“I’m not sure what you classify as rich, Cass. I couldn’t afford a place like Pemberley, certainly, but I have money.”
“What could you afford? A place like Celia’s in town?”
“Oh my God, so none of your business, but yes.”
“So, why are you in Longbourn?”
“Because I don’t care where I sleep as long as I have a bed. I’d much rather share a dorm with a kind and loving person on a scholarship like Anne than be stuck with a miserable snob like you. Now excuse me, I owe Amanda a game of pool!” I was yelling by now, but I so didn’t care. I had no idea why I was even trying to justify myself to that bitch. That I couldn’t access the money until I graduated was unimportant right now.
I turned on my heel and stormed back to the sitting room.
“Lil... Hey, you okay?” Jax asked as the door crashed open.
“I... Uh, sorry. Yes, fine.”
“There you are!” Amanda popped her head into the room. “Williams is waiting and said he’d play with himself again if you didn’t hurry up.”
“I’d rather wait for you, Lily, but you leave me little choice!” I heard Hunter call and smiled despite myself.
I was still pissed at him, but playing pool with him was certainly the lesser of two evils.
“Yeah, one game, then I should get back to my aunt,” I said.
Amanda pouted and I knew she’d spend the whole game trying to convince me to stay. I couldn’t though, not after I’d yelled at Cass, let slip the secret not even Dad knew, and had to contend with the look of utter contempt Fleur was expertly not trying to hide.
I couldn’t even look at Austin at this point.
“We’ll have words!” Amanda warned me.
I laughed shakily. “You break and I’ll consider listening to them.”
She grinned and bounced back into the other room.
Cass walked in behind me, not bothering to avoid bumping into me as she walked passed me. We exchanged a look of pure hatred before I headed out of the room, finding a small hallway.
“Lily, wait.” Austin grabbed my elbow and I turned to him. “I, uh, thank you for…that. I’m not sure what Cass is playing at, but I can assure you she won’t get away with it.”
“I wasn’t about to sit by and let her be reminded of him. There’s nothing to thank me for, she’s a friend. It’s what friends do.”
He was giving me that look again, the one that studied me in some kind of wonder.
“Are you sure you won’t stay tonight?”
I sighed, “Oz, I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“I…may have yelled at Cass in the kitchen.”
Austin grinned. “I wondered why she looked like someone had pissed in her beer. But, seriously, don’t worry about her. Please stay.”
The look on his face seriously made me want to, but that was such a bad idea. We couldn’t be together and I would regret it if I tortured myself.
What had happened to the whole clean break idea?
“I…I have other reasons I should go.”
He cupped my cheek. “Like what?”
I pulled away from him gently. “This is not a good idea, Austin,” I said quietly, smiling up at him apologetically and fervently wishing it weren’t true.
He dropped his hand and nodded. “I’m not going to push you, Lil.” He looked regretful for a moment, then smiled. “Now, I’m looking forward to watching the two of you beat Williams!”
“Oh, I’m not sure about that.” I smiled as he showed me the way to the billiards room.
Chapter Forty-Six: Austin
“Lily didn’t look great tonight, did she, Austin?” Cass said as she and Fleur walked into the kitchen while I was hunting around for more chips.
Lily had, thankfully, left and wasn’t around to hear Cass be an epic bitch. Unfortunately, I was still there. I was also thankful our guests were in other rooms.
“I thought she looked nice,” I replied.
Fleur shrugged. “I can’t say I’ve ever thought her to look nice. But, then it’s not like she has much going for her to begin with. She’s thin, and not really very pretty.”
“And, I can’t say much for her ‘pretty green eyes’ as I’ve heard them described,” Cass said, looking at me.
“They make her look all cross-eyed.” Fleur nodded.
I ignored them both, knowing Cass only wanted a rise out of me. But, I felt my mouth harden. Her not-outright attempt to rile Lily up with Fleur mentioning Anders was one thing, but this just bagging her in front of me was altogether unacceptable. There was, though, not really a lot I could do about it. The best way to make them bored of the topic would be to keep ignoring them.
“I remember when we first met her how many people thought she was pretty,” Cass said. “Austin, I do believe you once said she wasn’t pretty enough for you.”
I sighed, feeling my patience snap. “You know what, Cass? When I first saw her, she’d just travelled half a world. It has been a long time since I’ve considered her the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”
Cass opened and closed her mouth like a dying fish and Fleur’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“What?” Fleur asked. “You think what about that little weirdo?”
I dropped the bag of chips on the bench and crossed my arms. “Fleur, I think it’s about time you and I had words. Cass, you traitorous bitch, will you get the hell out of my kitchen, please?”
I refused to look at Cass and I was fairly sure she knew exactly what I thought of her at this point. So, she didn’t argue and she didn’t stick around. As soon as the door was closed behind her, I spoke.
“I’m done with this charade, Fleur.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I’m done.” I shook my head. “I really can’t go on like this anymore. I don’t care what Lady Celia Cooper has planned for us, I have never once had any intention of marrying you, let alone entering into any sort of relationship with you.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Please don’t be,” I grinned, “it’s entirely you. I just seriously dislike you. You are a horrible human being; so rude, mean, just… God, I don’t want to sound like such a dick, but I’m not even attracted to you. And, I just can’t even pretend to be impartial anymore.”
“This is because of that redheaded convict, isn’t it?”
“I don’t believe South Australia was settled by convicts.” I quipped, rocking back on my heels.
“You know what I mean,” she snapped, “you’re saying all these things because of Lily, aren’t you? What, she won’t sleep with you and you’re that desperate for her that you think you can get her into bed if you prove you’ve put some distance between us? That we’re not together anymore?”
“Anymore? Jesus, look, I think you’ll find your previous statement may not really be that common among normal couples. And, I’m pretty confident in my use of it as evidence to support my we were never together theory.”
She sobbed. “How can you say such things?”
“You cannot seriously have thought we were together. I certainly haven’t been faithful and I’m pretty sure you haven’t been either.”
“Well, fine, but I was waiting until you finished school, sowed your seed, got it out of your system.”
“And if I hadn’t got it out of my system?”
“I’m sure we can come to some arrangement.”
“Wow. I’m just gonna… No, wow. Really?” I blinked, trying to comprehend just what she was saying. I shook my head; it so didn’t matter. “Point remains, this,” I pointed between the two of us, “never going to happen. In all caps. Not happening. Ever.”
“Fine, if you want to sleep with her so badly, you tell her that.”
“I have no plans to sleep with Lily.” Well, that wasn’t one hundred per cent true. I did sort of hold out hope that one day she’d like me and I might ha
ve a chance to take her to bed… Focus, Austin.
“You don’t want to be with her? I mean, you don’t want to date her?” The disgust in her voice was palpable.
I shrugged. “It’s irrelevant.”
“How is it irrelevant?” she shrieked.
“Because she wouldn’t have me.”
“When?”
“When I proclaimed my undying love for her,” I replied, my tone sarcastic even though my words weren’t entirely untruthful.
“Lady Celia will hear about this!” Fleur fumed, her face red. “She’ll put a stop to it.”
I shrugged again and picked up the chips. “You can do whatever you like. You are not and never will be my problem.” I grinned gleefully and left to enjoy the rest of my party without the shadow that was Fleur van Wilhausen hanging over the rest of my life.
****
“Ow, my brain!” I groaned. I was awake, but I did not want to open my eyes based on the amount of light behind them.
“I don’t think you have the required equipment,” I heard Jax’s muffled voice.
“So funny, brother.”
“I’m with Jax on this one, Oz. Maybe ‘ow, my brain cavity’ is a more apt description?” Manda’s voice said much too loudly.
“Shh, Mandy. Inside voice now.”
Manda laughed.
“Oh, nope…don’t do that.”
“Will you both shut it?” Jax mumbled and I felt whatever I was lying on shift.
I sat up and slowly opened my eyes. I was in Amanda’s room with Jax and we were lying on her bed. Amanda, meanwhile, was sitting in her window seat, looking much too awake for New Year’s Day.
“How did we get here?” I asked, feeling pretty feral.
Manda smiled. “You both came bounding in at about half two and informed me that Austin was free of the harpy and Anne loved Jax.”
“Really?” I asked, not remembering any of that.
I mean, I remembered putting Fleur in her place and then something about shots with Williams and Jax… But, it got kind of blurry after that.
“Anne loves me?” Jax asked, pulling his face out of Manda’s pillows, but his eyes were still closed.
“So the two of you said. Apparently during Oz’s great declaration of love, Lily told him Anne had always been in love with you and was utterly miserable without you. Oz then promptly broke down in tears and said he’d made an arse out of himself and Lily would never love him back. Then Jax said it was okay because he loves you enough for both of them…although I’m not sure who them is. Then, Oz stopped crying and told me he was rid of the evil harpy. Then, you both snuggled up and went to sleep in my bed.” Manda looked at me in question.
“Firstly, I highly doubt I cried,” I said, my finger in the air. “Secondly, Lily did say Anne had been very into Jax and was now miserable, so that wasn’t total bull, I just may have embellished a little. Thirdly, I am free of the harpy!”
“So, Anne doesn’t love me?”
“Lily didn’t expressly say, mate. She well could.”
“Still?”
“Well, you’re not going to know unless you do something about it, are you?” Amanda huffed.
“Lily!” I said, rolling off the bed in a less than suave manner.
“Isn’t here!” Manda said with just as much excitement.
“No, I know that. I have to see her! I have to… I don’t know what I have to do… But, I have to see her!”
“Dear Lord, seriously, I leave the country for a year and you guys go all barmy,” Amanda said, shaking her head. “I’m rethinking my next trip.”
I pointed at her enthusiastically. “Good, you cancel your next trip and I’ll go and see Lily.”
“You know I’m meeting up with her later?” she called as I ran out of the room.
“We’ll talk about why you’re not hungover later!” I called back, turning around when I realised I was heading in the wrong direction.
I showered and dressed in record time, feeling like I was about to make a very decent impression. As I ran to the front door, Amanda walked out of the sitting room.
“Don’t think of driving, you’ve probably got a ton of booze still in your system.”
“Yes, Mum!” I called as I ran out.
Luckily, one of the drivers was near the garage, so my lack of forethought wasn’t as much of a problem as it could have been.
My leg jiggled the whole way to Lambton.
“Just give me a call when you’re done, Mister Cooper,” the driver said.
“Thanks,” I yelled as I jumped out.
I avoided my good friend the pole as I veered into the B&B and skidded to a halt at the front desk.
“Hi, do you know if Lily Brewer is in?”
“It’s Master Cooper, is it?” the little old lady behind the counter said, peering up at me.
“It is indeed, ma’am. Austin.” I gave her my most charming smile.
“Austin, lovely name. You were here with Miss Lily yesterday, weren’t you?”
“I was, ma’am, is she here now?”
“Yes, dear. She’s up in room six.”
“Thank you. Oh, and a happy New Year to you!”
“Same to you, Master Austin!”
I leaped up the stairs and looked around for room six.
Just as I was about to knock on the door, I heard Lily yelling, “that conniving little skank!”
I knocked hesitantly, almost regretting it instantly; she did not sound pleased and I really shouldn’t be interrupting her.
The door flew open and I came face to face with an irate Lily.
Her face softened somewhat as she saw me and waved me in. I then realised my timing was even worse as she was on the phone.
“You have to be shitting me?” she said as she paced. “No, I will not watch my language, Daniel. This is your fault I’ll have you know! No, she’s not here, she went for a walk…. Yes, we’ll pack and be home as soon as we can... Oh, for God’s sake, man, pull yourself together, she’ll be fine, we’ll sort it, it’ll be fine... No, I have to go, I’ll let you know when we’re leaving, okay?” She hung up and turned back to me. “Sorry about that. Hi, how are you?”
“I’m… Uh, well, a little hungover, to be honest, but whatever you’ve got going on sounds worse…” I stammered.
Lily sighed. “Yeah, that. I had an email – an email! – from Gem this morning. You know how I told you Kate went to Australia with that Penny Foster girl?” I nodded. “Yeah, well, seems she’s taken off, with Liam of all people!”
“What?” Heat rushed through me at the thought of that dickhead near Lily’s family.
“God, why didn’t I say anything to her?” Lily was pacing. “I mean, not mention names obviously, but I could have told her he assaulted me, at least. God, anything’s preferable than thinking of her off with him now.”
“You’re sure she’s with him?”
“Yes. After the whole thing came out, Gemma finally revealed she’d known the whole plan. Kate’s sent her pictures of them together. It looks like they’re at the beach, but it’s probably too much to hope for that they’re in Torquay. Shit, I’ll need to book flights. No… Dad will fuss and moan if I leave. Dammit!”
“Lil, it’ll be fine,” I said, not at all sure how to calm her. “What’s being done?”
“Claire’s been on the phone to Penny’s parents and the police, and she’ll probably be looking at booking flights soon.”
“These pictures? I doubt we’re lucky enough to have them geotagged?”
She looked at me and smiled sadly. “If only.”
My mind started working, already planning the easiest way to get myself to Australia. I might miss some school, but surely that wouldn’t be too bad. I did, after all, know Liam well enough that I would probably have the best idea of where to find him. In fact, I was pretty sure I knew exactly where he’d be. It was just a matter of getting to Melbourne and driving down.
“Oz?” I looked up and noticed Lily was looking at me quizzically.
“Sorry. Look, I’ll leave you be. You’ll want to pack and stuff. Keep me updated, yeah?” I said and she nodded. “I’m sorry about all this, Lil. But, I’m sure she’ll be found and brought home safe.”
“She’s not going to be safe if she’s with him.”
I hugged her quickly, then looked her in the eye. “She’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll let Manda know you’ll have to see her another time.”
“Damn, thanks.” She nodded, already packing up her things. “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Lily.”
I was on the phone to the airline before I was in the car.
Chapter Forty-Seven: Lily
I seriously didn’t think I could have a stupider sister.
Seriously, what had she been thinking? Running off in a foreign country with a boy she hardly knew?
“God, she’ll probably end up raped and dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“Oh, Lily, it’s not that bad I’m sure,” Aunt Nadine said.
Her tone almost had me convinced that maybe I was just jumping to conclusions. “Do you think really think that?”
“I know I had my doubts about him, but I’m sure he’s not all that bad.”
I warred with myself mentally, not sure whether I should discuss other people’s business. But, some adult needed to know what we were dealing with. Otherwise, I was going to be left trying to convince my parents to do more with absolutely zero back up.
“Ugh. Fine. Look, you didn’t hear this from me and you cannot go bandying it about…” I started.
“What?” Aunt Nadine laughed. “Am I joining some secret teenage club?”
“Not funny, Aunt Nadine. Look, you were entirely right about Liam. About why he’s at Military College.” I leant my head on the window and watched the world pass by. “Why they didn’t press charges, I don’t know.”
“What? Charges? What the hell happened?”
“He assaulted Amanda.”
“Assaulted? Assaulted how?”
“The kind that left her bruised and violated.”
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