Savage Little Lies by Eden O’Neill
Chapter Seven
Sloane
I did something I thought I’d never do after school the next day.
I went to Dorian’s.
This was a fucking terrible time to do this, confront him, but at the present, I didn’t feel I had a choice. He had all of Legacy thinking that I’d snitched on him, but I wished to God that’d been the reason I decided to head toward his neighborhood like a crazy ass.
I was more concerned about him, hard not to be. He’d looked so betrayed that last day, and that hurt my goddamn heart. I cared about him.
I might more than care.
In any sense, that had to be secondary. I just wanted him to know I was in his corner, and what he did with it after that was his business. I just didn’t want to add to the stress.
I couldn’t even get anywhere near his cul-de-sac’s gate.
News vans literally filled the street, and honest to fuck, I’d completely forgotten that the rest of town was trying to get in his business. This was an oversight on my part. Especially because I did know where to go because I’d seen his house on the news.
What were you thinking?
I hadn’t been obviously. I ended up hanging back down the street, just watching the news vans and people. None of them were outside the vans, but the vehicles themselves were stacked on top of each other. They were all waiting like invasive assholes, and when any cars passing through did get anywhere near the gate, the reporters were sliding open their van doors for a peek. If someone looked interesting enough (i.e., one of Dorian’s neighbors), the newscasters got out and did an interview. That was pretty rare, though. Dorian’s neighbors weren’t trying to sell him and his family out for a news story for the most part.
I watched on, feeling more than stupid. My car was in the shop, and I’d be lying if I said my brother’s Audi hadn’t gotten any attention. Eventually, the news assholes had all noticed it was just me in the car and headed back to stalking the gate. I waited for about an hour before the vehicles divided into half. Odds were some of them had to get back for the evening news, but a lot of them stayed.
Why are you staying?
I didn’t know. It wasn’t like I could actually get past the gate to talk to Dorian. Maybe I hoped I’d get lucky and see him coming in or out.
I’d been stupid.
So stupid in fact, I shook my head when I turned on my brother’s car.
Something slammed against my door.
I jumped about a fucking foot only to find Ares Mallick’s face staring right back at me. He still had the black eye from when my brother had punched him, the other side of his face socked from the work Dorian had done. They’d gotten in a fight when Dorian found out Ares sent Bruno in on that haze.
Had that only just happened?
It felt like so long ago now, Ares, with his long arms, hanging over my brother’s ride. His thick but sculpted eyebrows knitted in tightly, his fist against my window. He had his shaggy hair hoisted up in a man-bun, AirPods in his ears and long running shorts on. His cutoff tee matched the shorts, and he was arrogant enough to wear a shirt that basically gave him male side boob. The thing was a scrap of fabric at best,and when his fist rammed into the door again, I realized that’d been what he’d initially done to gain my attention.
“The fuck you doing here, little?” his deep voice growled at me. It was muted through my brother’s window, and he gestured for me to put it down.
I did, and he lowered his long body into view.
His dark eyebrows inched in tighter. “You here for an exclusive too?” He gazed around. “Or are you here to give one?”
The words stung, my eyes twitching. I mean, I pretty much figured out what was going on here with Legacy.
But still to hear the words…
He’d obviously confirmed my beliefs, beliefs about Dorian and what he thought he knew. This was a misunderstanding.
And Ares didn’t seem to want to stay to debate anything else.
He pushed off my door, going in the opposite direction, and though I couldn’t run for shit, I was out of my car and after him.
Now, when I’d woken up this morning, the last thing I thought I’d ever fucking do would be running. I didn’t run for shit,let alone run after who could easily be considered my arch nemesis. Ares had given me more than a hard time since I’d gotten to Maywood Heights.
“Eh, Mallick!”
His Nikes skidded to a stop in the street. He whipped around, me fucking huffing behind him. I was still in my school uniform, but even if I’d had the appropriate running gear (i.e., not knee-highs and flats), I still wouldn’t be able to run for shit. I panted like a psychopath, and he’d only gone a few long strides.
“Keep your fucking ass down,” he gritted. Next thing I knew, he was grabbing me and taking me with him. I wanted to check his ass for pretty much snatch-grabbing me off the street, but he wasn’t running in the opposite direction of me and actually talking. Since that was the point, to talk to him, I went along with his sprint. I was half-running, half-dragged until we came to a stop behind some trees.
Now, if I was a more dainty bitch, I might have tried to pretend I could breathe once we stopped. I wasn’t, though, and pretty much choked on any incoming air.
This had Mallick arch one of his bushy eyebrows, and he definitely hadn’t tried to hold back his smirk. He folded his arms. “Cardio, much? Jesus, little. You act like you’ve never run a day in your goddamn life.”
He forgot he had a good amount of height over me. I was tall, five-ten, but still. He was a dude and tall as fuck. I coughed. I started to say something, but instead flipped him off.
He chuckled, a little dry but only like half. He seemed to find this whole situation funny, and normally, that’d piss me off. I mean, it still pissed me off, but he and his lot were super mad at me right now.
I found his humor dulled my anxiety a little, irony in that. I hated this guy, but I had an ulterior motive here. He could talk to Dorian for me.
“Anyway, the press doesn’t need to know I’m here,” he said, and I wanted to face-palm myself for not thinking about that. Of course, they’d want to talk to him too. The Mallicks and the rest of the Legacy families were very buzzworthy in this town. They’d be stalking him just as much as Dorian. Especially since their families were so close. “I’m house-sitting for the Prinzes while they’re gone.”
My head shot in his direction. “Gone?”
He flinched, like actually legit flinched as if someone had struck him. He cursed. “Yeah.”
Perhaps, he hadn’t wanted to admit that detail.
I wondered why he had?
But he did, though, his feet more fascinating now than looking at me. He propped his hands on his hips. “So I suppose you want to go spill that out now? Tell the press or… your guardian?”
I didn’t know what Callum had to do with anything. Sure, I’d told him the situation with Dorian, but that’d been after the fact. To help him. “Look. I know Dorian thinks I told on him—”
His smirk returning stopped me. He laughed. “You know it really doesn’t matter what you say right now,” he said, his smile fading. “Because anything that comes out of your lips will always be questionable as fuck as far as I’m concerned.” His eyes darkened. “You’re right. That is what Dorian thinks, and because he does, we stand by him.” His throat tightened. “It doesn’t matter what you say, little. You’re questionable. It’s my buddy’s word against yours, which means you have no say.”
His honesty struck me silent.
And he was right.
It really didn’t matter what I said. I was going against Legacy, foundations and families. I didn’t have a voice here.
I need to talk to Dorian.
“Well, can you have him talk to me, then?” I asked. Ares’s head was shaking at this point. I angled in front of him. “At least have him return a fucking text.”
“He doesn’t have his phone.” He braced his big arms. “His parents took him off the grid, and they took the phone too.” His eyes lifted to the sky. “I don’t even know why I’m fucking telling you this.”
I was glad he was.
And he was leaving now.
Actually, he left me standing right there, and I was well aware if this guy went in a full sprint, there was no catching up to him. He could lose me with little effort.
So I stayed.
This really seemed hopeless, beyond hopeless. If Dorian didn’t want to talk to me, listen to reason, what voice did I truly have here? His friends were loyal to him, his brothers, and Bow was his sister. Those bonds had formed well before me and were generational. Even their fathers were tight.
These people were the epitome of family, and there was no listening to reason here.
Ares stopped a few feet away. “Go home, little. Because there’s certainly more for you there than will ever be here.”
I blinked, the tall boy sprinting away. He left me there, and eventually, I headed back too. I was going to go to my house, but he was wrong when he called it a home. My brother and I didn’t have one of those. We had a house,and even that was temporary. It was on loan from our guardian until we grew up and moved on. We didn’t have what I could imagine Ares and the rest of Legacy had.
Maybe someone like my brother and me never would.