Tormented Royal by Lily Wildhart
Chapter Seven
Iwake up, feeling bleary-eyed and stiff, and sit up from where I lie curled on the rug. I blink through grainy eyes and take in the destruction from the night before. The stiffness in my body is a stark reminder of last night, of just how much I’ve lost in the past month.
Once I showered, trying to scrub away the feel of them on me, denying how much I enjoyed their touch, I managed to get everything in one pile and even salvaged a few records. My band tees were completely unscathed, though I have no idea how. I found the duffel under my bed, so either someone knocked them under there by accident, or I shoved them under there and forgot about it. Everything else is gone.
I literally have nothing but the clothes on my back.
They destroyed everything else.
I cannot wait to get the fuck out of here. I’m tempted to set fire to the fucking pool house with everything in it on my way out, so I don’t have to see what they did to me anymore.
I stretch out my stiff limbs and climb to my feet before packing the few things that I salvaged in my duffel with my band tees. It doesn’t take long, and as soon as I’m finished, my phone buzzes away in my pocket.
Indi: Morning! I’m on my way. I’m bringing coffee, because shit.
Me: I’ll wait for you out front
Indi: Sure thing. I’m going to get you a floofy coffee, prepare yourself.
I can’t help but smile at her and her floofy coffee. At least something can still make me smile. Maybe I’m not beyond help after all. Something inside of me definitely broke all the way last night, though, and there’s no coming back. I am so done with these Echoes Cove assholes. But I decide to keep what happened with the guys to myself. Indi doesn’t need to know my shame. Telling her that I didn’t hate it, even admitting it to myself… I just can’t.
I’m keeping my head down and getting the fuck out of here the second I can. It’s not hard to see why both of my parents left this hellhole the second they got the chance. My phone buzzes just as I reach the gate at the side of the house.
Indi: Here!
Me: 2 secs
I don’t even bother going through the house. If I see Blair, I might smash her face in, and while she deserves the beating, my aunt and uncle would definitely press charges. No question. That’s just not something I want to deal with on top of everything else right now.
I jump into her Wrangler, throwing my one lonely duffel bag in the back. She looks at me, and I can tell the questions are on the tip of her tongue, so I shake my head and ask, “Coffee?”
“I got you the Java Chip Frappuccino. Not too floofy, considering you usually like a Mocha, but it is life.”
I laugh at her, shaking my head before buckling myself in. She peels out of the drive, whipping through the neighborhood. We drive in silence for a few minutes, but I can tell her curiosity is eating her up from the inside. She taps her fingers against the steering wheel and glances at me every few seconds. I sigh with a roll of my eyes but incline my head in her direction. I’ll have to tell her eventually, about some of it anyway.
Her silent questions are damn near suffocating. I take one long, deep breath before answering, “Blair and her bitch squad destroyed most of my shit, so that bag is all I have left.” The car swerves as she jerks her head in my direction, jaw slack.
She focuses back on the road quickly and straightens out, but her knuckles are white on the steering wheel. “Those fucking cunts,” she all but growls, and I can feel my eyebrow inching upward on its own accord. “Sorry, bitch just isn’t cutting it. Who the fuck even are they? Entitled little twats.”
“What the fuck is a twat?” I laugh.
“Girl, you and I need to watch Green Street. Charlie Hunnam, with a British accent, calling people a twat is a whole experience,” she gushes, and I can’t help but laugh at her. “A twat is basically a British insult that covers most things, and just sounds good. But at least now you’re smiling.”
I finish telling her about my evening and then realize I’m being a terrible friend. I shove down all of my misery and vow to be at least a little happy—I’m still getting out of my aunt and uncle’s house after all. I refuse to bring her down just because my shit is all kinds of fucked up at the moment. “Wait, screw my shitstorm of a night! How did your night go with Jackson?”
She grins, and I swear I can spot a sparkle in her eyes. Damn. Must’ve been good. “It was fun, nothing really happened, but it was fun to hang out. Him and Raleigh made sure I got home safe, and he was a perfect gentleman the entire time.”
“Uh-huh, if you say so.” I grin, and she sticks her tongue out at me before pulling into the Jaguar dealership. “So, we start here?”
I take a look at the cars on the lot and shake my head. “No way, this place just screams evil villain. I want something a little more me.” I pull up one of the car ads I found online and show it to her. “I’m thinking something more like this.”
She grins at me and nods, putting the car back in drive. “I know exactly where to go.”
She pulls out of the lot and jumps on the highway. We sing and dance around like idiots to “You Me at Six”, and I feel a little more like myself. This girl is literally the embodiment of sunshine and joy. I swear to God if anyone tries to take that from her, I’ll flay them alive.
She pulls off the highway, and it’s not long before she pulls to a stop in front of a showroom full of vintage cars.
Now this is what I’m talking about.
I look across the lot, and within seconds, I see the car I’m leaving with. It’s fucking beautiful. A black 1967 Chevrolet Impala gleams in the sunlight, and I want it. No, I need it.
It doesn’t take long for me to convince the salesman that I want what I want, and he’s not going to sell me on anything else. Less than thirty minutes later, after a swipe of my pretty little plastic and a call to Smithy to confirm the sale, I leave with the keys to my newest joy. Got to love the way that money makes everything go faster in Echoes Cove.
“I’m gonna call her Izzy the Impala.” I grin at Indi who laughs at me. “You want to follow me back to my house, and then I can show you the place properly since you ditched me earlier in the week?” I pout at her, and she rolls her eyes.
“Oh please, I ditched you to have dinner because my aunt came into town as a surprise. We both know I'd rather have been eating mac and cheese with you.”
“Oh I know, it’s just fun to poke.”
“Yeah, yeah, Royal.” She rolls her eyes and spins her keys on her finger. “Now get your pretty little butt in your car so I can follow you home in your beautiful new Impala.”
I grin at her and practically skip over to my new car. Once I’m in, I take in the fact I just bought my first car. I refuse to dwell on the fact that Dad and I talked about this day way too many times for this not to hurt a little, but I already hurt so much that I just can’t think about it properly.
I start the car up, practically quivering over the pure American muscle growl that it makes. I peel out of the lot, heading back toward Echoes Cove. The car drives like a dream, and I almost wish the journey was longer.
By the time we pull up to the gates of the house, I’m grinning from ear to ear, having played more than a little to see what the little beauty is capable of. I lean out of the window and hit the buzzer, smiling into the camera lens. It buzzes again, and the gate starts to open. I head up the drive, with Indi following behind me in the Wrangler. Our cars so do not fit into the whole uptown rich bitch vibe of Echoes Cove, but I kind of love that.
I jump out, before grabbing my duffel from the backseat of the Wrangler, and head to the door with Indi on my heels.
“Miss Octavia, welcome home.” Smithy greets me with a huge smile as he opens the door. “You must be Miss Indi. Welcome.”
“Oh, I like him. Where can I get one?” Indi snickers, and Smithy laughs in that deep, throaty way he does.
“You are welcome here at any time, Miss Indi.” He waves us in the house, and I swear, a weight I hadn’t realized I’d been carrying lifts from my shoulders. Even with the bullshit of everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours, I’m finally home, and I almost feel content. “I’ve had the bedroom put together as per your directions, and all of the deliveries are arranged in the room for you too. I’ll start putting together something for lunch. Will you both be eating?”
“Thank you so much, Smithy.” I hug him tight, and he squeezes me just as tightly back. “We’ll both be here for lunch and maybe dinner too. And thank you for handling everything, really. I appreciate it.”
“That’s what family is for, Miss Octavia. Now then, head upstairs! Do you need me to get the rest of your things?”
I twist my lips instantly, still a little pissed off about everything, and he frowns in response. “This is everything I have left. Blair and her friends destroyed everything else.”
“That girl… I swear—”
“It’s fine,” I say, waving him off. If I go down this path again today, I’m never going to pull myself out of the pit of despair that’s always lurking just beneath the surface and threatening to pull me under. “You said you packed most of Dad’s stuff up in his study, right? And all the other stuff that was sent back from the tour bus is there too? I’m sure I’ll find some more momentos in that stuff, so no worries.”
“Yes, of course, if you say so.” He twists his lips like he disapproves but shakes his head before smiling at me again. “Now you girls head on upstairs. If anything isn’t to your liking, just let me know, and I’ll get it all sorted out for you.”
“Thank you, Smithy,” I say before turning to Indi. “Ready?”
“As a church goer on a Sunday.” We head up the stairs, and I show her my childhood room, which gives her more than a few laughs. The pink really needs to be sorted out. Maybe I’ll have Smithy arrange for the room to be painted and turned into a spare room or a second music room. Anything but this pink nightmare.
We leave the pink disaster behind and head to the master suite. I can’t help but grin as I take in what Smithy did to the room. He didn’t just do what I asked—he decked the room out to the extreme. There are guitars hanging on one wall with a keyboard sitting just beneath them, regardless of the fact that we have a baby grand the the basement music room. The carpet is a cream colored blanket of thick, plush luxury, and the walls are dark gray. All of the furniture is a shabby white, and it’s just… perfect. I smile as my eyes catch the accents of navy blue peppered throughout the room.
“Dude, can Smithy be my interior designer? This room looks amazing.”
“Right? He nailed it.” I walk in further and notice a ton of bags from what looks like clothes stores lined up beside the bed. Then I notice the envelope sitting on the pillow with my name on. “What the…”
I pick it up and take the note out.
To replace what was damaged at my behest.
Linc
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I practically spit, seething with the anger burning deep in my gut.
“What?” Indi asks, and I pass her the note. She reads it, and her eyes go wide as I clench and unclench my fists. What the actual fuck? “Oh boy, did he actually just buy you a new wardrobe?”
I reach for one of the bags, recognizing the lingerie brand and my anger ratchets up another thousand degrees or so. “He bought me fucking everything, including underwear.”
“Is he crazy? Why would he do this?”
“Because Lincoln Saint is a control freak, and he always has been. Apparently that’s one thing around here that hasn’t changed.” If he thinks I’m accepting this bullshit, he has another thing coming. This isn’t an act of kindness. This is just another reminder of his words last night. Money means nothing to him. This is just another show of control.
“I mean, some of this is nice, though,” she jokes, spinning a lacy black thong around in the air, and I can’t help but laugh. “Maybe after seeing how hot you looked earlier in the week, he was inspired.”
“He can shove his inspiration up his ass.” I start snatching up the bags, and Indi joins in, grinning even though she’s out of the loop of my plan.
“What are we doing?”
“We’re going next door.”
“Next door?”
“To the Saints’ house.” I grin, and her eyes go wide.
“Wait, they still live next door too? This is so delicious. Girl, I can’t even.” She’s practically giddy as she follows me out of the house and down the drive. I buzz on the Saints’ gate and wait, trying not to sigh as I bounce from foot to foot. My hands clench around the handles of the bags as fury pierces through me. I still can’t quite believe Lincoln had the nerve to do this, and yet, I don’t know why I’m really that shocked.
“V? Is that you?” East’s voice comes through the system, and I smile. Better him than his brother. I can’t help but wonder if he knows what Lincoln and the others did to me over the weekend? I can’t help but wonder if East would have joined them. Would he have pinned me and whispered dirty words to me like Finley did? Or watched me like Mav? Or would he have touched me like his brother did? Shame floods me at the thought, and I push it back the best I can.
“Yeah, it’s me. Can I come in? I’ll only be a minute.”
“Er, yeah sure, though you could’ve just used the other gate” he says, and buzzes me in, sounding more than a little confused. In my defense, I’d forgotten about the gate, but I tuck that info away in case I need to come here again. Indi follows me up their drive, and I ignore the onslaught of memories that threaten when the house comes into view. We find East standing in the open front door, eyes wide when he takes in the sight of us with all of the bags. “V, what is that?”
“This is all for Lincoln. You can tell him to shove his so-called gifts up his ass.”
East drags a hand down his face as I drop the bags at his feet and groans. “What the fuck did he do now?”
I give him a quick run down of some of the shit I’ve been going through, leaving out the more… graphic parts… and the look on his face tells me he has had no idea about anything that’s been going on beyond what I told him that first day in Gym.
His rage over everything is obvious. His hands shake as he clenches his jaw, looking more like Lincoln than normal, though they could be twins on a bad day. “My little brother needs to get a fucking clue. I’m sorry, V.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” I tell him before giving him a quick hug.
He frowns at me and says, “I’m still sorry, V. If there’s anything I can do to help, you know I will. I can’t believe they trashed your dad’s stuff. I’m going to have words with that little fuck head.”
“There’s no use, we both know that it won’t stop anything. It might just make him worse. I just wish I knew what I did.” He frowns at my words as I wrap my arms around myself. He steps forward and hugs me tight, and for a moment I let myself relax into his arms. Taking comfort that he, at least, is still my friend. “I’ll see you soon?”
“You know it,” he says before Indi and I head back down the drive, and towards my house.
“Actually, fuck going home, do you want to go shopping? I do need a new wardrobe after all.” I smile at her, and she squeals happily.
“Hell yes!” We head inside and grab my keys before heading back out. Shopping has never been something I massively enjoy, but then I’ve never had a girlfriend like Indi to shop with.
I chew on my lip as I climb in the car, trying not to get lost in my own head as Indi gets in. I thought coming home would solve all my issues, but I have a feeling being next door to the Saint boys again is going to bring a whole host of new issues.
At least life won’t be dull, I guess.