, pushing her into the mattress. I bite her lip, eliciting a fierce groan from deep in her throat. She fights back, surprising me by getting leverage under her and rolling us over.

  I love the feel of her weight on me. Her hair falls around us, creating our own privacy curtain as she kisses me again. Deeper.

  Her hips move against mine ever so slightly, calling to attention my stiff erection.

  God, I need to be inside her. Right. Now.

  She kisses my jaw, my cheek, up and over my eyelids and forehead. “You’re incorrigible,” she whispers. “And you aren’t perfect. So far from it.”

  “I know.”

  “And I hate that you keep secrets.”

  “I know.”

  She’s still peppering my skin with kisses, dragging her lips around. Her hands bury themselves in my hair, tugging my head back. She nips my earlobe.

  “But there’s something you don’t know.”

  I exhale in a huff when her tongue touches the shell of my ear.

  “And that…” She stares down at me. “Is that I’m in love with you.”

  My heart… yeah, it does something funny. Skips, twists, jumps for joy. Love? Me?

  Sure, when we were kids. When my heart was whole. But that was innocent love.

  This is… dirty. Raw. So painful I might just burst.

  Fuck. Me.

  She touches the corner of my eye. “Never thought I’d see the day when Caleb Asher shed a tear.”

  I roll my eyes. “I’m just…”

  “If you say you don’t love me back, I’ll call you a liar,” she threatens. “No other emotion would explain the psychopathic tendencies you sometimes exhibit.”

  I flip her over onto her back, hovering above her.
My weight settles onto her, showing her exactly what I think of this situation, and she exhales.

  Carefully, I lift her hand. Kiss her palm, then down farther, to where her skin is so white it’s almost translucent. And the bracelet.

  “I’m possessive,” I admit. “It’s a flaw.”

  “The first step is admitting you have a problem,” she whispers.

  I smirk, but it slips away rather fast. “I don’t know how you can proclaim love when there are so many missing puzzle pieces.”

  The palm I just kissed cups my cheek. “What else could there possibly be to ruin this? Ruin us?”

  I shake my head.

  I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something did.

  Wouldn’t be the first time… and it’s just our luck to be torn apart. I think of my dad and her mom, the way they were drawn together and ripped brutally apart.

  Maybe Asher men are destined to fall for Wolfe women.

  It can’t be helped. And it can’t be stopped.

  I’m following in my father’s footsteps—minus the wife.

  And this time, I’ll just have to hope we have different endings. That I won’t ruin every good thing.

  “If you’re not going to say it, show me,” she says.

  I smile. Her hands are already on the button of my pants.

  “That, I can do.”

  23

  Margo

  Dr. Sayer is… not quite how I pictured her.

  Long black hair in beautiful, intricate braids, dark eyes and skin. She wears a long flowing dress that isn’t weather appropriate, but it’s warm in her office. There’s even a fireplace behind her.

  The whole office has a cozy vibe. Dark wood walls and furniture, a cream-colored rug on the tiled floor. One whole wall filled with books and baubles. Some related to psychology and talk therapy, plus a healthy mix of classics.

  I spend the first fifteen minutes of our session standing by those books, running my fingers along the titles.

  “To Kill a Mockingbird?” I ask, the first thing I’ve said besides our introduction.

  “Do you not like that one?”

  I shrug. She’s at her therapist chair, which faces a couch and a chair. I guess I could’ve got my pick of the two, but instead… here I stand, silently counting down the minutes.

  “I found myself drawn to Scout’s attitude,” she says quietly. “There’s a lot we can learn from a girl like her.”