Broken Wings (Dark Legacy #1)(24)
Eddy had been bubbling with excitement all day about the party she was dragging me to and had made me promise to sneak out if I had to. Not that it should really be an issue when Catherine was nowhere to be seen.
My last class of the day was Economics... a subject that I had been shocked to find I actually enjoyed. I was catching up fast, a fact that was evident by my results in the Friday afternoon pop quiz, so I was in high spirits as class let out and I headed out to the parking lot to find Eddy.
When I reached her, my good mood dropped like a ton of bricks.
“What’s wrong?” I exclaimed, noticing the mascara streaks down her face and her puffy red eyes. “Eddy, what happened?”
She sniffed hard, but wouldn’t meet my eyes as she fumbled for her driver’s side door and slid into the seat. “I’m sorry, Riles,” she whispered as she revved her ignition and slammed her door shut. “I tried to tell you, they’re in charge.” Not pausing to explain any further, she reversed out of the parking lot and left me standing there in confusion. Until I saw who was parked in the next place over.
“Get in the car, Butterfly,” Beck ordered, smug as fuck. Furious, I stared in the direction Eddy had gone, silently begging her to come back. But she wouldn’t. Beck had delivered his threats directly to her—no doubt he knew I wasn’t going to break so easily.
“I can always make things worse, if I need to break you,” he commented, somehow sensing my inner thoughts. “In fact, I think I’d quite enjoy that. Just try me, Riley.” His eyes were hard. Totally devoid of emotion.
I shuddered, but this time it was in fear. Every fiber of my being knew he was serious and I badly didn’t want to know what he would do next. He already had my number. He’d figured out that I didn’t give two shits what happened to me but my friends... I’d do anything for my friends, even if I had only known them a week.
“Last chance. Get in the car.” His tone was so casual, so devoid of caring that it set my danger radar off in a big way. He wanted me to refuse. This was some sort of sick game to him!
Dropping my bag from my shoulder to my hand, I fished out the little bottle of hand sanitizer and packet of tissues that was tucked in the front zip. “Sure thing,” I replied in a sickly sweet voice. “Let me just sanitize my seat real quickly. The last thing I need is to catch a disease from whatever tramps have been sitting there with no panties on.”
Beck muttered something under his breath then snatched the sanitizer and my bag from my hands before holding the passenger door to his Bugatti open. “Get in the car,” he repeated for the third time, and seeing as I’d run out of sassy comebacks, I did as I was told.
“Where are your boyfriends?” I asked when he slid into the driver’s seat and pulled his door shut. This was the first time all week I’d seen him without Jasper, Evan and Dylan shadowing his every move. When he didn’t reply, I decided to run with it.
“How does that all work anyway?”
This seemed to pique his interest and he arched a brow at me as he revved the engine of my beautiful unicorn car. “How does what work?”
My breath caught, and I needed to bite the inside of my cheek to stifle a moan. This car...
“Your four-way gay relationship,” I pressed on with my snark and desperately prayed my face wasn’t flushing.
A small smile twitched at his lips. “You’re asking who is top and bottom, Butterfly? Does that sort of thing turn you on?”
The rumble of the engine seemed to purr through the seats, and I tightened my thighs as Beck smoothly pulled out into the street and gunned the accelerator. “Fuck me,” I breathed out before biting my lip as the speed pressed me into my seat like a firm hand. Had Beck just heard that? Why, why, why had I gotten into this sexy, wet dream of a car? With him? I wasn’t strong enough for this type of torture.
Licking my lips and twisting my plaid skirt in my fingers, I risked a quick glance at Beck and found an arrogant smirk on his face that equally made me want to throat punch him and rip his clothes off. It was in that moment that I first considered therapy.
“Where are we going?” I asked, desperately changing the subject from what turned me on. The last thing I needed to do was lose my tenuous hold over my tongue and blurt out that fast cars and asshole guys with god complexes were what made me wet.
Beck turned his attention from the road long enough to give me a pitying look. Long enough for the danger of his inattention at high speeds to spike my adrenaline and quicken my breathing. Thank the gods of school uniforms, my heavy woolen sweater was thick enough to hide how hard my nipples were in that moment.
“We have a company meeting to attend. I told you on Monday and you chose to ignore me, remember?” His tongue trailed across his lower lip in what had to be a deliberate move. The bastard was too damn aware of his own looks for that to have been accidental.
Using my nails, I pinched the side of my thigh to remind myself who I was messing with. This was Sebastian Roman Beckett. Self-confessed king of Ducis Academy. Gorgeous or not, I’d still rather punch him in the face than kiss him.
I think.
“I remember,” I gritted out. “I meant, where is this meeting being held?”
His cocky smirk said he was totally aware of his effect on me, but he thankfully let it go as he navigated the winding roads back toward the compound where I was currently residing. There was no way in hell I’d ever call it home.