His eyes snapped to me, and I gulped at being caught checking him out. The air practically sizzled between us, despite the distance. I’d just made up my mind to walk toward him, when he turned away and started talking to someone I couldn’t quite see.
Or rather, I couldn’t see her until Evan, his arm still around my shoulders like he was staking his claim on me, started to maneuver me toward the school.
Her shiny chestnut hair was the first thing I saw, draped across Beck’s arm as she hung from his side. My teeth slammed together as rage clouded my mind for a beat. Fuck. Brittley. That fucking skank was hanging off Beck like he was the last dude in school.
He didn’t push her away either, if anything, this was the most animated I’d ever seen him as he stared down, talking to her. Dylan stood by, watching his friend with an odd expression on his face.
With a low growl, I forced myself to stop staring at that spectacle, and instead focused on Eddy.
“We have calc or history today?” I asked her, desperate to think about anything other than the raging jealousy coursing through me. Those were the two classes we shared, and having Eddy with me, made them almost bearable.
Beck was not mine. We’d fucked, end of story, and he’d shown me exactly how he felt about that this morning.
Fucked and forgotten.
Eddy pulled up her schedule, and I remembered that mine was on my old phone. I hadn’t memorized it yet, and apparently neither had Eddy.
I was just wondering if I was going to have to head back to that snobby bitch in the office for a new schedule, when a reminder popped up on my phone to tell me I had English in ten minutes. Must have synced across somehow.
“Calculus and history are both after lunch today,” Eddy said, scanning her phone. “Damn. Guess I’ll see you at lunch.”
“Ugh, okay, girl. See you then.”
I set off to homeroom alone. Or at least I thought I was alone until Evan slipped in after me. He stopped at the table next to where I’d just dropped my bag, and stared at the guy sitting there. He wasted no time scrambling out of his chair and leaving the seat free for Evan.
“What are you doing?” I hissed, my eyes darting around the room as I realized how much attention we were drawing.
He grinned before stretching back in his chair. He didn’t have a book, or computer, or fucking pencil in sight. “I’m on Riley duty today.”
I must have looked like a stunned idiot as I blinked at him, but I couldn’t quite figure out what he meant. “Riley duty? Why?”
Reaching out, he ruffled my hair, that smirk he did so well firmly in place. “Because you belong to us now.”
The teacher walked in before I could refute that claim.
Facing the front of the room, there was this odd feeling in my chest. It was warmth, and for the first time since my parents died, a little piece of me felt … okay. When Evan said us I knew he wasn’t referring to Delta in that situation. He meant them. I was one of them now, and … I fucked Beck.
Damn. I had no idea how that was going to go, but hopefully we would both just pretend it didn’t happen.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out before checking on the teacher. She wasn’t paying us any attention, so I quickly read the text.
Dante: I’m out front. I need to head back to Jersey for a few days, but I wanted to say goodbye first. It’s been too long since I got a Riley hug.
The bell rang then, and even though I knew I’d be late for my first class, I rushed out the door and headed toward the parking lot. Despite the light hearted nature of that text, I was worried. When Dante took off abruptly, it usually meant something was going down with his gang. Since Eddy’s words about him being a leader, I was now even more stressed about what his absence meant. The dangers he would face.
Evan caught me just before I made it down the stairs, sliding in front of me and blocking my path. “You need to get back in school, it’s not safe out here for you.” For the first time he was serious, the smile gone, and his eyes much darker than usual.
“Dante is waiting for me,” I said shortly. The Delta heirs might have been scary as fuck, but I wasn’t letting them walk all over me. Not today. Not. Ever.
Evan shook his head. “I don’t give a fuck, girl. It could be God himself waiting for you, and I’d still be here stopping your ass from walking out into danger.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I said, getting irate. Maybe it had been a bad idea to befriend these controlling fucks. “I’ll be five minutes.”
Shaking him off, I tried to step around him, but he was much larger and moved a lot quicker than my injured ass. Before I could start screaming, and I was pretty damn close to that, a shadow washed over us, and Evan swung around, his body moving into a defensive position. He placed himself in front of me, and I wondered if maybe I’d underestimated how dangerous it was here in school. I mean, I hadn’t forgotten that someone had forced our pilot to blow up the plane, but I’d thought I’d be okay in public.
Evan was acting like we could be taken out at any moment, and a trill of fear raced along my skin.
This time though, it was only Dante, dressed all in black and wearing a fucked off expression. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, getting right in Evan’s face. “If you step in front of Riley one more time, I’m going to end you. I don’t even care who your family is.”
Evan was a few inches shorter than Dante, but he didn’t look remotely intimidated. The memory of the boys stealth missioning it in the forest was strong in my mind, and I feared for my best friend. He had no idea how dangerous Delta was.
Edging around, I tried to slip in between Dante and Evan, but before I could, strong hands wrapped around my biceps and lifted me full bodily out of there. Beck’s face was awash in fury as he maneuvered me behind him.
“What the hell?” I shouted, slamming my hands on his back, and getting … stinging palms in return. I legitimately wanted to hurt Beck, but he didn’t even turn his head.
“What are you doing here, gangbanger?” he said, his voice low.
I’d heard this sort of lethal tone from him one other time, and it turned my blood to ice, because I knew Beck was pissed. I glared and edged toward Dante. “Leave him alone, he did nothing to you.”
Dante was smirking at them, taunting them, because that was his style. But he had no idea how dangerous they were. Especially Beck.
Dylan, who I hadn’t even noticed until now, stepped forward. “I think it’s time you left town. Permanently,” he advised Dante. “We’d hate to have to send you back … in pieces.”
The look in his eyes was making me nervous. Sucking up as much courage as I had, I met each of their dark stares. “If you touch one hair on Dante’s head, I will hunt you assholes down and cut your balls off. Right the fuck off!”
I waved my hands to emphasize my point.
For the briefest moment, it almost looked like the corner of Beck’s lips twitched, but I knew I was wrong when he turned those dark as sin eyes on me, because I could see nothing but pissed.
“Did Evan tell you not to leave the building?”
I blinked. “Well, yes. He said there was danger.”
Beck stepped into me, and I fought against an urge to back up. “And you decided not to listen?”
Crossing my arms, I scoffed to hide my nerves. “You don’t own me. I’m my own person. I take my own risks.”
Beck just shook his head, one hand wrapping around the back of my neck as he pulled me into him. “That’s where you’re wrong, Butterfly. You’re in the circle now, and once you’re in, there’s no way out.”
“We have rules, Riley,” Dylan added, backing up his best friend.
Dante made a rumbling sound from where he’d been edged out. “What the fuck do you mean she’s in and can’t get out? You bastards are involved in some dangerous shit! Why the hell would you drag Riley into that?”
My head was starting to ache, and my body was starting to ache, because Beck still held me captive. And all I could think about was him … the strength in his hands and body as he fucked me.
Beck didn’t turn from me when he replied. “Riley was dragged in long before she met us. Her birth dictated the rest of her life. Now she has to fall into line.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I jerked my head out of Beck’s hand, and he let me go. Two steps to the left, and I was standing with Dante. “What if I just take off now?” I said, sounding desperate and devastated all in the same tone. “Can I run?”
Evan snorted. “Maybe if you run to Mars. Otherwise Delta’s reach is too far.”
Dante’s huge hand cupped my shoulder, and he pulled me closer to him. My side ached as he did, and I tried not to flinch. Beck’s eyes followed that movement, and I shivered at his dark stare.
Dante saw the same thing, and that only made him hold me even tighter. “You’re hurting me,” I bit out quietly, hoping the others didn’t hear.
His grip loosened a little, and it must have been the opening Beck was waiting for, because he moved then. Faster than I’d ever seen a person move. I was in his hands and then passed off to Evan before I could blink. Beck went at Dante, and my tough as nails, highly trained, badass best friend, was knocked to the ground in about a tenth of a second.
Dante got back up quickly, and even managed to get two swings in. Both of which Beck dodged before he stepped in and punched Dante so hard I heard bone crack.
“No,” I screamed, struggling against Evan, my pulse racing as I frantically ran my eyes across Dante. “Leave him alone. Please.”
Beck swung around, and I shrank back. “Make him leave. Now. Before I lose my fucking mind.”
He turned and strode away, and I was shaking as Evan lowered me back to the ground. “Say your goodbyes,” he said, giving me a little nudge forward.
I stumbled to Dante, wrapping my arms around him. “I love you,” I said softly, “But it’s too dangerous here for you. You have to go.”