BULLY KING Page 9

  “I get it. We should pay her off then. Pay her enough money that it’s in her best interest to forget about us.”

  “Have you conveniently forgotten our fathers drained our bank accounts? And how fucking naïve are you, Lars? Do you really think they didn’t plan this? They didn’t put her here? I think they know something and they’re just using us to get rid of her.”

  He folds his arms across his chest and looks me in the eyes. “And since when do you do your father’s bidding?”

  “Since I have no choice.” It’s my turn to sigh now. “Listen, if you’re feeling guilty about this, we’ll pay her off when we get our bank accounts back. We’ll each chip in enough to keep her flush every month, as long as she stays quiet.”

  Lars looks at me. His expression is flat. We’re not drawing the attention of anyone. Yet. “I get what you’re saying. I understand it, I agree with it. But the only way to truly erase the threat that Cadee Hunter presents to us is to kill her.”

  “Jesus, Lars.”

  “That’s what I mean. We’re not going to kill her. This isn’t going to work.”

  “We have to make it work. She’s a nobody. All we have to do is scare her into submission and make her leave.”

  We both glance over at Ax, who is still circling Cadee. Spilling insults. Telling her she doesn’t belong here. Describing what the rest of the summer will look like if she stays.

  She looks like she’s trying hard not to cry, but that’s not what bothers me. The part that bothers me is that she’s succeeding. She doesn’t look ready to quit, that’s for sure. She has a little gleam in her eye. Defiance.

  “You see that, right there, Lars? That twinkle in her eye? She’s planning something. She hates us. She wants revenge. All we have to do is break this girl. Erase that twinkle. Put her in her place and send her on her way.”

  Lars takes a deep breath. “Fine.” Then he looks at me. “Just like senior year at Prep?”

  Ax is suddenly up next to us. “What’s like senior year at Prep?”

  “No,” I say, looking back at Cadee. “What we did to her during senior year at Prep will look like child’s play this summer.”

  “What are we talking about?” Ax says.

  “Ruining Cadee Hunter.”

  “Breaking Cadee hunter,” I correct Lars.

  “Excellent.” Ax chuckles, rubbing his hands together. “I could use a new target. When do we start?”

  “Now,” I say. “Right now.”

  CHAPTER TWLEVE - CADEE

  The worst thing about my first day at my new job isn’t the way Isabella and her stupid minions, Selina and Valentina, humiliate me over and over again. I mean, yes, when I first saw that costume, I was livid. And when I went outside wearing it, as everyone in the camp made fun of me, I was humiliated. And then when Cooper, Ax, and Lars made it very clear that this is how it will be all summer if I stay, I felt defeated.

  But none of that compares to the feelings I have right now.

  The day is over. I was forced to serve them all. On my knees, several times. Crawling over to Ax, and Lars, and Cooper as I desperately tried not to spill their drinks on the tray I was holding. I had to kiss Ax’s feet a couple dozen times. Hell, at one point he had me massaging them.

  Lars made me swim in the lake wearing the duck costume after Isabella spilled a bowl of maraschino cherries all over the front. That was how he wanted me to clean it.

  I lost a duck foot and then they wouldn’t let me come out of the water until I went under and looked around the brown lake water until I found it.

  Then Cooper said I couldn’t change. I had to wear the wet costume for the rest of the day until after dinner.

  Valentina complained that I smelled and Selina dumped a box of powdered laundry detergent over my head. That was just a little while ago.

  They’ve all gone home for the night. The pledges are staying in the student cottages across the lake and when I asked them if I could get a ride over there so I could sleep in my old garden cottage that the Chairman gifted me last night, they just laughed hysterically.

  Victor and the other servers are cleaning up as I sit in the locker room, trying to peel the dirty, disgusting, soap-caked costume off my body.

  I wish I was one of them. They weren’t anyone’s target today. They just did their jobs quietly and everyone left them alone.

  “Knock, knock.”

  I look up to see Victor staring down at me with sympathetic eyes.

  “Do you have a boat, Victor?”

  “No. Sorry, Cadee.”

  “You don’t have a boat?” I sneer it. Because he’s just lying. Everyone has a boat. “Then how the hell did you get here today?”

  “There’s a staff boat. I gotta go catch it right now.”

  “Oh.” I brighten. “Awesome. Can you wait for me? I’ll walk with you.” I’m a little worried about getting turned around in the woods again. It’s not dark yet, but it’s pretty close. I don’t like the idea of walking through the woods alone in the dusk. Not when I know that Cooper, Lars, Ax, Isabella, Selina, and Valentina are all staying the night on this side of the lake.

  “Do you have a pass?”

  “A what?”

  “A boat pass, Cadee.” He takes a laminated ID card out of his back pocket and flashes it at me. “They give these out in the employee packets. They won’t let you on the boat without one.”

  “But surely—”

  “Listen.” He sighs. “I’ve been here at the camp for three years now. I know how it works. You’re the Fugling.” I wince at the word. “Sorry. I’m not trying to make this worse, but they’re not going to let you on the boat. Usually the Fugling has to sleep here for at least a week. Then they…” He pauses.

  “Then they what?”

  “Then they make you sleep in the tomb. And torment you at night. I don’t know why you’re here. Maybe someone has promised you something nice if you stick it out?” He shrugs. “But no Fugling ever makes it to the end of the summer.”

  “No one?”

  “I’ve only been here three years, so maybe they do? But no one has lasted more than three weeks. It’s only going to get worse.”

  “What about Lacy Pendleton? And all that bullshit about the scholarship I stole from her?”

  “Well.” Victor looks uncomfortable. “Lacy’s different. She’s one of them. She wasn’t going to be the Fugling. But you… you’re not one of us. You never went to Prep. They don’t like outsiders here.”

  “I grew up here. I have literally never lived anywhere else but the campus of High Court.”

  He just shrugs. “And I know what your next question will be. Can’t we help you? Can’t we do something? But if we help you, Cadee, then they’ll make us a target too. No one will help you. All the staff who have been here before, we took bets last night on who would be the Fugling. Sometimes they don’t target the staff. They choose one of the pledges. And we were all pretty sure it was going to be Mona Monroe once we saw her name on the list.”

  I huff. I would’ve picked her too. Then I remember the plan I made last night to get Mona on my side and turn her into the Cygnet. Wow. Was I ever dumb to think that would work. There’s no way she would help me. She has to know she came very close to being the Fugling today. I sigh heavily. “So I just have to stay here? Or am I allowed to leave and go back to the Chairman’s house?”

  “I’m sorry?” Victor cocks his head at me in confusion.

  “The Chairman. He’s the one who gave me this job. He gave me a place to stay—the old garden cottage on the Prep campus. But I can’t get across the lake.”

  “What’s that have to do with his house?”

  “He gave me a room to stay there, too.”

  “Huh. I don’t know what to make of that. But hell, if I had a room at the Chairman’s house, and I was you right now? That’s where I’d go.”

  “Cooper,” I whisper.

  “Yeah.” He takes his apron off, bunches it up, and tosses it in to the
laundry. The other servers are calling him to hurry so they can catch the boat across the lake. “I know why they’re doing this to you. You dated them. All of them. Cooper, Ax, and Lars.”

  “Dated them?” I scoff. “I didn’t date them.”

  But wasn’t I just trying to convince myself I did last night?

  “I didn’t know you when I went to Prep. But everyone knows you, Cadee. The prissy stuck-up girl who doesn’t go to school here, but gets to take advantage of all the privileges like she does.”

  “I didn’t date them. They bullied me relentlessly their entire senior year.”

  Sort of true. I mean, they did bully me fall semester. But then… it turned into something else. Something both bad and good at the same time.

  “OK.” Victor sighs, clearly tired of me. “If you say so.”

  He doesn’t believe me, I can tell. And I can’t say anything else, not without making everything worse. Because I can see how everyone would think I dated them. All at the same time. They made damn sure everyone knew I was their property that year. So I just… shrug and continue pulling off the duck uniform.

  “I gotta go. You don’t need to lock up. No one but the people who own this place has access to it. So… I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  I nod, but don’t say anything. Just drag one side of the costume down my shoulder.

  He turns and takes a few steps. But then he turns back. “There’s a path, Cadee. Right behind the Glass House.” He points in the general direction. “And that path takes to you to a gate. And outside that gate lives the real world. You could just slip out the gate and be done with it.” He shrugs. “Up to you. But I’m serious when I say it’s not going to get better.”

  I draw in a long breath. “Thank you, Victor.” I smile at him and he returns it. “For taking the time to tell me all this. I appreciate it.”

  “No problem. I wish I could be the answer you’re looking for. I think you’re nice. And I never thought you were stuck up.”

  Then he turns and walks away.

  Leaving me there in the locker room.

  Utterly alone.

  I don’t go back to the Chairman’s house. I know better.

  I’m sure Cooper, Lars, and Ax are all just waiting for me to show up so they can torment me the way they used to. Make me do things. Say things. Be someone I’m not.

  But that’s not even true.

  They didn’t make me do anything but… enjoy them.

  I enjoyed them. All of them.

  That’s the kind of power they wield.

  There is no shower in the Glass House. So I strip off my costume, walk out to the lake naked, and wash myself off in the brown lake water.

  When I return to the Glass House to find clothes, there is nothing to put on that is dry or clean except a too-big white t-shirt that belonged to one of the pledges.

  I slip it over my head and curl up in one of the many chairs in the main room.

  “Cadee Hunter.”

  I hear the words in my dream. Him. Cooper Valcourt.

  “Cadee!”

  I open my eyes to the dim light of stars shining down from the glass wall. And then startle when Cooper is sitting in the chair across from me. “What? What did I do?” I scramble in my chair, realize I’m only wearing someone else’s too-big t-shirt and no panties or shorts, and then quickly rearrange my legs to cover myself up.

  “What the fuck are you wearing?”

  “What?”

  “Why are you dressed like that?”

  I look down at the t-shirt. “I didn’t have any clothes.”

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “What do you mean? I thought I was supposed to sleep here?”

  He gets to his feet and starts pacing. “My father is pissed off.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you didn’t show up for dinner. And when he sent someone to your cottage to get you—making us all wait at the fucking table as the food got cold—you weren’t there.”

  “I couldn’t get across the lake.”

  He glares at me. “Are you purposefully trying to ruin my life?”

  “Ha! That’s a good one! You’re the one trying to ruin my life.”

  “Get up. We’re going home.”

  “Your house is not my home, Cooper.”

  “Well, my dad wants you there. To make sure you’re OK. So get your fucking ass up and let’s go.” And then he’s up, pulling me to my feet and yanking on my arm.

  I wrench out of his grip and back away. “No. Fuck you.”

  His eyes trace down my legs. Then he narrows his eyes and they track back up to me. “Do you even have shorts on under that shirt?”

  “Where would I get clean shorts? Huh, Cooper? You guys ruined my clothes.”

  “You were wearing them under that costume.” He laughs like this is funny. Then he stops. “You don’t have on underwear either. Jesus fucking Christ. Are you trying to get raped?”

  I go instantly hot all over. Then I snarl at him. “I fucking hate you.”

  He shakes his head. “I don’t care. But you’d better be careful what you say. I might take that admission as a threat. Are you threatening me, Cadee?”

  “No.” I fold my arms across my chest. Because I’m not wearing a bra and the AC is still on and it’s freezing in here. My nipples are all perky. And I do not want Cooper Valcourt to think he’s affecting me like that. Because he’s not. I will never fall for his lies again. Ever. Not after the way he used me that year.

  Date them. Ha. That was funny. I never dated them.

  He looks around for something, then walks away into the kitchen. Comes back a few minutes later. “Where do they keep the uniforms?”

  “The what?”

  “The fucking staff, Cadee. Don’t play with me. Where do they keep the clean uniforms?”

  “If I knew that, do you think I’d be naked under this shirt?”

  His eyes track down my legs again. Then he licks his lips and meets my gaze. His fingers go to the buttons on his cargo shorts and the next thing I know, he’s pulling them down his legs.

  I back away, horrified. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Giving you my fucking boxers. I can’t take you home like this.”

  I turn away as he starts pulling them off. A few seconds later they hit me on the head. “Put them on.”

  I grab them and tug them up over my hips before turning back to him, catching him in the act of buttoning his shorts back up.

  “Where are your shoes?”

  “In the locker room.”

  He leaves and comes back a few minutes later with my shoes and throws them at my feet.

  I just stand there and look at him. On the outside, Cooper Valcourt is the most gorgeous example of a man a mind could conjure up. He is the image that comes to mind when you think the word ‘prince’. Or... male model. Or… Forbidden Nights dancer.

  I almost laugh.

  But seriously. Those blue eyes. That dark hair. The broad, muscular shoulders and the trim waist. His jaw is so cut and square, he looks like an artist’s interpretation of a man. There’s a bit of scruff on his face. Something he didn’t have much of when we were… what were we? Not friends. Not enemies, though. Not boyfriend and girlfriend either. Hell, I would not even call us lovers, though we did have sex that year.

  He was… I don’t know. A… a hope, maybe. He was a hope.

  I thought he was handsome back when we were together three years ago, but that was just a sneak peek of what he looks like today. He was too skinny then. And now he’s all filled out. I blow out a breath just thinking about how much he filled out while I picture him jerking on his cock last night in my doorway.

  “Why are you just fucking standing there looking at me like an idiot? Put on the goddamned shoes!”

  He yells it and I startle a little, then slip my feet into my sneakers, tugging on the backs a little as I hop on one foot to make them secure.

  When I’m done, he grabs m
y hand and begins pulling me through the Glass House. We leave, not even bothering to close the door behind us, and then he’s dragging me through the woods.

  I trip over a root and almost fall. But he’s still got my hand, so I don’t. But he doesn’t stop either. Just… drags me.

  “Slow down!” I protest. “Your legs are way longer than mine.”

  “Just keep up,” he growls.

  The path he takes me on leads us right out on to the blacktop road across from his mansion. He pauses for a moment, looking around, then drags me towards the side yard in the direction of the French doors that lead to the room I’m staying in.

  He’s just pulling the door open when we hear, “Well, look who it is.” And when we turn to look behind us, we find Mona sitting out on her patio smoking a cigarette. “The King and his Fugling!” She snickers, takes a drag on her cigarette, then blows the smoke out. “I can’t wait to tell Isabella that you were sneaking around in the night. Did you have a good time?” She laughs.

  “Thanks for reminding me, Mona.”

  “Of what?”

  “That you were supposed to be the Fugling this year.”

  “Fuck you!” she yells.

  Cooper shoots me a smile. And it’s a real one. I know the difference. And when Cooper Valcourt smiles a real smile, and that smile is aimed at you—well, it’s very hard to remember that he’s an asshole.

  Because he’s not. Not really.

  Cooper Valcourt was my prince during the last half of his senior year at Prep. And I thought we were real. I believed it.

  But then… the pregnancy changed everything. And from that moment on, we were enemies again. Only worse.

  And as sick as it is… in this moment, I realize… I have missed him.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN - COOPER

  I feel it when I smile at her.

  I feel my whole past with Cadee Hunter.