My Stolen Life: a high school bully romance (Stonehurst Prep Book 1)

by Steffanie Holmes

  Beside me, Eli watches me allow my arch-nemesis to drool on my shoulder. His expression says exactly what he thinks about that. “What happened out there?”

  My hands curl into fists as I tell them the whole story – how I went to visit Alec in the hospital, and how I let him talk me into being part of his revenge stunt. How we jumped Mackenzie as she strutted into cheerleading trials and put her in the trunk of Alec’s Shelby Cobra.

  “Alec said we were going to drive her into the desert and leave her for a couple of hours. Scare her a bit. But she was screaming – this horrible, inhuman scream. The longer we drove, the angrier he got, and by the time we pulled her out, he was ready to…” My fingers tighten around Mackenzie’s arm at the memory. “He wanted all of us to have a go at her, starting with me.”

  A cold shiver runs down my spine as I recall that feral look in Alec’s eyes as he leaned over Mackenzie. A feral hunger fueled by rage.

  I couldn’t watch any longer. I snapped.

  Do I look like that? Am I so consumed by hate that I wear it as a second skin? It’s been so long since I felt anything but rage that I don’t remember who I am without it.

  I saved Mackenzie from Alec today, but I also helped shove her in that trunk in the first place. It’s my fault she was even out in the desert. Shame burns in my cheeks. I hope you can’t see me now, Felix. I really fucked up.

  “That’s dark.” Gabriel stares at his drink. I notice he hasn’t taken a sip.

  “I know. What the fuck was he thinking? The others were too chicken shit to say anything. They were just going to stand around like idiots while he raped her. I said no fucking way, and a couple of them backed me up, but then Alec went for her, and I snapped.”

  “You laid him out?” A grin tugs at the corner of Eli’s mouth.

  “I hurt him pretty bad. That doctor of his is going to have a time rebuilding his face. Again.”

  I can feel Felix in the room with us, sucking all the air away as he flaps his angel wings and shoots me a disapproving look.

  I’m just so angry.

  Mackenzie snorts, her head burrowing into my shoulder. My fist rests on her back. I watch – detached, with no control over my limbs – my fingers uncurl, becoming a flat palm that rubs reassuring circles on her back.

  This is fucked up.

  Eli folds his arms. “Alec and Cleo can’t get away with this. We have to do something. Tell the school what happened to Mackenzie and George. Call the police. It’s assault.”

  Gabriel glances at me, and I know what he’s thinking. If we report Alec, I’ll go down with him. I’ll kiss my college acceptance goodbye. Yet another thing Mackenzie Malloy has taken from me.

  I don’t care.

  I’m not sure I see it that way any longer.

  My fingers brush her warm skin, and I catch the faintest scent of my brother in the air.

  “Reporting them won’t do any good,” Gabriel says. “Alec will just get his dad to pay off the school. The whole thing will be hushed up, and we’ll never hear about it again. No, this is personal, between us and them. This is war, and I’ll take the Ice Queen’s shilling.”

  “Are you really going up against Alec over me?”

  Mackenzie lifts her head. Her cheeks flush, and she runs her fingers through her hair, pushing the golden threads away from her face.

  “It doesn’t mean we like you,” I growl, whipping my hand off her back.

  “I like her just fine,” Gabe says.

  “Me too,” Eli pipes up.

  She’s wearing Gabriel’s aftershave as perfume. Against her skin, his scent takes on an intoxicating danger. I’m drunk with the need of her, the way I was at that party when she pressed her body against me. Hot skin on skin, her golden dress clinging to every curve. How good she felt in my arms, her body molding to mine…

  No. I can’t.

  I tear myself from Mackenzie and cross to the windows. Beyond Gabriel’s pool, waves crash against golden sand, almost the exact color of Mackenzie’s hair. Even the view makes me think of her. I shove open the window and gulp in fresh air. Get a grip, Noah.

  “This isn’t happening.” Mackenzie fixes us all with her glacial stare. “I handle my own problems. This is between Alec and Cleo and me.”

  “Alec got me to help him attempt to rape you,” I say. “Even though things didn’t go as far as they could, it’s disgusting. I won’t let that stand.”

  Mackenzie shakes her head. “I don’t like this. I don’t work with outsiders.”

  “I don’t like beans, but Maria makes me eat ’em.” Eli smiles. “This is happening, so get used to it.”

  “Before we do anything, we need to get a few things straight.” I whirl around and fix on Mackenzie. I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe I’m on the side of a Malloy. The Malloy. But today broke everything. Or maybe I’ve been breaking apart ever since she started at Stonehurst, and giving her a slice of chocolate cherry cake in the desert after rescuing her is the first piece put together again. “Who were those guys you sent to terrorize us all?”

  “Friends of my family.” She flips her hair and shoots me that defiant Mackenzie stare.

  “Do they work for hire?”

  “They do, but it’s probably not a path you want to go down, not if you want to graduate with honors and go on to your fancy colleges. Blood on your hands has a habit of sticking.”

  “Why do you say that like you don’t have a future to worry about?” Eli asks.

  She snorts. “Noah can tell you.”

  Two sets of accusing eyes swivel to me. I shrug. “She’s flunking out.”

  “And that bastard refuses to tutor me.” Mackenzie glares at me. Climate change would be sorted if the UN employed Mackenzie to glare at the ice caps until they froze again.

  “Wanker,” Gabriel grins.

  “That’s right.” She leans back on the sofa, arranging her hands behind her head. “He’s a wanker.”

  This conversation is ridiculous. “So we’re actually talking about how we’re going to make Alec and Cleo pay.”

  “You boys seriously don’t have to worry. I’ve got this. I will be brutal. The fact they went after George…” she tips her head. “I remember something George said to me in the bathroom. I think Alec might’ve done something to her before.”

  “Everyone’s bullied George,” I say. “She’s weird. You and Cleo were her worst tormenters, if you recall.”

  A flicker of something that might’ve been regret passes through Mackenzie’s cold eyes. Or maybe she’s just blinking away a piece of dust. “That’s ancient history. The new Mackenzie stands up for the little guys. That reminds me.” She glares at me. “I need your phone.”

  “Why?”

  “Because mine fell out of my pocket in the middle of the desert and I don’t particularly want to go back to look for it.” She whips the phone from my hand and starts tapping the screen. “Relax. I’m not downloading radical feminist tracts over your porn or anything. I need to see what’s stored on my remote drive. And check in with my cat sitter.”

  “You… have a cat?”

  “Duh. You know this. Eli told you and Alec about the secret entrance to my house and you broke in and tried to disembowel her.”

  What the fuck? “That’s sick.”

  “Agreed.” She jabs the screen with surprising force. “Why do you think I branded my initials into his forehead? You would’ve got the same treatment, but I know you were at school that day.”

  “If Alec did that, it was his own idea. He never said anything about breaking into your house or hurting a cat.”

  “And if he came in through the secret entrance, it’s not because I told him,” Eli adds. “Even these guys don’t know about that.”

  “I’ll have you know I’m an expert on entrances, secret and otherwise—”

  Eli throws a cushion at Gabriel’s head. “Ignore him. Fuck, Mackenzie, is your cat okay?”

  “She’s a fighter.” Mackenzie tosses her hea
d back. “I needed to send you all a message – I don’t care what you do to me, but don’t fuck with Queen Boudica.”

  “Your cat’s name is Queen Boudica?” Eli grins.

  I feel a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth, but I’m not yet ready for it to take over. Today has been… strange. Mackenzie Malloy isn’t the thirteen-year-old-girl who gave me my first wet dream and ruined my life anymore. She has a cat. She’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. And… she’s bug-nuts crazy.

  The worst thing is… I think I kind of like it.

  34

  Mackenzie

  After I fall asleep in front of the movie for the third time, I wake up in Gabriel’s arms as he carries me up to his room.

  Before I realize I’m doing it, my body curls around Gabriel. I cling to his neck and breathe in that rich, pagan scent of his. The horror of the day fades into a distant nightmare as I bask in the beauty of him. The tips of his silken hair brush over my face, and it’s the most amazing sensation – his music come to life inside me.

  I want him.

  The thought hits me like a fist to the chest. Gabriel lights up the darkest, most hidden parts of me. I want him. I don’t give a fuck about Antony’s plan or my own fragile mind. I don’t care that I don’t yet trust Gabriel or that two other guys who confuse me with their kindness are right beneath us. I don’t care that I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing. Gabriel fucking Fallen sings the stars against my skin and I want him.

  Mackenzie Malloy always gets what she wants.

  Upstairs, he lays me on the bed and pulls the covers over me. I’m cocooned in his scent, in the cavern carved out by his body. My fingers lace in his, and I pull him close. Our cheeks brush together, and the touch sends a fire thrumming through my veins.

  “There is one thing I want to know.” Gabriel’s voice touches my ear, and I turn into a puddle of melted, bubbling Mackenzie hormones. “If Eli’s a stalker and Noah’s a dick, what did I do to deserve a visit from your friends?”

  I manage to choke out a reply. “I didn’t want you to feel left out.”

  Gabriel’s laugh is a low rumble that reaches right to my toes. “Seriously, Mac. I’m intrigued.”

  “It was because of the party.” The words are barely a whisper.

  “Because I pushed you in the pool?”

  I nod. But it’s not the truth. I sent Antony after Gabriel because of what happened before the pool, because of the kiss. I want so much for the way Gabriel makes me feel to be real, but that kiss proved it’s not. Gabriel is who he is – the perfect fantasy, the broken prince who sings the stars and the blood and the pain. But singing it isn’t the same as living it. He’ll never be real to me.

  Maybe I don’t care.

  “Come to bed with me,” I whisper.

  Mischief flickers in Gabriel’s eyes. He leans in, pressing his lips to my forehead. The kiss is starlight dancing beneath my skin.

  “Not tonight,” he whispers. “Not while you still have the ghost of another guy’s violence behind your eyes.”

  “Then lie with me.” I tug on his shirt, pulling him against me. Gabriel sighs and crawls under the blankets, wrapping his body around me. For the first time in so many years, I fall into a deep and dreamless sleep.

  The scent of bacon wakes me. Panic surges in my gut as my mind immediately flies to burning human flesh, to the smell of Alec’s skin under my brand. I throw out my hands, reaching for Queen Boudica, desperate to hold her to my chest and feel her tiny heart beating.

  My fingers grasp not fur but warm human flesh. Someone’s in my bedroom. Someone’s broken into the house again. They’re in my room—

  I thrust my hand beneath my pillow for my knife, but it’s not there.

  I scream.

  My feet kick out, catching the intruder off-guard. He grunts as he rolls out of bed and slams into the floor. I fling myself over the side and lift my leg to stomp on his head and—

  “Bloody hell, Mac. It’s me.”

  Gabriel rolls on the ground, wincing as he clutches his knee. He wears only boxers and an utterly perplexed expression.

  “Fuck.” I sink back into the comforter as it all comes back to me. Alec in the desert. Noah rescuing me. George being beaten up. The guys looking after me, offering to get Alec for what he did. And Gabriel carrying me to bed and holding me while I slept.

  I spooned with Gabriel Fallen.

  And then I kicked him out of bed.

  I groan, resting my head in my hands. Heat flares in my cheeks. As my gaze falls on my body, I realize I’m not wearing any clothes. At all.

  I grab the corner of the comforter and yank it over my chest, glaring down at Gabriel. “Why am I naked?”

  Gabriel chuckles. He tosses me a faded tour t-shirt, which I yank over my head. “Don’t blame me. You must’ve got too hot or something about 3AM, because you threw off all your clothes. I tried to stop you, but you bit me.”

  “I did not.”

  Gabriel lifts his arm to show me a row of red welts on his bicep. Teeth marks. An even deeper blush of heat pools in my cheeks.

  “It’s been a long time since I—”

  “—shared a bed with someone. I figured.” Gabriel leans in close to flick a strand of hair from my face. His fingers brush my skin, leaving a pulse of heat behind. “You hog all the blankets, you crazy wench.”

  I poke my tongue out at him and pull on his t-shirt. It’s so big and I’m so short that it’s more like a dress. Gabriel shoves his feet into a pair of tight black jeans. I try not to stare at his perfect ass, but I have no self-control. He blows me a kiss as he heads downstairs.

  I grab a belt from the rack in his walk-in closet and loop it twice around my waist, cinching in the shirt. I run Gabriel’s brush through my tangled hair, and splash water on my face. My expression in the mirror is… weirdly calm. I do not look like a woman who survived an assault and fell asleep in her rock god’s bed.

  As I pad downstairs, a delicious smell wafts up to greet me. Gabriel kneels in front of his record player, cleaning a record and placing it on the turntable. Eli’s in the kitchen, flipping pancakes in a skillet, an enormous pile of crispy bacon already stacked beside him. He has a frilly apron tied around his waist, and it looks completely ridiculous and also adorable in a way that makes my stomach tight. There’s something about Eli that’s so… earnest. He may be rich and popular, but I still see that guy who took me to Disneyland to cheer me up. That day got a whole five pages in my diary.

  I just wish I had a memory of it. It sounded pretty special.

  Of course, Eli loses points for the stalking. After reading my diary, that at least makes more sense. Now that I know Eli’s not a serial killer, it’s comforting in a fucked-up way to think he’s watched over me even after all these years.

  I cross the room and plop down on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. Eli turns around and smiles at me. When Eli smiles, his whole face lights up. It’s so different from Gabriel’s grin, which can’t help but be full of mischief and lewd promise. Eli’s smile is warm and safe and beautiful – I can’t believe I thought he was annoying before.

  “I hope you’re hungry, because I made enough to feed an army.” He dumps an enormous stack of pancakes onto a plate and pushes it over to me.

  “I approve. I’m an entire Roman legion desperate for my posca.” I reach for the maple syrup.

  “What’s posca?”

  “It’s vinegar from wine gone bad, mixed with water and herbs and shit. It was basically the Gatorade of the Roman Army, kind of like how pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup are the Gatorade of the Mackenzie Malloy army.”

  “Personally, I’ll give the moldy wine a miss, although those Romans sound like they know how to party.” Gabriel comes up behind me and rests his head on my shoulder so his cheek touches mine. My fork flies out of my hand and maple syrup dribbles over the edge of my plate as a rush of heat impales my coordination.

  “You’re really interested in all this Roman h
istory stuff?”

  I’m startled by the not-violence in Noah’s voice. My once-bitter enemy slumps into the stool on the end of the breakfast bar, as far from me as he can possibly get. Those coal-black eyes study me, hard and intense. But I don’t get that sense of danger from him, of rage rolling off his body like waves ready to sweep me away.

  I shrug. “My father was into it – Caesar and Augustus and all the emperors. I read all the fancy-ass books in the study. I might not be able to pass a Calculus test, but I do know tons of super useful facts about Ancient Rome I’m sure will be applicable in everyday life.”

  Gabriel laughs as he helps himself to a pancake stack twice as high as mine. “What are we doing with our little stowaway?”

  “Plotting Alec’s downfall.” Noah accepts a plate from Eli.

  Eli looks me up and down, this worried frown on his face. “We should take you to a doctor, make sure you’re okay.”

  “You should, but you’re not going to.” I jab a forkful of pancake in Eli’s direction. “Not unless you want another visit from my family friends. I’m not having some stranger root around in my lady bits.”

  Noah grinds his teeth, and I notice he hasn’t touched a bite. The air twangs with tension, like a bowstring pulled taut. Gabriel slouches over the end of the table, but even he looks uncomfortable.

  “What?” I glare between the three faces. “How was I supposed to know you’d all turn into my knights in Armani armor?”

  “I’m not hungry.” Noah pushes his plate away and stalks off to the bathroom. A moment later, the door slams behind him.

  Eli winces. “He just got a call from the hospital. His stepmom, Grace, is being discharged after the scare your ‘friends’ gave her.”

  “If you want me to feel sorry for doing that, it’s not going to happen. Alec came to my house and hurt my cat.”

  Eli taps the table with his fingers. “I’m starting to wonder about that.”