Page 26 of Take My Crown

"Is," she corrects. "And fine, but then I'm going to tell your parents about August the fifteenth and everything I saw. I will make them hate you, and you will be all alone."

Fuck no. No. No.

I didn't think she had seen what I did, what Archer helped me hide in the end. My parents are good people, they have been in love since high school and they might rule the house but they do it with kindness and ruthlessness mixed into one. Nothing my parents ever do gets back to them. They just pay for it to go away. The only thing they couldn’t fix with money and threats were my brothers lives. After my brothers died years ago, they gave up with this town and trying to fix things. I swore to them I would not do anything that could get me killed. And days later, I did just that.

Shaking with anger, I stare at her in disgust. "You know why I had to do that, you total bitch. That's a low move, blackmailing me to fuck you."

"You are mine or everyone knows. Make your choice, Declan," she suggests, leaning back on the bed and pushing up her tiny skirt. "I know which choice makes me and you really happy right now."

I glance away from her as she undresses. I look down at my guitar, wishing the world would swallow me up.

Ivy can do so much fucking better than me. And soon she will know it.

Chapter Thirteen

Ivy Archaic

There is no way Milly is going to risk messing up her hair on the back of Archer’s motorbike or sitting in the sidecar, so instead we all climb into his black convertible BMW. Milly and I sit in the back together, leaving Archer on his own in the front to program the satnav.

“Don’t you dare,” warns Milly, as he reaches out to push the button to make the roof slide back. “Do you know how long I had to work with the straighteners to get this look?”

Archer laughs, but wisely pulls his hand back and focuses on his driving.

“You’re going to have thebesttime,” Milly gushes to me. “Romy’s parties are legendary. Someone always gets naked and goes streaking.”

“Yeah, usually one of the Dauphins,” Archer dryly says. “They’re the only ones stupid enough to show everyone how tiny their dicks are!”

“Don’t be like that,” Milly tuts and her cheeks brighten for a moment. “Declan is a good guy. I think so anyway.”

“Uh-huh,” laughs Archer. “Just don’t let dad hear you say that or you’ll end up married to him…”

I can feel my face flushing when they mention Declan and in the corner of my eye I see how red Milly’s cheeks are. Does she have a crush on him? Would her dad seriously expect a marriage if she liked him? What kind of crazy thing is that?

Archer cranks up the music in his car and Milly and I start dancing in our seats, making little dance moves as we get into a party mood.

I can quickly feel myself relaxing and unwinding. I feel normal for the first time since my father had kidnapped me, like I am any other teen girl without a care in the world.

The Navarre’s live on the other side of town to the Dauphins. In my brief time living in King Town, my father had filled me in a little on the politics of the place. Each house had their own distinct business so they didn’t step on each other’s toes. Dad told me their businesses are all completely legit, but I had a feeling he isn’t being entirely honest with me. Not that I cared–I wasn’t going to tell him, but I have already planned to get as far away from this place as possible as soon as he died. I don’t care where his money came from. It isn’t like I wanted any of it.

That separation of business extended to carving out the town between them all as well. The Archaics and their supporters lived in the west, the Navarres in the north, the Dauphins in the east and the Knights in the south.

This is my first time going into Navarre territory and it had a completely different feel to the Knight and Archaic areas. As we entered the section controlled by the Navarres we drove past a number of industrial units, many with lights on. The Navarres did business twenty-four hours a day, it seemed.

Up ahead, I could see coloured lights flaring off into the night sky and the booming sound of a bassline countered the rhythm of Archer’s sound system. He drives up to a wire fence manned by security guards. Rolling down his window so they can identify him, they rush to open the gates for him the second they see the Knight heir behind the wheel.

“Romy’s dad lets him hold parties in his warehouses,” Milly explains. “It’s a different one each time, and he goes all out with themed decorations and music. One time he even had an underground pool built!”

“Yeah, because nothing screams nouveau riche more than spending money just for the sake of it,” Archer mutters.

“Jealous, are we?” I ask innocently.

“No one with any sense would want to be a Navarre,” Archer sourly replies, as another security guard motions to him to turn left and park in front of a building pulsing with loud rock music.

“So youarejealous of pretty boy Romy, ” I reply with a laugh. “What’s the matter–did Romy steal your girlfriend?”

“Oh my god, Ivy!” Milly giggles while Archer’s look could kill. “Are you psychic or something?”

“She wasn’t my girlfriend,” Archer replies through gritted teeth. “Steph and I got off with each other a few times, that’s all. It isn’t like we are actually going out. She’s free to sleep with whoever she likes, even if she does have crappy taste in men.”

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