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“It will be fine if we go late, I can handle being around fire.” I whisper so only he can hear me; he nods. I decide I need to set Kelby straight in front of everyone.
“Kelby,” I say, I know she hears me but chooses to ignore me. I feel Diesel tense up so I place my hand on his leg. “Kelby everyone knows you can hear me.” She turns to look at me. “I don’t want to be enemies with anyone, but let it be known that no matter what you do to try convince me that you’re fucking Diesel, or how he will come back to you when his game with me ends, I will always go to him about it. I’m not that insecure girl who believes rumours, Diesel has not given me a reason not to trust him.” Her mouth hangs open, and she looks ready to explode. Diesel leans over the table and looks down to her.
“I haven’t fucked you since my father told me his business with your father was over, you were a means to an end. The deal was official at the end of last year, so I don’t even need your friendship at this point. So if you’re anything but nice to my girl, I will let Lux have her time in the ring with you. Girl fights might be an interesting aspect.”
Kelby gets tears in her eyes, I feel bad for her, but this is how things work around here. She stands and Taleah stands to comfort her, they both look at Blaine.
“I’m staying,” she says, looking down at the table, and Cuyler rubs her back. The bell goes, and we all head to class. Diesel throws his arm around my shoulders and walks me to class.
I hate to admit it, but I think I might be happy. I didn’t think I would ever want to feel this way again, but every day that I’m around Diesel and my new friends, I feel like they have started to chip away at the anger and hatred I surrounded myself in, and slowly, a new me is emerging. A person who has a chance at a happy life, one Zeke would be proud of me for.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Diesel
I can’t avoid my father’s calls forever, so I make my way to his office, not bothering to stop by the receptionist's desk. She knows I won’t ask her permission to see my father, I only come when he summons me.
“What do you want, old man?” I say, walking into his office, but he stops me when he puts his finger to his mouth. I take a seat in one of the massive antique mahogany chairs that have to be at least a hundred years old. The walls of his office are lined with bookcases full of old books he has never touched. If he ever opened one, he would probably find one of many inappropriate drawings waiting for him within their pages. I started out drawing dicks and slipping them inside the covers when I was twelve; they became more explicit over the years.
“Everything is going to plan; we will talk soon.” He hangs up the phone and looks up at me.
“Can we make this quick? I want to make it to class on time.” I snap, kicking my legs up onto his desk.
“Is everything on track with the girl?” He asks, but I know it really isn’t a request.
“Yep,” I lean back in the chair with a smirk. I let my guard down the other night, and he saw my feelings for her are genuine, and he is about to remind me that she is a business transaction.
“Good, you know the fights are business deals.” He isn’t completely wrong, except feelings get in the way. If girls knew their fathers put them up for business deals, I’m sure it would be chaos. When mergers are done, we usually drop them, but some take years, aka Kelby’s father, and I’m just glad that is over now.
I remember my first fight, I was supposed to fight for some stuck up bitch whose father was important, but I hated my father and rebelled, fighting for another girl instead. My father was furious, he made me dump her, and that is how the dump and treat like shit happened much to my father’s disgust. My father turned me into a monster with no empathy for the people I screw over, into a mirror image of himself. As much as I hate it, I love the power of being on top. I wonder if he can see that Cyrus is changing me, and I don’t hate it.
When my father came to me about Cyrus, I was pissed that it was just another way to control me. But from the moment I met her, I was mesmerised. I hadn’t ever had anyone spark an interest like she had. She was beautiful, but the pain in her eyes mirrored mine. I wanted to break her, ruin her more just to see that look. I could have my cake and eat it too, be with her for a few days and crush her, so every time she looks at me after that, I will know the look is because of me and no one else. But the more time I spend with her, the less I want to break her and the more I want to spend time with her.
“Of course, I know, you don’t let me forget.” My father laughs, standing from his chair.
“Good.”
“I did what I was supposed to. I played the game, I won the girl, and we will get the business with her father, you have nothing to worry about. She is only a deal, nothing more, nothing less, and when you’re done, I will throw her away like the rest of them.” I spit in anger. I know damn well I’m in too deep and that this isn’t a short-term deal. Her father is a slime ball just like mine, he wants her married off because of the gossip and shame she brought him. He needs someone like my father and his reputation, and we need someone with his kind of money to back us.
“Just in time,” my father says, looking at the door. I turn and see Sax standing in the doorway. I throw my hands in the air and stalk towards the door, leaning into my cousin and whispering.
“You won’t win this one. You may fool my father, but I see right through you, he will never hand his kingdom to you.” He grasps my shoulder and squeezes, leaning farther into my side.
“And you’re weak, you think a girl like her is going to fall for a guy like you, just wait. She will run right into the arms of your best friend, all the late-night calls and texts. Mark my words, the kingdom won’t be yours without her.”
“You think I care for her, that’s cute. We need her to continue to build our empire, and you think she would fall for you?” He shrugs, he doesn’t give a shit if she does or doesn’t. He just wants back what is rightfully his, and my father is the way to do that. “I told you; I’m onto you, trying to make me think she wants Cuy, all while you steal her out from under me, thinking if you get her, you can take all of this when my father steps down.” I laugh, shoulder barging him and walking from the room.
Looking at my watch, I have ten minutes to get to form, and luckily for me, it takes five cutting across the freshly cut lawn.
Racing into the building, I see her laughing at something Cuyler is saying to her. A pang of jealousy hits my gut, and I steadily remind myself that Sax has planted the seed. Cuy has his own merger with Blaine’s family, except she knows all about it, and they have a deal to save face. Cuy has assured me that he isn’t taking what is mine, he likes her, and if things were different, maybe he would have tried, but he won’t. He knows she will need a friend through all this, and I believe him.
I slip up behind her, holding out a small Tiffany’s bag. I read her file, and I know it’s her birthday. I messaged my mum to see if she could get me something special, and she insisted that I take this for her. Cyrus takes the small bag and turns into my arms.
“You didn’t have to get me anything.” Ha, I’m Diesel Briar. I have upset the natural order of the school because I have a girlfriend; I need to play the damn part, and I do not get my girl nothing for her birthday.
“Open it.” I insist. She pulls the box from between the paper–why all the paper and shit is beyond me, seems like a waste, but girls go crazy over small details. Her eyes light up, and a smile graces her face.
“I love it!” She squeals, a little overly enthusiastic for her, wrapping her arms around my waist.
