But then the wife actually does block me. “Hold on, honey.” She glances at Dane. Then back at me. “You don’t get to make the decisions here. You’re the offering.”
“What?” Just hearing that word makes me sick. Because I heard that word over the summer a couple of times. Not in reference to me, but to Sophie.
“She hasn’t been told yet, Elizabeth. Can you please go upstairs and wait for us? We’ll be up shortly. Cadee doesn’t want to miss her big moment.”
“What are you talking about?”
But they both ignore me. Elizabeth gazes at Dane with a loving expression. Gross. Then pecks him on the cheek and tilts her head at me. “We’ll see you soon. You will be coming for dinner.” Then she whispers, “You’re ours, honey,” and winks at me before turning and climbing back up the stairs.
I just stare at her legs as they disappear. And in those few seconds of silence she leaves behind, my heart has started to beat rapidly. Then wildly. Skipping and pounding. “What kind of sick shit are you—”
“Shut up, Cadee,” Dane barks. And he is not quiet about it.
I look up the stairs, wondering if anyone is up there. It was so busy when I came down here, but now it feels very… empty. And I feel very alone.
And vulnerable.
“Good girl,” Dane coos, walking towards me.
I back up. “Stay away from me.”
“No, sweetie. My wife is correct. I’m sorry no one explained it to you. But there is a reason we let you live on this campus your whole life. There is a reason why you are here.”
I swallow hard and then I can’t seem to catch my breath.
“And I’m going to spell it out for you right now.” He closes the distance between us. Quickly. And then grabs my arm. “I didn’t rape you, Cadee. Can’t rape you. Because you’re mine, honey. You were bred for me.”
CHAPTER FIVE - COOPER
“Isabella,” I hiss once her father is gone. “What the hell is going on?”
“What do you mean?”
My voice is low. I am not about to make a scene, but I have spent the last twenty-one years going along with these people and I’m not going to do it anymore. “I thought we were all on the same page. We have a place to live. We are not getting married. There will be no children. What line of shit are you feeding him?”
“Look around, Cooper. We’re not in charge here.” She hisses her words right back at me, strong and firm. And listen. I love me some strong Isabella. I do. Because she’s not that way very often. She is a weak person who falls in line and gives up way too easy. So I enjoy Isabella when she finds her spine. But her courage is pointed in the wrong direction right now.
“So you’re just going to give in. Again.”
“I didn’t say that. And fuck you for thinking it. But I know when I’m outnumbered. And everyone else in this room is falling in line, Cooper. We’re done. The little dream of living our senior year of school out at the inn is over. We’re here to celebrate the new Fang and Feather dorm. Everyone is moving in.”
“What?”
“See?” She points her finger at my face. “You don’t have any idea what’s going on.”
“So explain it to me.”
“I just did. We’re all going to live on campus—”
“No.”
“Yes. All of us. They have already agreed. I was the last holdout. And you know what? I’m tired of fighting a losing battle. I’d like to be on the winning side for once.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“You are the losing side, Cooper. You have been floating through school for three years, giving no fucks about anyone but yourself or anything but your own stupid future. And I’m done.”
“Oh, really?” I say it a little loud too. Actively displaying my anger. “I have spent the last three years propping you up, Isabella. I’ve been your goddamned champion.”
“And now?”
“And now what? I’m here, aren’t I?” I lower my voice just a bit. “Telling you to fight them. With me. Because we can win.”
“We cannot.”
“We have a place to live. Cadee is paying our tuition—”
“My tuition was paid yesterday.”
“What?”
“Everyone’s tuition was paid, Cooper. We don’t need her. And anyway, she’s not really one of us. You have to know that.”
“She’s as one of us as anyone in this room.”
Isabella shakes her head at me. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. You missed the meeting last night.”
“What meeting?”
“Exactly.” She huffs. “You were probably too busy fucking her to care that the rest of us were dealing with serious shit.”
I’m just about to lose my cool and start screaming at her when a chair scrapes across the floor. And when I glance across the room, I see Ax standing up, pointing his finger at his father.
Fuck.
I get up—done with Isabella—and head over to Ax. “What’s going on?”
His father is on his feet now as well. And even though Ax is very tall and very broad, his father towers over him. He is a looming threat.
“Ax.” My voice is low and even. But everyone is looking at us. “What’s going on?”
“This asshole is what’s going on.” Ax’s voice is also low and even. And I’m proud of him for that. His father is a trigger and Ax almost always pulls and shoots when they fight. But right now he is calm and focused. “I’m not moving home. I’m not moving on campus. And I don’t want a single penny of your money.”
Thank fuck. At least one person is sticking to the script.
“Your tuition is not paid,” the Judge says. And damn, that man is scary as fuck. His voice is deep. Like the low growl of a predator about to go in for the kill. “You are done here, son. I suggest you pack your shit and move on. Quickly. Quietly. And if you ever breathe a word—”
Ax’s phone dings a text, cutting the Judge off.
Ax pulls the phone from his pocket, glances at the screen, and then looks up at his father to laugh. “Fuck you, Dad,” he whispers. “My tuition was just paid. And I don’t need to live on campus. We have a house.”
His father’s face goes red.
But Ax ignores him. He turns away and starts walking out.
I follow him. “Where are we going?”
“That text was from the bursar’s office. Cadee just paid my tuition. Which means she’s down there. We need to get her.” He stops to look at me. “And we can’t let her out of our sight. Ever.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just go get her and I’ll explain.”
When we get down to the lower level there is a red velvet rope blocking the stairs to the basement, and who is standing in front of it? My fucking sister-in-law, Elizabeth. Dane’s wife.
She extends her arm across the front of the stairwell, trying to bar us from bypassing the rope. “You can’t go down there.”
“Get the fuck out of my way, Elizabeth.”