Page 58 of Pretty Little Psycho

She grabs my wrist hard. “Watch your tone, young lady. I’m still your mother. I could ask you the same question. Why did I get a call from my mother, asking me why you’re using the Blackwell name? I haven’t spoken to that bitch in twenty years.”

Wow. She never ceases to amaze me. “Well, seems like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Her eyes narrow, and she lowers her voice. “Come with me right now.” She gives Professor Erebus a look and as soon as he nods back, I’m being dragged out of the class and into the empty hallway.

I yank my wrist away and step back. “What is wrong with you? I’m about to start class. You can’t just come in here and fuck everything up like you always do.”

The fury in her eyes is unmatched. Without my father here to act as a buffer, I get the full psycho Shana Gray in all her devious glory. She backs me up against the lockers. “Listen, you little brat, you had no right to use my family name. Those people didn’t want us. I left Ever Graves and never looked back. But now you’re stirring something up that will only bring us all trouble.”

She really has managed to hit a new low. “Sounds like they didn’t want you after you cheated on your fiancé, Julian Erebus. Maybe if you weren’t such a whore—”

Her hand hits my face before I can get the rest out. I hold my head as the sting of it makes my ears ring.

“You ungrateful little bitch. I gave up everything for you. My life, my friends, my money. And I regret it every day. I never should’ve had you.” Her eyes are wild, crazed.

I want to cry, but I won’t let her see my tears, so I swallow them down. And in this moment a part of me does wish I’d never been born. “Well, I'm never going back to Wickford Hollow, so you get what you've always wanted.”

She lunges for me again but stops as Valentin walks over. “Hit her again, and I’ll break your fucking hand.”

Where the fuck did he come from?

My mother lifts her chin to look up at him. “How dare you threaten me? Do you know who I am? I’m a Blackwell.”

Valentin’s eyes darken as he takes a calculated step toward her. His shoulders tense. “No. You’re the cheating wife of an alcoholic who has nothing better to do than take out her sad pathetic life choices on her own daughter. She’s a Blackwell, not you.”

She looks like she’s going to burst a blood vessel in her neck. “You’re not going to tell me how to discipline my own daughter, young man. Now step aside before I call Professor Erebus out here to make you.”

Oh, fuck here we go.

Valentin snickers. “My uncle has far better things to do than involve himself in a matter that is clearly over. Maureen is no longer yours. She belongs to Nocturnus now. You’re lucky I’m letting you off with a warning.”

I’m in shock as I stand behind Val, my cheek still throbbing. “Just go, mother. Go and never come back.”

She glares at me. “Nocturnus… you’ve really done it this time, Maureen. No one can save you now. Enjoy your servitude.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding as soon as she spins on her heel and stomps off. I can’t help myself from slightly collapsing into Valentin. His body is warm and strong and just acted as a barrier between me and the devil herself.

He gently traces his fingers over my bruised cheek. “Are you all right?”

I nod. “Thanks for that. No one has ever stood up to her for me before.”

The look in his eyes is tortured. He squeezes my hand in his. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

I look back toward the door. “But what about class?”

“Don’t worry about my uncle. I’ll make sure you’re excused,” he quips.

We dash across the campus and hop into his car. I feel wild and free and alive with the windows down and my brown hair blowing all over the place. I stick my hand out to feel the cold wind against my sweaty palm and close my eyes. I can’t believe how calm I feel after what just happened.

When I open my eyes, Valentin is staring at me. His face is more relaxed than I’ve ever seen. He smiles at me. Holy fuck. A real genuine smile that makes him look more boyish. “What are you looking at?” I ask playfully as I grin back.

He runs a hand through his black hair and his throat bobs. “You’re fucking beautiful.”

A flurry of nerves tingles my belly. His brown eyes are framed by long black lashes that almost touch his cheeks. I hadn’t ever noticed because he’s always so angry. I was afraid before to look too deep into them but now I want to fall into their abyss. “So are you,” I murmur back.

The road we’re on twists and turns up and away from town. The sky gets darker as mountains surround us the higher we climb. “Where are you taking me?” I ask.

The muscles in his arm flex as he shifts gears. I’m seeing his body with fresh eyes. The perfection of it takes my breath away.

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