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The tremulous smile that spread over her face was everything. “Thank you. Really. I can’t even… It’s… Thank you.”
I shook my head. “It’s nothing. Come on. Let’s get packed.”
When she retrieved her duffel bag, I started picking things up to speed up the process. The sooner we got out of here, the better. There was a brochure on her bed, and I stared at it. “Adult education?”
She followed the direction of my gaze. “Yeah. I was getting ready to enrol. There’s a place close to here that offers adult education, and they do a music A level. That’s…it’s the one I loved the most.”
I shot her a grin. “Lucky for you, I think of everything. You’re still enrolled at Hatherley Hall, so you can carry on with your A levels. As far as everyone knows, you’ve been home from school and work this week with the flu. Even my best friends don’t know the full story, and believe me, I don’t ever keep anything from them. Ever. The official line is that your mo—ex-mother left my parents’ employment after a breakdown. She pleaded guilty to all the charges, so there’s no trial, and we can keep it from getting out.”
My best friends would hear the full story eventually, but I needed them to accept Elena first. To get to know her. To see what I saw every time I looked at her. As far as anyone else was concerned, I owed them nothing.
Pausing in the process of shoving clothes into her bag, she stared at me. “Knox, I’m coming back with you, but I can’t come back to that school. I’m not taking any more money from your parents. I’ll do A levels online if I have to, but I refuse to accept any more handouts.”
My girl was so stubborn, something I loved about her, but if she was up against my mother, she’d lose. “Baby, first of all, your school fees were paid up front for the year, and people don’t just get refunds if they change their minds. Secondly, have you met my mother? She lives to spend money on people. It makes her happy. You can’t deprive her of that. JoJo’s still little, and Cora’s away at uni, so she doesn’t have anyone else to buy those sexy dresses and jewellery for.” My dick stirred as I remembered that dress she’d worn to the charity benefit, the way it had flowed over all those gorgeous curves, and that diamond choker at her throat.
“You look like you’re thinking dirty thoughts, Knox.” She dropped the clothes into her bag and took the two steps over to me.
“I am. I’m thinking very dirty thoughts. How I want you to wear that dress you wore to the benefit again so I can tear it from your fucking gorgeous body and then bend you over and fuck you in front of a mirror while you’re wearing just your shoes and a choker.”
“Fuck,” she moaned as I ground my dick into her. “Yes. Let’s do that.”
“Tomorrow. After the party.” I slid my hand over the curve of her ass, pulling her closer to me.
“Party?” Her head flew up. “What party?”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot to say. This is your official invitation to be my date to the Halloween celebration of the gods. Want to come?”
She bit down on her lip. “Should I? If I’ve been away all week, it might seem a bit…weird, maybe?”
“Nah, no one gives a fuck. William and Katy are coming, anyway—they’ve got a surprise for you, so you can’t let them down.” She was still chewing on her lip, and I raised a brow at her. “Go on. What’s your other objection?”
“The…the loan shark that m—”
“Already taken care of. He happened to gain the attention of one of the top legal professionals in the country, and yeah, he won’t be bothering you for anything. He’s going to be far, far away from you. Anything else?”
Fucking finally, she shook her head. “I guess not.”
“Good. Let’s go home.”
45
ELENA
Icouldn’t believe that Knox had come to get me. And not only him but his parents too. After everything that had happened, they inexplicably wanted me in their lives, and I still couldn’t help but feel like this was all a dream. I’d been so miserable when I’d left, and I’d cried myself to sleep every night, but I’d held out hope that eventually, I’d come out the other side.
Never in a million years did I think Knox would come after me, let alone his family.
But he had.Theyhad. We’d talked all the way back, and I’d told him everything about my life that I’d been unable or afraid to say before, everything that I’d been holding back. When we got back to the house, he refused to leave me, taking me into his bed, where we’d continued talking, trading information about each other in a give and take that I never wanted to end. We hadn’t even had sex, just talked until we both succumbed to sleep in the early hours of the morning.
And now I was here with Katy and Will, standing at the top of the stairs that descended into the crypts. They were a fitting backdrop for the Halloween theme, which spilled out into the cellar storeroom—pumpkins carved with grotesque features, skulls littering the ancient flagstones, and from somewhere, a smoke machine pumping a low cloud of smoke around our ankles, like an eerie fog from a horror movie. There was a general theme of “come in costume, but wear whatever costume you like,” so I’d worn the dress I’d worn to the charity event, along with the shoes. I didn’t have the choker, but Aria had used make-up to create a vampire bite on my throat, complete with dripping blood. Katy and Will had also only made slight concessions to the Halloween theme—Will with vampire fangs and fake blood dripping from his mouth and Katy with a vampire bite that matched mine, both courtesy of Aria.
As we descended the stairs into the crypts, we were hit by a wall of noise, dancing bodies filling the space with more smoke pumping into the atmosphere. Coloured lights pulsed across the cavernous depths, illuminating the Halloween decorations strung around the sides. At one side of the main crypt, there was even a DJ set up, pumping out music from huge speakers, and I shook my head in disbelief. Knox had informed me that the teaching staff had been persuaded to turn a blind eye to any celebrations coming from the A-level students, thanks to an extremely generous monetary donation, aka bribe, from Knox’s and Tristan’s parents—and the rest of the school was currently occupied with a far more sedate ball in the main hall. But it was one thing to be told about it and another thing to see a party of this scale in action.
“I’ve been given very specific instructions,” Will told me, pulling out his phone and sending a quick text, his thumbs moving quickly over the screen. “You have to come with us to the DJ booth.”
“Uh, okay.” I shrugged and then followed him and Katy through the crowds until we popped out next to the speakers. The music was so loud here it pounded through my skull, but I liked it. It made me feel alive.
“I was going to pick you as my next murder victim, but I see that a vampire managed to get to you first,” a low, smooth, and sexy-as-fuck voice said in my ear. I turned to see Knox, dressed in a tight, deep blue T-shirt that clung to his muscles, black jeans, and black boots, his face covered by a hockey mask.
