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She’s tucked peacefully in bed with her unicorn comforter wrapped around her on all sides, just the way she likes it. Her hands go in the air. “Hold me, Levy.”
I hurry to her side, thankful to see that she’s okay, and scoop her trembling body into my arms. The moment when I realize Alana is not okay, I do my best to remain calm, for her. “It’s okay, sissy. Everything’s gonna be okay.” I want so badly to believe the words leaving my mouth, but the truth is, everything is not okay. My entire family has been shot. They’re gone. Dead. Nothing is ever going to be okay again.
With a shaking hand, I call 911, and while I hold the phone to my ear, I hold tighter to Alana as she slowly slips away, falling deeper and deeper into her forever sleep.
CHAPTER1
LEV
Riley walkstoward me down the hall, her head hung low, shoulders slumped. I can't help but feel superior to the girl. Not that I should feel otherwise. The level of intimidation I hold over her is not only empowering, but it also turns me the fuck on.
Of all the babes in this school, I’m pretty damn disappointed in my dick for getting hard for the one girl that should be off-limits. Ridge has made it abundantly clear he’s obsessed with her, and Maddox has now caught feelings, too.
It’s just my luck that Riley is the only person in the whole damn world to wake up emotions inside me that have been dead for so long. It’s a foreign feeling, considering indifference is the only thing I’ve felt since the day my world was turned upside down.
Riley crawls under my skin like a thousand spiders, scratching and biting at my nerves. She has this insatiable power over me, driving me crazy with the desire to be near her just so I can explore what else I'll succumb to in her presence. It's like she's playing some dark game, and I'm just a willing pawn. But no one will ever know the hold she has on me. That secret is mine alone.
“I’m already late for class, Lev. What the hell do you want now?” Riley hugs her bag to her chest like a shy schoolgirl. But one with sass and annoyance written all over her face.
“Just making sure we’re on the same page, that’s all.”
Her bag drops to her side and she straightens her back. “We’re not even in the same book, asshole—”
“Hey,” I snap, eyes narrowed. “Don’t you fucking talk to me like that. You’re under my thumb now, Trouble. When I say jump, you ask how high. When I say bow, you fucking bow.”
“Mmmhmm,” she mumbles with sarcasm. “Gotcha.”
“Drop the attitude. Now.”
“I’ll drop my attitude when you end this madness. You can’t really think Maddox and Ridge are going to accept our newfound friendship.”
“Fuck Maddox and Ridge. This has nothing to do with them. This is about you and me. Now bow.”
Her eyebrows draw together in a frown. “Excuse me?” she says, her voice rising with indignation.
“You heard me. Bow.”
She makes a tsking sound as she walks past me with her nose in the air. “Fuck off.”
I throw an arm out, catching her by the waist. “Ending the arrangement so soon?”
Her audible exhale ignites an inferno through my veins. I fucking love her defiance. My dick twitches, anticipating just how satisfying it will be when she does as she’s told.
She rolls her eyes at me. “What the hell do you want me to do, Lev?”
“Exactly what I said. Bow.”
Jerking herself out of my hold, she slaps my arm like an irrational child. One hand rests on her waist and the other drops to her side as she bends over, bowing in a way that would disgrace even the most impotent person. When she straightens her back, she scoffs, “I hate you so much.”
Those words would offend most, but I hold them to a high honor. “Thank you. I hate you even more.”
“Can I go now?”
I think for a minute, just to torture her. Then I drag it out for another thirty seconds. “This all stays between us, remember.”
“Yes, Lev. I remember.”
“Good. Because if you tell anyone, includingmyfriends, you will be punished.”
