“Partners!” The teacher calls out as I drop my bottle onto my bag. As soon as I turn back, I’m in the arms of the man that pissed me off. He smirks and spins us around onto the dancefloor.
“I didn’t say I wanted to partner with you,” I hiss. He just chuckles and pulls my body closer to his. The music is fast; a hip-hop beat, yet he keeps me tucked closely to his hard frame.
“I don’t ask, sweetheart. I just take, remember?” He grabs my wrist and spins me away from him before jerking me back in. His hips move, pressing into me as he dances. With a sigh and knowing that I’m not going to get out of this, I let him lead me. I let the music, the thump of the bass swirl through my body, taking control. My hips begin to move, my feet taking on a life of their own. In seconds, I’m lost in my own little world of dance and there is nothing or no one that could take this from me. The music keeps going and so do I. My partner grabs my hips, jerking me back into him. Our bodies move as one when suddenly the music stops.
Sweat drips down my temples as we both suck in air. Heaving for breath, our eyes clash when the teacher clears her throat. I step back, blinking rapidly.
“I wasn’t aware you knew how to dance, Miss Sullens,” she says as she walks closer to me and the mystery man.
“I… uh… I used to dance a lot back home. Not in a class or anything. More street dancing,” I say. I hear a few laughs and giggles, but I don’t give a shit. I’m not here for these stuck-up bitches.
“You move very freely. I think you’ll do just fine in this class, although, we don’t always have this type of music.” I nod my head when her eyes move over my shoulder.
“Mr. Alder, we already knew you could dance. Showing off with the new girl isn’t helping your grade at all.” I turn my head to look at his face but all I see is that perfect grin.
“Mrs. Anderson, with all due respect, I’m your best dancer. The new chick has nothing on me.” Asshole!
“We will see won’t we, Knox.” With that she walks away and leaves us standing in the middle of the room while she addresses the rest of the class.
“Don’t get a big head. She only likes you because you’re new,” the man I know as Knox smarts off.
“There are few things about myself that I’m positive about and my dance skills are one of them. Watch your back, pretty boy,” I tell him with a smirk. I turn to walk back to my bag, bending down to grab my water when large hands grip my waist. Before I can move, a hard cock is being thrust against my ass. The room erupts in laughter as the teacher tries to calm them. Knox leans over my back, brushing my hair over my shoulder with one hand and whispering in my ear, “They will all hate you soon. Then what will you do? You don’t belong here, Miss Sullens and we will make sure you run as far from here as possible.” As soon as he moves, I’m upright and ready for a fight but Knox is already halfway across the room heading for the door.
“Asshole,” I grumble when the guy next to me laughs.
“You’re not wrong. The Triple A’s are all assholes.” I bring my water to my lips and take another drink when I look over at him.
“What’s the Triple A’s?”
“The Alders. That was Knox, Callan is the youngest and then there’s the oldest, Steele. They run this place. Or so they like to think. Stay out of their way and they won’t bother you.”
“And you are?” I ask raising an eyebrow.
“I’m Luke. Sorry,” he adds holding his hand out to me.
“Whisper.”
“That’s your name?” a girl’s voice sounds behind me. I glance over my shoulder and nod once. “Wow. And here I thought they didn’t let trash in here.”
“Excuse me?” I whirl around, squeezing the now empty water bottle in my hand.
“That could only be a name from a trailer park. We don’t like trash, trailer girl.” The words ring through my head but so does the thought of snapping her neck. I start to take a step toward her, ready to throw down if that’s what I need to do when Luke grabs my wrist. He pulls me back and tosses his arm around my shoulder as he glares at her.
“Why don’t you run along and find your kneepads, Tricia. I’m sure Steele is ready to be sucked off once again.” I crack a smile. Maybe I’m going to like Luke.
“Oh, Luke. You should know better than to fuck with me. Steele will handle you,” she says flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking away.
“Well, I would say that made a great first impression,” Luke says as he pulls his arm away from me.
“I didn’t mean to get you involved.”
“Don’t worry about it. Steele won’t do shit. At least not to me. He knows Tricia is a web of lies.”
“Don’t like her much, huh?” I ask as I pick my bag up. I heard Mrs. Anderson dismiss the class early.
“She’s one of those bitches you love to hate. She has a big crew here though, so once you piss her off her whole crew will hate you,” he adds shrugging his bag over his shoulder.
“I’m not here to be liked. I don’t really care if anyone likes me or not.” We walk into the hallway when I spot Knox with the other asshole, then one more walks up. Jesus, they all look so similar.
“That’s Steele and Callan. You met Knox,” Luke adds.
“I met Steele too. Asshole stole my cigarette,” I grumble.
“Yeah, there’s no smoking on campus. Unless you’re them,” he chuckles.
“Good to know. I’ll see you later, Luke.”
“Where are you going?”
“To smoke a cigarette,” I tell him with a smirk of my own. He chuckles and shakes his head before walking away. I stroll down the hall past the brothers from hell and out the side door, pulling a smoke free from the pack and lighting it up. Fuck the Triple A’s. They don’t scare me.
4
Steele
I glance around the table at my brothers before bringing my eyes back to meet my dad’s. I don’t know why he’s here and frankly I don’t care.
“Why are your grades so low, Callan?” My eyes move to my brothers as I listen to the angry tone my dad uses.
“Practice has been running late. I’ll get them up,” my little brother adds.
“Yes, I know you will. My business doesn’t deal with slackers as you very well know. If you ever want a chance to become the king of all this, you must have the right mindset.”
“Lucky for us no one wants to be the king,” I add.
“Steele! I will not tolerate that type of talk. I have groomed you boys to take over this company, this legacy, since you were born! I will not have you disrespecting it,” he roars. Knox elbows me in the ribs as I sigh.
“Sorry. Can we just get on to what it is you want? You don’t come home unless you need something from us.” That part isn’t a lie. We rarely see our dad and that doesn’t bother me. I can’t stand the man or the men he’s trying to groom us into. I’d prefer to not have to deal with him at all if the choice were up to me.
“I’ve heard news that you’re looking into the Macron family,” he says setting his fork on the table next to his plate.