“T-that’s how I walk!”
Elle laughed at her outburst.
“Oh, now you can talk because Elle’s around. I blame you!” Amo directed his finger at Elle.
She stopped laughing. “Me? What did I do?”
“You taught her to walk like that.”
Stepping up to him, Elle got in his face. “No, I didn’t teach her shit. She learned to walk behind me when everyone started bullying us.”
“We never bullied you.”
“No, but you all sure as hell didn’t stop it. Come on, Chloe; we’re leaving.”
Nero stopped her. “All right, calm down. You’re right. We’re just as guilty. All three of us are sorry, and we are trying to make it up from now on. But you and Chloe need to help us out here. Chloe, listen to Amo and try to talk to him every now and then.”
No thank—
“And …” Amo added.
“And get off Amo’s ass. Walk beside him from now on. It’s safer there, anyway. Someone could grab you from behind him if they wanted.”
Swallowing, she thought back and realized Sebastian could have easily done that. Chloe nodded her head.
“Yeah, like she’ll have much room to walk beside the beast.” Elle stuck her tongue out at him.
Nero raised his hand when Amo looked prepared to smart back off to her. However, he walked off, heading to the school parking lot.
Her instinct was to still walk behind Elle, but Nero made her move.
“Chloe, beside.”
Walking beside Elle in defeat, she noticed Amo shake his head.
Once they got to the school parking lot, she could see Sebastian about to get in his car. That was when she realized what was wrong with his face. How did he get a black eye? It quickly became very obvious the guys had something to do with it by the look Sebastian gave them when he got in and slammed his door closed.
Amo began inspecting her car when he reached her BMW. “Someone slashed her fucking tires.”
Yep, they definitely gave Sebastian the black eye after lunch.
Nero pushed his hair back, concerned. “All right. Elle and Chloe, I’ll take you both home.”
“It’s okay. I’ve gotten flat tires before. I can drive on them for a few miles to the dealership.” BMWs all came with special tires that allowed you to do that. She hadn’t known until she had run over a nail and had to call her father for a tow. He had proceeded to tell her it would make it to the dealership before he had hung up on her.
Vincent couldn’t help speaking out this time. “Oh, God, is she serious?”
“Chloe, you are not driving on flat tires, and not with Elle. I’ll take you home. Your dad can take care of the car, right?”
She was afraid her father might get mad that she had left it. “I-I can drive it. That was the whole point of buying the tires.”
Amo was close to running away. “Jesus Christ, I gotta get out of here. I’ll take Leo home for you. Good luck with these crazies.”
“Chloe, you’re either going home with me and Elle, or Vincent will take you home.”
Vincent flashed her his pretty boy smile at Nero’s words.
Quickly, she changed her mind, blurting out her response, “I’ll go with you and Elle.”
That smile proved one thing. He’s clearly a psychopath.
Twenty-Seven
That Girl Needed to Find One of Two Things: A Nice Momma’s Boy or God
Chloe saw the “good luck” Elle mouthed to her as Nero drove off in front of her big, white house.
I’m gonna need it.
Sneaking into her house, she felt strange not going straight to her room. That was where she had learned to stay all day. It was safer there. The only time she ever came out was if her parents demanded her presence.
Trying to find her housekeeper Lana, she hoped to find her before anyone else.
Lana had been hired when her father had become mayor, and frankly, she was the best thing to come out of it. She was certainly more of a mother to her than her own mother ever had been, and Chloe could trust her with anything. Lana had cared for her since day one, picking up pretty quickly that her parents wouldn’t win any awards.
A sigh of relief escaped her when she found Lana. She was sure to keep her voice down as she said, “Lana, I need your help.”
“What’s wrong?” Lana whispered back, concern showing on her face.
“My tires got slashed at school, and when someone offered me a ride home, they wouldn’t take no for an answer. They said it would be too dangerous to drive it with all four tires out. I didn’t want them to think—”
“Okay.” Lana nodded her head understanding. “I’ll tell them my husband drove your car to get fixed. I can drive you to and from school till then.”
Relief flooded Chloe. “Thank you.”
“Do you know who did it?”
Shaking her head, she could tell Lana didn’t believe her for a second, but there was nothing she could do. Lana had questioned her parents in the beginning about Chloe, and they had told her, if she kept asking, they would easily replace her. Therefore, Lana had stayed on, keeping her mouth shut, figuring she could at least help Chloe in some way.
“Okay, go on upstairs. I’ll bring your dinner up to you later.”
“Thank you,” Chloe told her again before quickly heading upstairs to her room. Thankfully, she made it without seeing her parents.
After setting her book bag on her bed, she quickly ran to her attached bathroom to relieve her bladder that she had held all day. Elle and she hadn’t used the school’s bathrooms once since becoming friends. The girls’ bathroom was unmonitored, so the chances of them coming out alive were slim if they ever met Cassandra or any one of her friends. If it ever came to it, pissing yourself was a better option.