“I will always be your friend,” I whispered, unsure of where the words came from. “And I’ll always protect you from the monsters.” Like your mother. I didn’t say that out loud, but didn’t think she needed me to, either.
I also knew that even if Corinne Jones would fall from her almighty horse, Belle would be fine.
After all, I assumed her father would sweep in, making sure he could make up for all the lost time with his only child.
“Will you?”
Her voice was small, almost child-like, and I reminded myself that she’d not been living on the streets for the last years, and that she was only eighteen after all.
Sheltered, privileged… Anabelle Jones was still young, and, I couldn’t help but think, she was also a little naive. I wasn’t her savior, no matter how much I wanted to be, but maybe, after he swept in, I could be someone to her. “Why didn’t you ever try to find me then?”
Because I was behind bars.
Because I was surviving on the streets.
Because your mother got married and changed your name.
I didn’t say any of that, and instead dared to reach out and cup her cheek. She leaned into the touch at first, her skin soft and warm, then she suddenly stepped back, expectantly looking at me.
“You were a child, and so was I. Besides, after your mother got me in trouble, I didn’t… I didn’t think about much besides punishing her. When I finally found her I didn’t know what to do… And then I came here, and all I could think about was ruining her life.”
She nodded. “Understandable.” Fluttering her lashes, she arched her brows at me. “How did you manage to get into a Country Club with all those tats?”
Because Beckett had paid for me, but I didn’t want her to know I had a sponsor. “They needed a barkeeper because something happened to the old one. They looked for someone with charm who would keep the ladies entertained and the alcohol flowing.”
She snorted. “I can see you rocking that job. Are you still working there?”
I wanted to lie and tell her I did, but no. I’d stopped after getting Corinne exactly where I wanted to have her.
Frankly, I had enjoyed the job even with all the older ladies trying to pick me up. “No. I had other things coming up, and I usually don’t stay long in one place. Besides, your mother did exactly what I wanted her to do, so why let the other ladies grope me?”
Her face fell. “I’m sorry. I swear, Silvercrest is rotten to the core, and no one even sees it because of all the bling.”
I grinned at her. “Well, because of us two at least one person’s dark secrets will be revealed, right?”
She just mirrored my grin, giving me the only answer I needed.
Chapter Four
Belle
I unlocked the door, forcing a laugh as if my companion had said the funniest thing ever.
“Anabelle? Is that you?”
I closed my eyes for a moment, then forced a smile. “Yes, Mom, and I want you to meet someone!” A week had passed since Kip had walked into my life, and we’d posted a lot of fake pictures on all my social media accounts. I didn’t know if my mom had seen them, but I almost had no doubt.
After all, I knew he and I were the talk of the entire school, and that would make us also talk of the school’s parents.
Oh, life in the high society was fun.
Rumors made their rounds, and most of them were lies.
Others Kip and I decided to cultivate and make them grow.
Like how he’d been in prison and was a seriously bad guy.
Upside to that was the fact that people bowed out of my way now, and even Harlyn was somewhat amicable.
Kip’s hand slipped into mine and I gave him a winning smile. Sometimes I had the feeling he forgot that this was nothing more than a game, but didn’t comment on it. Instead, we now were ready to see how my mom would handle this.
She appeared, as done up as ever, and her eyes grew wide to saucers.
“Mom, this is Kip. Kip, this is my mother, Corinne Jones.”
Kip held out his hand, waiting, but my mother was frozen, staring at him. “Kip?” She echoed and I wondered if it settled in with her whom exactly she’d had in her bed.
“Yes, ma’am. Alexander Kipleton really, but people call me Kip.” He wrapped his arms around me from behind, and if I wouldn’t have known my mother used to sleep with him, I wouldn’t have been able to tell they knew each other.
“I just met him a couple of weeks ago, but isn’t he just…” I pressed my lips together, pretending to be shy. “You know, a really nice guy.”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest, making her breasts stick up higher.
As if the fake boobs needed the extra support to be perky. “Aren’t you the guy who slept with the yoga instructor? In our home?”
I turned to him, pretending to be in utter shock. “You? The yoga instructor? No, that can’t be, right?” I touched his face. “You wouldn’t sleep with her. She’s married!”
My mother coughed behind me and Kip held my eyes, the dark soft like melted chocolate. “I just have eyes for you. Besides, where would I meet a yoga teacher?”
Releasing a relieved breath, I cuddled into him. “See, mom? You’re mistaken. I was wondering if Kip can stay for dinner today.”
Outside a car door slammed shut and I almost smiled because everything was coming together so perfectly.
“What?”
I didn’t think I’d ever seen my mother flustered like she was right there.
“Can Kip stay for dinner tonight, mom? You know, my boyfriend?” The door behind me opened just as my mother all but screamed an angry ‘no’.
“What? Why not? Corinne, she’s old enough. She can have a boyfriend. Of course you can stay. I’m Corey Jones, Anabelle’s stepfather.” He held out his hand to Kip and this time around it was the bad boy who looked flustered.
“I… Nice to meet you, Sir. I’m Alexander Kipleton, but people call me Kip.”
Corey shook his hand. “I love a strong grip. And now, why would there be a problem with Belle’s boyfriend dining with us?” He turned his eyes on his wife, waiting, and I took Kip’s side again, loving the way he was fidgeting now.
“Worried he’ll punch you?” I asked innocently and he shook his head, pleading me to drop the topic for now.
My mother still gritted her teeth, while Corey clearly was in a mood to not let it slide. “Corinne?” he prompted.
“Have you looked at him? Tattooed and all? Do you know what the Society will think about that? How will you explain a…” She eyed Kip up and down, giving him back some of his confidence.
“A?” I asked, if Kip were my boyfriend, I’d be getting pissed at the way she was acting.
Although I did believe a lot of it was to the fact that she knew exactly how he looked naked.
Taking a deep breath, I cleared my throat, making sure I, too, was waiting.
She threw up her hands. “Just look at him, Corey. Is that what you saw for our little girl?”
“You know what the difference between you and me is, Corinne? I’m thinking of what our girl wants, and that’s to be happy. He looks as if he makes her happy. And if not, we’ll find him and make him vanish, just the way the Society always does.”
He passed her and I felt Kip’s grip on me tighten. For someone who seemed so unapologetically unafraid of everything, and who claimed to have lived on the streets and struggled most of his life, he seemed suddenly worried about my family.
“Tell me he’s joking,” he hissed toward me.
“My mother ordered my own kidnapping for the mere purpose of being able to marry someone new without losing her face. Did you honestly just ask me if Corey is joking?” I replied and heard him swallow.
“Belle…”
I turned to him, stepping in until we were almost breathing the same air. As much as I liked making everyone in here squirm, I didn’t need Corinne to overhear us.
Besides, I didn’t wan
t him to worry too much. “Kip, you’ll be okay. After this is over and my mother got what she deserves, I’ll make sure Corey knows you didn’t do anything of this because you wanted to hurt me. Plus, when my mother is exposed, he might not even want anything to do with me.” And there, as I said it, I realized that thought was painful.
He wasn’t my real father, but he’d always taken care of me.
“Hey,” Kip whispered, tilting my chin up. “Everyone who ever met you wouldn’t want to hurt you. I’m sure he’ll stick up for you even if your mother turned out to be scum. You were his daughter for a big part of your life.”
For once, I actually wanted to believe Kip’s lies and decided to not say anything against it.
Kip
I pushed back my chair. “Excuse me for a minute. I fear I need to wash my hands. Can you point me in the direction of a bathroom?”
Corinne was the first to stand, just like I’d expected. “Of course.” She’d pretended to try for her daughter, and I knew she’d been dying to get me alone.
I followed her out of the room, and when we were out of earshot, she grabbed me and pressed me against the wall. “Careful, you don’t want to be too close to your daughter’s boyfriend, right?”
I felt her nails digging into my biceps and she stepped in even closer. “What in the fucking world are you playing at?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t know you had such a hot daughter. Saw her outside the day I left you cum-covered on your husband’s bed. And damn, she is something else…”
Her hand wandered higher, wrapping around my throat. “Do it, Corinne. Choke me. Come on. If you think no one’s gonna come looking for us, you’re wrong. Remember I’m here with my girlfriend.”
“How much do you want?”
Oh, this was priceless. I was tempted to take money from her for the sole purpose of her deserving it, but I had a benefactor who was more than just a little nice and therefore I shook my head.
“Nothing,” I replied. “You cannot give me—”
“Fifty thousand and I might forget that you’re choking my boyfriend.”
Corinne’s eyes snapped to her daughter and still, she didn’t step back. “I didn’t.”
I swallowed, wondering if she felt it against her palm. “I need to protest that, cause… throat…” I made my voice sound rougher than it was and instantly she stood five feet away.
Belle crossed her arms in front of her chest while Corinne lifted her chin. “I’m not gonna pay you fifty thousand for that,” she snapped, but I had a feeling Belle wasn’t that easily deterred.
Seemed she wanted to make sure she had money should Corey not take care of her. Smart girl.
“I think you will,” Belle replied, her tone low, calm, and I wanted to kiss her.
Hell, knowing I pretended to be her boyfriend I crossed over and claimed her lips just the way I wanted to. “Be nice, babe. Your mother mixed me up with someone else.”
“What has gotten into you, child?” Corinne, too, stepped closer, no longer caring that I was close. “You don’t know who he is. He slept with half of my country club.”
I coughed, not believing she’d placed that low blow. “And you? Which half do you belong to?”
Belle arched her brows at her mother while Corinne nearly stuttered. “What? How dare you?”
“Then again… It doesn’t matter, does it? Because someone came with you. I mean… On you. Or in you? Probably, too. Either way, I know it’s true, because I have the photo to prove it. And now, fifty thousand in my bank account by tomorrow. You know where it needs to be going. Tomorrow, mom, or I’ll tell Corey your little yoga-teacher-lie. And also…” This time it was the daughter stepping in to her mother, making that woman back up. “Keep your hands off Kip. Under any circumstances.”
I wanted to assure her that I wouldn’t put my hands on her mother again, but didn’t think it was the smart comment to make. After all, yes, Anabelle knew the truth, but so far her mother didn’t know that.
“What if I don’t pay?”
Anabelle pulled her cell out of her jeans pocket and did nothing more than turn on her screen. It showed her mother covered in cum and sleeping as the screensaver. “That should be incentive enough. I think for adultery there’s this thing… This… clause in your contract, right? Whoever gets caught cheating loses it all? I think that’s what it said. Or something like that. So? What’s it gonna be?”
Belle’s mother blinked. “What happened to you? We always got along great.”
She snorted while I drew her to my side. “Come on, Ana, we should go.” It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy the way she was treating her mom, but there was something about Anabelle that made me think I hated the loss of her innocence.
The girl I’d picked up in school had looked differently, her eyes less dull, her smile a little brighter.
And as much as I loved how close Anabelle and I were, even if it was pretend, I missed the girl from that day.
“I never saw the lying side of you. The manipulative one. The massive bitch you clearly are. And you know what? I’d love to discuss all that with you in great length, but I think Corey might be waiting for us.” She took my hand, not waiting for her mother to reply, and pulled me along the hallway.
“Anabelle…”
She turned to me. “No, Kip. Whatever it is you want to say, I don’t wanna hear it. We have three more weeks before the masquerade and until then we’ll rub it into her face as much as we can. Always, and all the time, but you and I?” She waited until I was closer. “We’re just business associates. What we do has nothing to do with feelings, and everything with your revenge and my money.” She managed well to compartmentalize now that we were having a common goal, and I missed the girl who’d been upset with me for not having found her earlier.
“You won’t be able to start a new life with fifty k.”
She smirked. “No, but it’s a nice thing to have in case something goes awfully wrong.”
I blinked. “Awfully wrong? What do you mean?”
“I mean Corey loves me, but that doesn’t mean he’ll pay for my school. Or anything else. And therefore… I need a plan. And a good one at that. Fifty is a great start. We have three weeks left. Let’s see how far my mother will go to protect the millions Corey has at his disposal… And therefore at hers.”
“Anabelle, you aren’t like that…”
She arched a brow, then plastered on a wide smile and together we joined her step-father in the dining room again.
Chapter Five
Kip
I could get used to the pool life, especially when it meant I could watch Anabelle in a tiny bikini. She was busy on her cell, typing away while jotting down notes on a notebook. I was curious as to what she doing, but whenever I asked about anything concerning her, she shut me out.
“Is that homework?”
She pushed up her sunglasses. “What are you doing, Kip?”
“We can be friends at least, can’t we? Hell, even when I was your kidnapper you and I were close. But now…”
She sat up, distracting me with too much pale skin. Indoor pools had always the perfect temperature, and yet I wished this one would be a little hotter so she’d be feeling the need to cool off more often.
“Eyes up here!”
My gaze snapped to her face, but in contrary to what I’d have expected, she wasn’t smiling about me appreciating her, but almost angry.
“God, Belle…” I walked closer to where she’d now taken a spot on the side of the pool. I didn’t care what goal we were following, I wanted her to be nicer to me. I wanted us to have a good basis for when I would try to be serious about us, about this.
I didn’t even care if we’d leave the town of Silvercrest. Most of the US would offer a perfect spot for me.
“Talk to me. And tell me everything you think. Don’t hold back.”
She snorted. “We’re not friends, Kip, and we will not be under any capacity. For years I was thinking about you and how muc
h I wished I could see you. I wanted to see if what we started to build during those few days could have been anything more. You were reading to me, playing with me, feeding me, taking care of me. You were a hero in my eyes. And now you’re here, and all I can think about is what you did with her. And not only once, but repeatedly.”
“You’ve been kissing me. You know that, right?”
“I do, and I know she thinks you also fuck me, but that’s not gonna happen. I don’t care if you were in prison, or what you did on the streets, but I will not allow what was inside my mother to come inside me, too.”
I wanted to protest, wanted to argue, but figured telling her my tongue technically was in her mother, too, wouldn’t be the right argument. Besides, I’d not done that because I enjoyed it.
“Would it make it better if I told you—”
“No.”
I gritted my teeth. “Okay, listen… You and I can be civil, right? You can confide in me. I don’t care if you and I will never be anything more than friends. I will take care of you, okay? Just like I did back then.”
Belle lowered her eyes. “I don’t know if I can. I’m not the girl from back then, I’m not even the girl from two weeks ago. I’ve been living around the worst of the worst people for such a long time. But until you returned and showed me what my mother did, pointed it out to me… All of it, not just the kidnapping, I cannot help but think that while I had never believed she could be rotten to the core I was wrong. About her. About myself. I wasn’t untouched by injustice. God, I am not as innocent as I thought.”
I took her hand. “Yes, you are. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Don’t blackmail your mother anymore. Stop it. Make a clean cut once this is over and you can still be—”
She pushed off the side of the pool, landing in the water and diving deep. I followed her, not because now I wanted to swim, but because I didn’t want her to be able to avoid this talk anymore.
I cornered her at the side of the pool and caged her between my arms. She was so damn close and now dripping wet.
The Society Page 3