Broken Wings (Dark Legacy #1)(17)

I was losing myself.

None of my friends back home would even recognize me now, not that I had many outside of Dante. But I had plenty of acquaintances, if that counted, and not one of those would know who the hell I was if I rocked up like this.

I wobbled out of the room again, but thankfully got a handle on the heels pretty quickly. Lucky for me they weren’t six inches … more like four. I briefly considered switching the shoes out for converse, but a dark part of me enjoyed the Clueless look I was rocking. No harm in looking good for my new school, right?

There was no sign of anyone as I stumbled down the stairs and crossed to the door. Eddy had texted me a minute ago and said she was on her way, which meant I’d have to figure out how to get to the gates.

“Miss Riley?”

I turned to find Stewart in the doorway that I was pretty sure led into a massive kitchen. I wouldn’t know because I was not allowed such privileges as walking outside of my room. In his hand he had two things, one was an expensive looking leather satchel, and the other some keys.

“This is for you to take the golf cart to meet your friend,” he said, jingling the set. “Mistress approves of your friendship with Eddy, so she has no issue with this arrangement.”

I blinked at Stewart a couple of times. “How does Mistress know about Eddy?” I demanded, cringing at the fact that we sounded like house elves waiting to be gifted socks.

Stewart just gave me a don’t-be-so-dense look.

Eddy was lucky she was so awesome, because knowing Debitch approved of her, almost had me regretting our new found friendship.

“And the bag?”

He held it out to me, and with a sigh I stepped forward and relieved him of both items. “The bag has your identification, some cash for essentials, and a few other things that…” he cleared his throat. “Young ladies require.”

I snorted. “Catherine bought me tampons? Well, look at that, she’s almost a mother now.”

Stewart looked even more uncomfortable, if that was possible, and I couldn’t help reaching out and patting him on the arm again. “Thanks for putting up with me. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

“Straight home from school,” he warned as I rushed out the door.

I waved over my shoulder, too focused on my freedom to pay much heed to his words.

There was a cart already prepped and waiting for me, so I threw the bag to one side and slung myself into the driver’s seat. I’d never driven one of these, of course, golf was a rich person sport, but I figured it out quickly enough.

My heart started to beat faster as I took off, leaving the house behind me. By the time I reached the main gate, I was actually smiling. Parking the cart near it, I got out and grabbed my satchel.

A horn beeped, and I swung to find Eddy smoothly pulling up to the gates. My jaw dropped at the view I caught of her through the window. She looked so … proper. Her hair was slicked back in a demure bun. There was no cleavage or funky adornment to her uniform. I barely recognized her.

Until she opened her mouth...

“Come on, bitch, we’re gonna be late!”

My smile grew, and I rushed through the opening gates.

When I dropped into the seat, she eyed my outfit. “We’re legit gonna have to do something about that skirt. I can’t even see your ass.”

Her voice went falsely high, as she rolled her eyes at me. “I mean, how will you show the boys you’re available to them, if they can’t see your vag?”

I snorted. “I’m not available to them, so I’m giving the exact right impression.”

She winked at me. “That’s the way to approach it. Trust me. You’re new, and they’re going to be all over you. Fresh meat.”

She took off in a squeal of tires, and I let out a breathy sigh. This was my shit. Speed. The thrum of a powerful engine. Of course, my thoughts went immediately to my car, my butterfly, and when Eddy pulled out of the second gates and onto the main road, I wondered if we would cross near the crash site.

“Uh, so … what did those assholes do with my baby?”

Eddy shot me a sympathetic look. “Your car? I’m not totally sure, but I think Beck had it towed to a junkyard.”

“Beck…? As in Sebastian?”

She nodded. “Yeah, they call him Beck. Everyone does.”

Of course they did. Beck suited the bastard. I was gonna try my best to call him Sebastian from now on. I had no idea why I was even planning out his name in my head, because I was not talking to him at all, so I could just skip the name thing.

“What’s his middle name?”

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I couldn’t seem to help myself. Eddy shot me the sort of knowing look friends had been giving each other since the dawn of BFFS. “Don’t waste your time, girl. Sebastian Roman Beckett is off limits to all of us mere mortals. You don’t want to mess with any of that crew. They’re the elite of our world.”

Elite. That explained so much. “You’re their sister, though?”

She laughed, and it wasn’t a happy sound. “Trust me, the old school bastards who run our companies, don’t like ‘silly women’ to mess with their money. Mostly we’re afterthoughts that they can’t quite get rid of.”

We’d entered the small town, and I was surprised to see how nice everything looked. This wasn’t like a lot of villages I’d seen over the years. Everything was shiny and new, no run down slummy areas, at least not in the parts we traveled.