Chloe (Made Men, #3)(30)

I-I—

She couldn’t. She could only stand there, frozen, while she looked at the ground, hoping this would end.

Another low growl escaped his throat before he gave up in defeat, walking to the Art class without a response from her.

Continuing to follow him was hard, and the only reason she did was because of the look of death Sebastian had given her moments ago. Something had looked definitely wrong with his face …

Reaching the Art room, Chloe jumped out from behind him to see Elle, Nero, and Vincent.

“Nero, we need to talk. Chloe will not get off my ass. I told her”—Amo stopped midsentence to glare her down—“to walk beside me, but she refuses to even say a word to me.”

That was it. She couldn’t take him anymore. He clearly liked using his size to boss people around. She had called it years ago, saying nice Amo would turn into a jerky Amo once his puberty went to his head.

“T-that’s how I walk!”

Elle laughed at her outburst.

“Oh, now you can talk because Elle’s around. I blame you!” Amo directed his finger at Elle.

She stopped laughing. “Me? What did I do?”

“You taught her to walk like that.”

Stepping up to him, Elle got in his face. “No, I didn’t teach her shit. She learned to walk behind me when everyone started bullying us.”

“We never bullied you.”

“No, but you all sure as hell didn’t stop it. Come on, Chloe; we’re leaving.”

Nero stopped her. “All right, calm down. You’re right. We’re just as guilty. All three of us are sorry, and we are trying to make it up from now on. But you and Chloe need to help us out here. Chloe, listen to Amo and try to talk to him every now and then.”

No thank—

“And …” Amo added.

“And get off Amo’s ass. Walk beside him from now on. It’s safer there, anyway. Someone could grab you from behind him if they wanted.”

Swallowing, she thought back and realized Sebastian could have easily done that. Chloe nodded her head.

“Yeah, like she’ll have much room to walk beside the beast.” Elle stuck her tongue out at him.

Nero raised his hand when Amo looked prepared to smart back off to her. However, he walked off, heading to the school parking lot.

Her instinct was to still walk behind Elle, but Nero made her move.

“Chloe, beside.”

Walking beside Elle in defeat, she noticed Amo shake his head.

Once they got to the school parking lot, she could see Sebastian about to get in his car. That was when she realized what was wrong with his face. How did he get a black eye? It quickly became very obvious the guys had something to do with it by the look Sebastian gave them when he got in and slammed his door closed.

Amo began inspecting her car when he reached her BMW. “Someone slashed her f*cking tires.”

Yep, they definitely gave Sebastian the black eye after lunch.

Nero pushed his hair back, concerned. “All right. Elle and Chloe, I’ll take you both home.”

“It’s okay. I’ve gotten flat tires before. I can drive on them for a few miles to the dealership.” BMWs all came with special tires that allowed you to do that. She hadn’t known until she had run over a nail and had to call her father for a tow. He had proceeded to tell her it would make it to the dealership before he had hung up on her.

Vincent couldn’t help speaking out this time. “Oh, God, is she serious?”

“Chloe, you are not driving on flat tires, and not with Elle. I’ll take you home. Your dad can take care of the car, right?”

She was afraid her father might get mad that she had left it. “I-I can drive it. That was the whole point of buying the tires.”

Amo was close to running away. “Jesus Christ, I gotta get out of here. I’ll take Leo home for you. Good luck with these crazies.”

“Chloe, you’re either going home with me and Elle, or Vincent will take you home.”

Vincent flashed her his pretty boy smile at Nero’s words.

Quickly, she changed her mind, blurting out her response, “I’ll go with you and Elle.”

That smile proved one thing. He’s clearly a psychopath.





Twenty-Seven





That Girl Needed to Find One of Two Things: A Nice Momma’s Boy or God





Chloe saw the “good luck” Elle mouthed to her as Nero drove off in front of her big, white house.

I’m gonna need it.

Sneaking into her house, she felt strange not going straight to her room. That was where she had learned to stay all day. It was safer there. The only time she ever came out was if her parents demanded her presence.

Trying to find her housekeeper Lana, she hoped to find her before anyone else.

Lana had been hired when her father had become mayor, and frankly, she was the best thing to come out of it. She was certainly more of a mother to her than her own mother ever had been, and Chloe could trust her with anything. Lana had cared for her since day one, picking up pretty quickly that her parents wouldn’t win any awards.

A sigh of relief escaped her when she found Lana. She was sure to keep her voice down as she said, “Lana, I need your help.”

“What’s wrong?” Lana whispered back, concern showing on her face.