“At least she pretends to care,” was Luis's dark response. I knew that Luis's relationship with his mother was strained at best. I’d learned a long time ago not to comment on their relationship, so I didn’t press him further. With a shaky exhale, he changed the subject. “Last night scared the shit out of me, Scar,” he finally said with a frown.
“It scared me too. But I kinda feel bad for Rocco. Can’t imagine having your daughter taken away by men like that.”
“Don’t feel too badly for him. He had us kidnapped and brought to the middle of nowhere. Rocco once worked for Johnny Jack too,” Rogue said. He was positioned behind me, laying down on the mattress, his voice croaky with sleep.
“Either way, I guess we need to get that evidence from Steph. Can I come along?” I asked, feeling a tad bit vengeful. I couldn’t help the smile that took over my face as I pictured her sour face when she saw me on Rogue’s arm.
“Look at that smile!” Luis exclaimed with a laugh as he looked up at me. “You wanna rub Rogue in Stephanie’s face, don’t you?”
“It’s the little victories, Luis,” I answered.
“I’m far from little, Scar,” Rogue growled in my ear. And soon, both of them were on top of me, tickling me until tears were streaming down my cheeks.
Rogue walked into the school with his arm across my shoulders in a decisively possessive gesture. I skipped gymnastics, opting to walk into the school with all four of the guys surrounding me. As soon as we went through the front doors, the whispers began.
“Heir Chaser.”
“Are they back together?”
“I bet she’s fucking all of them.”
Godfrey seemed to hear that last one, because he pulled me in for a hug mid-stride, and pressed his lips to my neck, just to give them something to talk about. Rogue shoved him away, rolling his eyes at Godfrey’s antics as the two of us laughed.
By the time we passed the cafeteria, everyone’s phone was buzzing. When we made it to my locker and Rogue pushed me up against it and started kissing me, the entire school practically peed their uniformed prep pants.
When Rogue pulled away, he had a smirk on his face, but I was too happy to give him a hard time about being so cocky. “Much better,” he murmured, as he ran his thumb across my bottom lip.
“What is?” I asked, a little starry eyed that we were actually doing this—going public. It felt good.
“This. With you. This is how it always should’ve been.”
I saw the flash of guilt cover his face, no doubt while he remembered everything he and the others had done to facilitate my misery for the last several months. “Hey,” I said, bringing him back on the present. “Don’t do that. Don’t go back there. That’s not us anymore. We’re here, together. No point in tripping over something already behind us, Mr. Kelly.”
“Does moving forward include fucking Katie Welsh? Because damn, she looks hot in that cheer uniform, and she’s giving me fuck eyes,” Luis said with a groan beside us.
I rolled my eyes. “Katie Welsh is a bitch. She took a lighter in second period and burned the ends of my hair on the first day of senior year.”
Luis's eyes went dark with anger. “I’ll slash her fucking tires.”
“Well, if you’re handing out punishments, then you might want to start with your homeboy over there,” I said, nodding to Godfrey. “He was the one who gave her the lighter.”
Luis, Rogue, and Bonham all looked over at Godfrey with irritation and incredulity. “Really, dude?” Luis asked him.
Godfrey had the good sense to seem contrite as he rubbed the back of his neck. “What? Rogue said we had to set the scene right off the bat with hating on Scar.”
“Maybe lighting her on fire was a bit far,” Bonham said dryly.
Godfrey seemed to consider that. “Yeah, alright. Hindsight.”
I scowled at him to keep from cracking a smile. “You guys were awful to me. I should slash all of your tires.”
“You should,” Rogue said, digging through my locker for me and then slamming it shut after he grabbed my books. “I’ll even give you the knife.”
I patted him on the cheek. “You’re such a good boyfriend.”
The other guys gagged, but Rogue just reached around to squeeze my ass. “Of course I am. I take care of what’s mine.”
“You guys are officially disgusting,” Godfrey said, before turning on his heel to walk away.
“Love you too, Godfrey!” I called at his back. He flipped me off over his shoulder, making me laugh.
People continued to watch our exchange with rapt attention, and as we started to make our way to class, girls kept shooting me smiles, while guys gave me respectful nods. I had to resist the urge to throw my hand up and flip all of them off. I wasn’t impressed by the school’s fair-weather nature. Smith Academy was full of simple-minded followers, and although having their respect would make the next few months easy, I didn’t get a sick sense of satisfaction on being on top of the world again, I just wanted the Heirs.
Ten minutes. That’s all it took for me to regain my status. But this time, I wasn’t just a friend of the Heirs. Nope, Rogue claimed me for everyone to see. I was untouchable now. It was crazy to see just how much power they had. Although it felt good, I didn’t like how much my acceptance was tied up in their approval. But that was Savannah for you.
After school, we all walked through the campus parking lot, prepared to go to my house so Mama wouldn’t be on my case so much. Godfrey told us at lunch that we were on for heading to Stephanie’s house after school to pick up the evidence Rocco needed. I was chewing bubble gum and laughing at Bonham’s impersonation of Mrs. Langley from fifth period when Rogue suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him. The laughter died in my throat, and I instantly tensed.
“If shit goes south, get her out of here,” he ordered Bonham, his muscles flexing in preparation for whatever got his attention.
I peered over his shoulder, and my chest constricted with anxiety and fear when I saw Dean O’Banion, the man from the train tracks, leaning against Rogue’s Range Rover. His arms were crossed, and that confident grin was still on his face as he propelled himself off the side of the car and started walking towards us. The other students gave him a wide berth, shooting them nervous looks. Then three more men converged with him, coming out of nowhere, each of them looking just as terrifying. One of them was easily over six feet tall and had arm muscles thicker than my thighs, which was saying something considering I was a gymnast.
“Why are they here?” I whispered as we grew closer.
Before any of my guys could answer, O’Banion spoke. “Godfrey Taylor. How are you?”
Thankfully, none of the other students stopped to gawk. It was a good thing that Bonham ran the rumor mill in Savannah, or the whispers would be out of control and people might try to butt in.
“I’d be better if you stopped showing up at Smith Academy,” Godfrey replied. He looked pissed as he adjusted the dark aviators on his face, pushing them up the bridge of his nose while wearing a scowl.
“Now where’s the fun in that?” O’Banion replied. “We were wonderin’ how you were doin.’ For about four hours yesterday, one of our guys lost eyes on you.” My eyes flicked over to the three men standing behind O’Banion, and I wondered if these were the men that trailed us. “You’re not plannin’ on doing anything stupid, are you?”