Ruin Me: A College Bully Reverse Harem Romance (Weissmore Academy Book 1)

by Nora Cobb

  “Miss Komita?”

  I turned to find a man dressed in service attire next to me, a silver tray in his hands. On it was a card with my name scrawled in heavy dark ink. “Yes?”

  He held out the tray. “This is for you.”

  The hair on the back of my neck stood as I picked up the card, flicking it open to read the contents.

  Join me in the library.

  It had no name attached to it, but I knew who it was from.

  After all, he was the only person who had talked to me other than Johanna. “Where’s the library?”

  “Please follow me.”

  I placed the wineglass on the nearby table and followed the man out of the room, passing several people in the hallway. The music started to fade the further I went into the house, trying not to gawk at the paintings as I passed. One of the very few free things I could do back home was visit the museum, where I would spend hours gazing at the paintings and portraits there. Sometimes I would bring my sketchbook and try to recreate them, but most of the time, I just liked to sit there and think about what the artist must have been thinking.

  Tonight was not the night for gazing at paintings, but they calmed me somewhat when we arrived at the library, the butler bowing before pushing open the door.

  I stepped inside, the smell of leather and a fire heavy in the air. One wall was floor to ceiling with books, the shelves holding various sizes and colors that made me sigh in happiness. This was the perfect room.

  “Our guest of honor has arrived.”

  Whirling around, I found the kings seated in a trio of chairs near the fire, each with a glass in his hand. The breath left my lungs as I stared at them, wondering why they would invite me in here. “Um, hi.”

  Arthur stood, crossing the distance between us, a charming smile on his face. “Anna. Don’t be frightened. Allow me introduce you to my friends.”

  I cleared my throat as Arthur pressed his hand to my lower back and propelled me toward the other two. “Drink?”

  I shook my head, already fuzzy from the wine. “I’m good, but thank you.”

  “So be it then,” he answered, his thumb stroking across the zipper on my back as he raised his glass to the brown-haired one. “This is Royce Whitehall. He’s an English bastard and a natural swordsman. His family still contends that they are the rightful monarchs of England. You got to admire the English and their stubborn persistency.”

  “Anna,” he nodded, his British accent thick and posh. I gave him a tentative smile, but he did not return it, instead continuing to glower at me.

  “Maximillian Karling,” Arthur announced, nodding to the other man in the room. “His family used to hold sway over all of Europe since the days of Charlemagne. Used to be that you could throw a stone at any noble family tree and hit a Karling. Europe spent over a thousand years trying to extinguish that line, all to no avail. The man can skate across the water faster than anyone you will see in a boat.”

  Max didn’t speak but I gave him the same weak smile, my knees knocking together. The three of them were very intimidating together, like fallen, sexy-as-hell angels. “So what is your house and power?” I asked Arthur, causing him to laugh.

  He knocked back the rest of his drink. “House De Bourbon was at the forefront of trying to rid Europe of the Karling plague. But after great grand-cousin Louis the Sixteenth lost his head to a guillotine, we were content to simply exist. As for me personally, I’m the polo player. You won’t find another man better on a horse.”

  “Or carrying a big stick,” Royce snickered. “The French likes holding big sticks.”

  Arthur shot him a playful stare. “Mine’s bigger than yours and that is what makes you jealous.”

  Royce let out a laugh. “Your little American is blushing, Arthur. Maybe she wants to see your stick too.”

  Arthur let out a harsh breath, removing his hand from my lower back. “Have a seat, Anna, and ignore these fool.”

  “I’m good,” I said, suddenly not wanting to sit near any of them right now. While the banter was friendly enough, there was tension coiled in this room, tension that I knew better than to ignore.

  “How are you finding Weissmore?” Arthur asked, standing at my side.

  I shrugged, the roaring fire heating the room and my body. “I’ve only been here for a day. You will have to ask me next week.”

  Arthur smirked. “I knew you would be quick on your feet, Anna, from the moment you made me smile. You aren’t intimidated in the least.”

  That wasn’t true. I was extremely intimidated the academy and my fellow students. “I’m just trying to make my way through the year and keep my grades up.”

  “A pauper playing at princess,” Royce muttered, his eyes on his drink. “And a modest one at that.”

  “Be nice, Royce,” Arthur warned. “She’s our guest.”

  “Guest or not, she’s an imposter,” he replied, glowering at me. “Not one of us.”

  “You’re right,” I said, surprising him. “I’m not one of you. I don’t even know why I am here.”

  Royce grunted but turned his attention back to his drink and the knot in my chest loosened a little. If I could stand toe to toe with the kings of the academy, then everyone else should be a breeze.

  Arthur’s hand rested on my bare shoulder and I flinched, remembering our hand-holding earlier. “Then tell us your story, Anna,” he said, his breath tickling my ear. “I’m curious to know how you got here.”

  “There’s not much to tell,” I breathed, all too aware of his closeness to me, the way his thumb was gliding perilously close to my collarbone. “I’m a nobody, an orphan.”

  “An orphan?” Royce laughed harshly while Max remained silent next to him. “A poor little orphan joining the most prestigious academy in the world to rub shoulders with the nobility. This must be a joke! Tell me, little pauper, did a rich man to take on your charity case after he showed you what’s what?”

  “Ignore him,” Arthur growled, increasing his pressure on my shoulder. “Royce doesn’t know how to behave in polite company.”

  I couldn’t agree more. “I’ve worked my ass off to get here,” I said softly, not caring what he thought about me. “To make something of myself.”

  Royce stood and walked to the serving cart in the room, grabbing one of the many bottles that were present. “Good for you, little pauper. Tell your sad story to someone who cares. Maybe they’ll pretend to give a damn about it.”

  My jaw dropped. He was unbelievably rude, nothing like the man in front of me. I wondered what he did for fun: kick a puppy around?

  Arthur turned me toward him, a soft expression on his face. “Well, I’m glad you are here,” he said, his thumb caressing my skin, sending tendrils of heat to my core. “We needed someone to shake things up and I believe you are that person, Anna.”

  My lips parted and I tried to picture Johanna’s harsh words against him. Arthur was being nothing but a perfect gentleman to me, way more than Royce was being, and Max. Well, Max had yet to utter a word.

  Maybe I preferred his company instead. At least he wasn’t trying to provoke me.

  Arthur reached out and cupped my chin gently and I forgot about Max or Royce in the room, my heart fluttering wildly in my chest. “You are quite lovely, Anna,” he breathed. “Especially your eyes. They are fascinating.”

  I nearly melted into the floor. Warning bells went off in my head, but I ignored them, wanting to capture this moment in my mind in case it was the last one with him. He was being so nice to me, making me question my earlier observations about being interested in anyone.

  Maybe this was a fairy tale and Arthur was to be my Prince Charming.

  My stomach knotted as I pictured the two of us together—the prince with a royal future and his orphan girl who had taken a chance. Suddenly I could see us laughing together, not caring that there was a huge gap between us.

  Wasn’t that what I wanted? I wanted to be seen as someone other than the orphan that I had been al
l my life. I wanted them to see the person that was inside, dying to break free.

  When he leaned in, I put my hand to his muscular chest. He was going to kiss me in front of his friends. “Arthur, your friends.”

  I wasn’t too keen on having the three of them watching me with the intensity that they were doing so right now, much preferring that my first kiss be something special. Something private.

  “They won’t care,” Arthur said, his hand cupping my cheek. “Right now, all I see is you and I want to teach you what it means to be here at Weissmore. Won’t you let me teach you, Anna?”

  “In fact, little pauper, let us all teach you,” Royce’s voice came from behind me, his hand settling on my waist. I froze at the invasive touch, nearly jumping out of my skin. “We don’t like to just watch.”

  His hand was on my waist. My brain didn’t register it for a moment but when he leaned in from behind, I knew something was seriously wrong with this picture.

  Shit!

  My heart sank as I realized why I was here and I wrenched out of his touch, putting some distance between myself and the trio. They had invited me in here for one reason only and I had fallen for it. I stared at them for a moment, waiting for them to laugh, to apologize, but I got nothing.

  I was nothing to them but a good time.

  “Anna,” Arthur started, but I was already out of the door, blindly pushing past people on my way to the front door. I had fallen directly into their trap, a stupid American who the rich kids wanted to make a mockery of.

  I was stupid.

  Grateful that I had worn flat boots instead of heeled ones, I headed down the driveway as fast as I could, not caring that people were staring at me. Let them see the crazy woman with tears running down her cheeks.

  I didn’t belong here.

  Regardless of the distance between the mansion and the academy, I made it all the way back on foot, my tears dried on my cheeks by the time I arrived back to the dorm, silent as a tomb as the others were at the party still. Johanna wasn’t there either, thank goodness, and I wasted no time pulling off her dress and hanging it up carefully. I should have listened to her, listened to my instincts, and not let it go to my head.

  But I had ignored all rational thought the moment that I thought Arthur might see past the fact that I had neither money nor title.

  What an idiot.

  After stripping off the rest of the outfit, I turned the shower on as hot as it would go and stepped in, sliding down until I was curled up under the spray. I should have never come to this place. One day in and I had already been used for a good time, as amusement to a bunch of bored rich kids with nothing better to do.

  I would have to be careful from now on. I couldn’t go home, which meant I had to tough this out, to fit in where I clearly didn’t.

  I had to get through this, but I just didn’t know how I was going to do that.

  Chapter 5

  Rumor about me spread like wildfire before I’d even reached my first class. Everywhere I went, people whispered about me in words loud enough to hear and sharp enough to hurt.

  “There she is.” I turned and saw Nadia glaring at me with another girl.

  “Her?” Nadia’s companion raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? How could they even want to be in the same room as her, much less touch her?”

  “You know American girls. Quick to their knees and eager to please.” Nadia said. “Rumor had it that she begged to take them all at the same time. On her first day here too. Typical.”

  I rounded on her, balled fist at the ready, but Nadia called my bluff.

  “Go ahead and try.” She sneered. “Your Prussian Princess isn’t here to protect you. Lay a hand on me and I’ll have it removed and hung around your neck.”

  Thinking better of it, I turned and hurried past the group, my cheeks burning from the harsh words. I had heard that and worse in the past week since the party, wishing I could stay in my room and never come out again.

  Johanna had told me that after I had fled the house, the entire party had gone in an uproar about what had happened.

  But it had been the kings themselves that had helped fuel the fire of the orgy, where I was the main attraction, and now the entire academy believed that I had taken on all the kings to get them to like me.

  Me, the dumb little American slut.

  Of course, that wasn’t what had happened at all, but no one really gave a damn about what I had to say. No one except Johanna. She had sympathized with me, believed my story, but pretty much told me that there was nothing I could do about it. I could try to fight the kings, but no one would ever believe me. It was my word against the kings’.

  And in this world, a king’s word is worth more than that of a orphan.

  No, I would be wasting my breath so I had only gone out for meals, skipping the rest of O-week so that I wouldn’t have to see anyone.

  A piece of me hoped that Arthur would come by to apologize for his friends spreading lies about me, and set the record straight.

  Maybe even show he cared about me, that what was coursing between us hadn’t been just a ruse to get me in a position to start the rumor.

  He didn’t come, and every piece of me sank further with each hour. Not even Johanna’s endless chatter made me feel any better.

  In three days, I would be forced to go to class, to face the entire academy and keep my head up.

  It was going to be the hardest thing I ever did.

  Finding my dorm room, I opened the door and stepped through, closing it behind me. Johanna took one look at me and shook her head, moving from her bed to wrap me in a hug. “I’m so sorry, Anna, I really am. I thought it would die down by now.”

  I breathed in her perfume, allowing myself to lean against her. “I didn’t do anything wrong, yet everyone thinks I’m a slut! Why would they do this to me?”

  She pulled back, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “Because that is the reality of nobility. It’s more than dress up and parties. It’s nothing but backstabbing and boo-licking. The kings are cruel men who were looking for a new plaything. Don’t waste your tears on them.”

  Sighing, I pulled back, feeling sick to my stomach. “This has to stop eventually, right?”

  “Eventually,” she said, twisting her ring around on her finger. “Next week there will be another scandal and you will be long forgotten. Just keep your chin up. You’re stronger than this, Anna.”

  I didn’t feel it. Walking over to my bed, I flopped down on it, my chin in my hand. Arthur’s words kept coming back to me, when he had looked into my eyes and looked mesmerized by them. Was that the real Arthur or was that a front, just like all the rest of it?

  Ugh, I hated these feelings running through my head! Never in my life had I had a boyfriend or even anyone who was remotely interested in me and the first guy that was had been tricking me the entire time.

  Well I wasn’t going to fall for it again, that was for certain.

  “Let’s go to the lake,” Johanna announced, rummaging through her closet. “It’s so nice outside, far too nice to be cooped up in this room, Anna.”

  The thought of fresh air was too tantalizing to pass up, and I nodded.

  She smiled, holding up my boots. “Well, put them on! What are you waiting for?”

  I sat up. “Why are you so nice to me? You could be like the rest of them.”

  Her smile faded and a flicker of sadness crossed her eyes for a brief moment. “Because I know what it can feel to be an outsider, especially among this crowd. I’ve never met anyone like you before, nor made a friend like you. I want to help you—truly help you. So put your boots on!”

  I kicked off the sneakers I had worn earlier, and slid my feet into my boots. “Well I am your friend for as long as you want me to be.”

  Johanna stood, her hands on her slim hips. “Why wouldn’t I want you to be my friend? We will be stuck in this hellhole for about three years at the very least, so we have to get along, right? Besides, I quite enjoy having some
one that doesn’t greet me by calling me Your Highness.”

  I stood up and grabbed my jacket. “Thanks for everything, Johanna.”

  “Oh hush.” She flushed, grabbing her own jacket. “Come on, my American friend. Let’s go outside.”

  Together we walked into the hallway, purposefully ignoring the stares until we made it outside. As Johanna had said, the sun was shining brightly overhead and I took in a deep, cleansing breath, filling my lungs. Maybe this was a good idea after all. I already felt better.

  Linking arms with me, Johanna walked us down to the lake that ran behind the castle, the water sparkling in the sunlight. It was a pretty picture, one that would be a great sketch as soon as the snow melted completely and I wouldn’t freeze to death trying to do so.