Page 88 of Brutal Prince

“Because my brother fucked me over,” he growled.

“How? What did he do?”

“Why don’t you ask him, since you’ve become so intimate? Oh, but he’s unlikely to tell you the truth since his entire world is based on lies. I bet you even believe that he has feelings for you. Let me tell you now, my brother is incapable of experiencing genuine emotions.”

“What did he do?”

He hesitated, glancing at my girls moving closer to us.

“Ollie, what did he do?”

His crazed eyes dropped back down to me. “Beat me. Tortured me. You name it he did it. And it was me they sent away. Me! He fell off his bike and broke his arm and told our parents it was me who hurt him.” He punched the dumpster in fury right next to my head. “And they believed him over me. I swore black and blue that it wasn’t me.”

“I’m sorry, Ollie. I’m so sorry he did that to you.”

I heard a solid thump against something hard as Ollie jolted and swung his head around. With him out the way, I could see Luca standing tall with a baseball bat in her hands and the ‘something’ hard was Ollie’s back. “Stand back or I’ll thump you again.”

He laughed evilly, seeing through her threat. He obviously didn’t know Luca Hanna well, because she came at him with another swing. Aiming for his head. He held his arm up to shield his face from the blow, then easily snatched the bat from her grasps.

“Run!” Luca urged me. And the three of us ran as fast as we could to the silver sedan parked on the side of the road where Rhys was waiting. I knew Ollie wouldn’t run after us, but Luca jumped into the driver’s seat and started that beast up like we were on the run from bank robbery.

“Are you okay, Gretta?” Rhys asked, breathlessly even though she hadn’t been the one running.

“I’m fine.”

“What the heck?” Luca started, “I thought he was a nice guy.”

“He is. He’s not happy about me seeing another man which is understandable.”

“Yeah, but he must know that you don’t have feelings for Dom, you’re merely pretending to get information out of him, right?”

I answered that question with my silence. I was sitting in the back seat with Rhys and turned to face the window, so no one could read me.

“Oh no,” Lise sighed sympathetically. “You have a crush on a psycho. Welcome to the club. At least my psychos are dead. And I might add, I definitely don’t have a crush on those Sweeneys anymore. In fact, I never had a crush on them. It was misguided feelings, that’s all. Which is probably what you have too, Gretta, right?”

“Right.”

I felt Rhys shake next to me as she spoke. Lise and I knew her secret. We knew the reason Adam Sweeney is fish food on the bottom of Lake Superior was because of her and her cousin Tris. I wasn’t sure if Luca was privy to that knowledge yet. But I knew that she felt guilty every time someone mentioned it and is the reason Jace Luxon and her are moving to Maui at the end of term.

“One day I hope you meet a really nice man,” Rhys whispered. “Someone who can make your dreams come true. You deserve it.”

I smiled and squeezed her cold hand, knowing deep down inside that fairytales like that don’t exist for girls like me. Girls like me slave away in underpaid jobs for life only just getting by. Then die from exhaustion still wearing an apron.

When we pulled up at a red light, a white van with Victor’s Launderette on the side pulled up next to us. I glanced at the blond woman in the front seat wearing shades even though it was dusk. She nodded her head ever so slightly, but it was enough for me to catch it.

There were several minutes of intense silence while Luca weaved through the busy traffic towards my apartment block.

“Anyone feel like a pizza?” Lise asked.

“Why not,” I answered. It was still early. My self-imposed curfew was 9.30pm since I don’t like leaving Mom for too long. I had plenty of time left in this evening to enjoy some pizza and girl talk.

I took out my phone from my bag to text Darryn: Ollie knows we know. Be careful.

THIRTY NINE

Dom

The following two nights after sweet Cattus left my apartment upset were spent either alone or with Vic, which was no different than being alone.

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