Noble Savages: A Dark High School Bully Romance Box Set

by Rina Kent

  Unless… something really wrong is going on.

  After practice, I’m in the car when my phone beeps with a text from Uncle’s security company.

  This could and would go back to him, but I’d take that risk. I kept that smashed footage of the summer party, but after that day in the Ferris wheel, I want to know the truth even more than Astrid.

  I knew Jonathan’s company would get it done even before the police.

  My brows furrow as I watch what happened that day.

  Astrid banged on my door after I kicked her out. If I didn’t kick her out, that accident wouldn’t have happened.

  She danced under the moon all alone like a fucking angel.

  My jaw clenches as she starts running. I go through all the other cameras, trying to get a view of the two running after her.

  Him.

  I knew it.

  I continue watching the footage, but the cameras stop right at the road. There’s no footage of Astrid being hit. There’s only a side view of the car that’s speeding down the road.

  I’m about to close it when I notice something.

  Wait a fucking second.

  I reload back and then forth. Back and forth.

  Well, fuck.

  This changes everything.

  Aiden, Xan, Ronan, and Cole stand by my side as Chris shivers on the ground alongside his minions.

  My knuckles are bleeding from beating him to a pulp. He just admitted to being behind the photos. He wanted to get back at me so he ruined my ‘plaything’. That got him a punch that broke his nose.

  The two juniors, David and Michael remain huddled in the corner, stammering that they didn’t do anything.

  I pull Chris by the collar until I’m breathing in his face. “Now, tell me everything.”

  “You told us no fucking mistakes,” he snarls, showing bloodied teeth. “She heard us talking and I had to shut her the fuck up.”

  “So you planned an accident?”

  “What the fuck?” He coughs blood. “We had nothing to do with the accident. We only chased her to shut her up.”

  My hold falters on his collar. I planned the fire. I had Chris and the two juniors execute it with me because I didn’t want Aiden and his gang to get a whiff of my rebellion against Jonathan.

  The shivering juniors in the corner who keep repeating that they only did what they’re told aren’t to blame. I am.

  I knew that Chris is volatile and has a knack for danger, but I still used that to my advantage. Michael and David are just pawns who would do anything for their captain. Including arson — and possibly murder.

  I might not have driven the car that hit Astrid that night, but I played a role in it.

  “We only did what Christopher said.” Michael looks about ready to pee himself. “I wanted to tell the police everything, but my stepfather will kick me out of the house if I have any criminal record.”

  “We’re sorry, Captain.” David stammers. “P-please forgive us.”

  “That depends.” I push Chris up when he almost falls to the ground.

  “On what?” Michael asks.

  “Tell me everything you saw that night.” I glare down on Chris. “And you. Tell me why the fuck you’ve been sleeping with Astrid’s stepsister.”

  When the three of them are finished, the image starts forming in my head.

  I’m only missing one link.

  Just a little something.

  And I have to risk my future to see the end of it.

  For Astrid, it’s fucking worth it.

  “K-King?” Nicole stares up at me with wide eyes as I stand in front of their door.

  I spent all night watching footage after footage of that party and keeping screenshots and short clips for evidence

  There a few interesting things that came to light.

  Nicole casts a cautious glance behind her then closes the door and steps outside. “You’re not supposed to be here, my stepfather will kill you.”

  I glance behind her, even though the door is shut. “Is Astrid here?”

  She twists her lips. “You should leave.”

  “Not going to happen.” I push past her, stop and look down at her. “There’s something I’m curious about, Nicole.”

  She licks her lips, flipping her blonde hair back. “What is it.”

  “Did you fuck Daniel after you put something in his drink?”

  Her face turns white. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  I pull out my phone and show her two clips that prove her implication. She put pills in glass shots and offered one to Daniel. He took the other and shoved it in Astrid’s hand.

  Nicole starts shaking and swallowing hard.

  “Now,” I continue, “There are no cameras inside the rooms, so tell me, were you fucking Daniel while Astrid had an accident?”

  “K-King, I… I… didn’t mean for it go that far, I promise.”

  I barge into her space. “I have enough evidence for Daniel to sue you for rape.”

  “That… that’s not…”

  “What was your plan exactly? Have him and Astrid fuck? Are you a voyeur or is this some other fucked up kink?”

  “That drink was supposed to be mine, not Astrid’s! Daniel is supposed to be mine, not hers. But he had to snatch my damn drink and give it to his stupid Astrid. I studied with him all my life but she waltzes in here one day and he becomes best friends with her overnight. What does she have that I don’t?”

  “So you decided to rape him?”

  Her lips tremble. “I… I didn’t. You don’t know what happened, so shut up.”

  “Then, mind telling me why you whored yourself to Chris after?”

  “I only did that to make Daniel jealous.”

  “Let me guess. It didn’t work. So you used Chris to find out if anyone knows what you did that night or if there’s any footage to implicate you.”

  “No. I didn’t even know there were cameras. Do you think I’m stupid enough to have done it if I did?”

  Huh. That changes things.

  The door opens and Nicole wipes her cheeks, murmuring, “Please.”

  “Is something the matter?” A woman asks in a posh voice.

  Victoria Clifford, Nicole’s mother, stares between us with a cool, welcoming expression.

  “Nothing is wrong, Mother,” Nicole pleads with her eyes again.

  She’ll end up falling, but I don’t have time for her now.

  “May I help you?” Victoria asks me.

  “Yes. I’m here to see Lord Clifford.”

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Levi

  The king always falls down without his queen.

  * * *

  Astrid’s father stares down at me even though we’re both sitting at his office.

  Uncle says that aristocrats are like that. They like to look down their noses at people. They like thinking they have royal blood and whatnot.

  At the end of the day, moguls like the King Enterprises are the real royalties.

  However, it’s not my name that I take pride in as I meet Lord Clifford’s icy stares.

  It’s not my past or my present.

  It’s the future. Mine and Astrid’s.

  Lord Clifford listens with a blank expression as I tell him everything I uncovered.

  Once he finishes watching the clips of footage I sent, he closes the laptop. Aside from the slight tightening in his jaw, he doesn’t show any reaction.

  Man of steel. Just like Jonathan.

  His desk is large and made of mahogany wood, but aside from the laptop and his glass of scotch, there aren’t many belongings.

  “You do realise that there’s enough evidence to implicate you for arson and withholding evidence. You’re already eighteen, so it’ll be full charges,” he speaks in a calm and composed tone as if he’s in a meeting at the House of Lords.

  “Actually, there’s no proof of me doing any arson. I know all the cameras, so I made sure to move in their blind spots. As for
withholding evidence, the police lost the footage. Their incompetence isn’t my fault. Last I checked, recovering a spoilt flash drive I found lying about on our property isn’t a crime. Putting all that aside. In case of any charges, Jonathan will make sure I come out unscathed.”

  Lord Clifford’s lips pull in a sardonic smile. “You’re that scoundrel’s blood indeed. Does he teach you to be dicks?”

  “It’s natural. Comes with the family name.”

  He raises an eyebrow. “But he’s holding you on a leash. What you just did will ruin your future and force you to spend seven more years under that tyrant’s hands.”

  “How…” I clear my throat. “How did you know that?”

  “You think I wouldn’t search the background of someone I found in bed with my only daughter?”

  “Touché.”

  He takes a sip of his drink without breaking eye contact. “You chose to process this evidence despite threats from Jonathan?”

  “Yes,” I say without a sliver of doubt.

  “Why?”

  “Because I want justice for Astrid.”

  “How about justice for your father?” His calm question catches me by surprise.

  I look down, trying to school my expression. Since Uncle told me about the accident three years ago, I’ve been having a constant battle with myself.

  What I want and what I need.

  What I lost and what I can have.

  The past and the future.

  But I already made the choice.

  “You already know.” Lord Clifford puts his glass on the table with a clank.

  I nod. “But I still want to see where this goes with Astrid and —”

  “Absolutely not.” He cuts me off, standing.

  “With all my due respect, Astrid and I have nothing to do with what happened in the past or the feud between you and Uncle. We’re our own people and deserve to be treated as such.”

  “You’re not naive enough to think that, are you?” He strides from around the desk to stand in front of me. “The feud between me and that scoundrel King is because he blamed Astrid’s mother for the accident, saying she killed your father. I’ve been trying to prove that something wrong happened. Jasmine was a careful driver and never got a ticket in her entire life.”

  “It was an accident in which both of them died.” I grind my teeth. “It’s over. It’s in the past.”

  He releases a sigh. “Tell that to my daughter who locked herself in her room for days since she remembered the accident.”

  I stand up slowly. “She remembers?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let me talk to her,” I swallow and say the word I never thought I would say. “Please.”

  He shakes his head.

  “Astrid and I are the same. We both lost our parents that night. I understand her the best.”

  “You understand nothing, son. Astrid is locking herself up because she thinks that her mother killed James. She feels guilty towards you. Seeing you is the last thing she needs.”

  “Fuck,” I curse under my breath, using the desk’s edge as support.

  Does this mean I lost her once and for all?

  No. I won’t accept that.

  “One time,” I ask Lord Clifford again. “Let me see her just one more time.”

  “Seeing your face will only remind her of her guilt. It’ll hurt her and I promised that won’t happen anymore.” He pauses. “Besides, it was indirect but you participated in her accident. It’s best if you both go separate ways.”

  “I don’t want that,” I grit out.

  “You never get what you want. Welcome to life.”

  At home, I stand in front of the glass chess board and stare down at the black King piece.

  Dad always liked playing in black and I picked up the habit since he taught me how to play.

  On my way out of Lord Clifford’s house, I stood outside, looking at all the windows, hoping Astrid would peek out from one of them.

  She didn’t.

  “I’m so sorry, Father,” I tell the king piece.

  I chose the future over the past, but I lost both of them.

  “Look who’s graced us with his presence.”

  My shoulders droop as Uncle sits on the white King’s side. He must’ve just returned from an all-nighter in the office. Or two nights judging from his unshaven face and his missing tie and jacket.

  “Care for a game?” he asks.

  I sit down and re-arrange Aiden’s last game against himself.

  Uncle reaches behind him and pours us two glasses of cognac.

  I raise an eyebrow when he offers me one. “What did I do to receive a drink from Jonathan King himself?”

  He clincks my glass. “You were born a King.”

  “I’m more of a vodka person myself, but well…”

  He narrows his eyes. “Now I know where all those bottles disappeared to.”

  I lift my shoulder and take my first swig. The bitter taste leaves a burn at the back of my throat. Placing my drink on the side, I push my first pawn forward, mimicking Uncle’s first move. It’s good to receive the news of my fall to hell while playing chess.

  “I had a call from the deputy commissioner.”

  Here we go.

  “I’m guessing it’s not because I beat his son to pulp?”

  “You did that?” He narrows his eyes on me, twirling his drink. “What did I say about violence?”

  “It doesn’t solve anything.” I grin. “But it sure answers questions.”

  He shakes his head. “You’re so much like James, it’s uncanny.”

  “My father wasn’t a violent man.” After a few moves of my pawns, I push my knight forward.

  “Sure was when he was a punk your age.”

  Huh. Maybe Father and I are more alike than I thought.

  “Did you hate him for that?” I ask.

  “James was my oldest brother and only sibling. I never hated him.”

  “But you were always breathing down his back.”

  “Because he was slowly committing suicide with all those drugs and parties and whatnot.”

  “Let me guess, you’ve been keeping me on a leash so I don’t grow up to be like him.”

  “Of course.” He swallows my knight in a full dick move. “What do you think it was?”

  “Anyone ever told you that you have a shitty way of showing your care?”

  He shrugs and takes a drink of his cognac. “I do what it takes to protect my family.”

  “By being a dictator?”

  “The methods don’t matter. The results do.”

  I scoff. Some things never change.

  While he’s drinking, I notice an opening and use my queen to kill his bishop.

  He raises an eyebrow, probably since I left my king unprotected. It doesn’t matter. My rook is in place and if he makes a move, his queen will be unprotected.

  “You made a mess,” he says and something tells me it’s not about the game.

  “I’m ready for the consequences.”

  “You know.” He chuckles with nostalgia. “I could never beat James in chess. It drove me insane.”

  “No way. You actually lose.”

  “I actually lose.” He brings the drink to his mouth then stops. “I was the nerd in the family while James was the popular one. He got all the attention, all the stardom and all the girls. And yet, he kept beating me at chess which was supposed to be my speciality. One day, I asked him how he does it, and then he said, You’re too uptight, little brother. Don’t play the game...”

  “Play the player,” I finish for him.

  He nods. “I understand the full meaning behind his words now. I shouldn’t have controlled you. It was an epic failure and I lost my holiday home because of it.”

  I go to attack his queen then stop. “Sorry?”

  He scoffs. “We both know you don’t mean that.”

  “I would if you drop the entire case against Lord Clifford’s ex-wife.”

  “Ther
e’s no case to drop. Both Clifford and I buried the accident for a reason. He didn’t want his ex-wife’s name in the press and I didn’t want the press to broadcast that my brother was drunk and high at the time of his death.” He points his glass at me. “Clifford and I agreed to make each other’s lives hell since then, though. I’m winning, by the way.”

  “Of course you are. You always win, Uncle.”

  “Not always, punk. No matter what I did, I lost my brother.” He pushes me back using his rook. “I won’t lose you either.”

  I hesitate before clutching my bishop. If this is a tactic to make me doubt my next move, then it’s fucking working.

  “You want to play professionally? You have it.”

  “I… do?”

  “On one condition.”

  I eat his queen and grin. “Ha. I’m listening.”

  “Checkmate, punk.” He grins back. “Sacrificing the queen for the king is a pleasure.”

  No. It’s not.

  I stare at my king surrounded by Uncle’s rook and knight.

  The bastard couldn’t protect himself or his queen and now their entire kingdom is all fucking over before it properly started.

  I shake my head, focusing back on Uncle. “You’ll really let me play professionally or was that a ploy?”

  “Both.” He smiles. “Here’s what you have to do in return.”

  Chapter Fifty

  Astrid

  Everything ends. Even a war.

  * * *

  A harsh breath leaves my lips as I watch Levi’s retreating back from the window of my room.

  An itch urges me to run after him and hug him.

  I want to hug him so bad and not just because I need a hug myself.

  When Sarah told me someone by the last name King came over, I nearly had a heart attack. It took everything in me not to go and protect him from Dad.

  But I couldn’t face him.

  I doubt I ever will.

  Levi had a deep connection with his father and once he knows the truth about what happened three years ago, he won’t look at me again.