Page 67 of Brutal Kingdom

She shakes her head, a fresh wave of tears falling.

“Jordy. It’s me. I’ve driven you before. You trust my driving, don’t you?”

“No. I. I can’t get in a car right now. I can’t. Please don’t make me.” A look of desperation crosses her face. “I’ll do anything.”

She’s willing to do anything, so she doesn’t have to sit in a car right now? Pleading, negotiating without thought. I hate to see her like this. People will use this moment of weakness against her and find other ways to capitalize on her fear. This isn’t her. I need to snap her out of it.

“Fine. If you’re not gonna get in the car and insist I stand out here with you, there’s only one thing to make it worth my effort and time.”

She’s staring beyond me, her voice hollow when she says, “You mean telling you someone else’s secret?”

I shake my head. I won’t take advantage of this situation to get that info. “Fuck me.”

Slowly, she looks at me. “Wha-what?”

“That’s what it’ll take to keep me from shoving you in the car.”

Something flashes in her eyes. A mix of fear and sadness. Still not the spark I need. “Logan, you can’t want that. We hate each other.”

And yet we don’t. Even playing this game of anonymity, where I take her in the dark without her ever seeing me, I know that she senses I’m not a complete stranger. Her body knows me. We’re the only ones that understand and satisfy each other’s needs.

“You either fuck me, right now in the middle of this road, or you get your ass in the car so I can drive you back to campus.” I undo my belt, lowering the zipper on my jeans, preparing to pull my cock out. She takes one look at me and sees I’m serious. She hesitates, her eyes going from my hand to my face, before getting in the car.

I’m glad she did, and a little disappointed too.

I brought her to my studio instead of taking her to her dorm. I wasn’t thinking about anything other than making sure she’s okay, and I didn’t think sending her to the depressing dungeon would be the right way to lift her spirits. She’s staring at the wall and hasn’t spoken since she turned down my offer for sex.

I hadn’t planned to say it. She was going into shock, so I blurted out the first thing I could think of to keep her with me.

“You ready to talk about what happened?”

“What happened? I tried to do something for myself and it backfired. That’s what happened.”

“You drove yourself out in the middle of nowhere and got stuck?”

“No. I. I was in the middle of a driving lesson and my instructor bailed on me. I was trapped in the car until you came along.” Her gaze narrows, and I know what she’s thinking, before she even says it. “How did you find me?”

“I always take that road back to school when I’m coming from my dad’s. It’s faster. Less lights and traffic. Now what do you mean you were having a driving lesson, and the teacher bailed on you?”

“Just what I said. He told me to make a three-point turn and I guess I wasn’t doing it fast enough. I was nervous and couldn’t complete the turn. He told me to slide over to the passenger seat and he’d come to the driver’s side. He got out of the car, and ran off. When I went to open the doors and the windows, none of them worked.”

I pretended to be calm, but inside I was fuming. I’m pretty sure I’m the only person at school she told about her fear of driving and I didn’t blab that to anyone. It’s personal and I respect her trauma. I know her mom and sister didn’t share it with anyone either. The only other person who might know is Kassidy and her… therapist. Shit, Bella would have no problem violating the sanctity of treatment looking for dirt. Nothing is safe or sacred at this school. I’m a part of the problem, but there’s a line even I won’t cross.

When I don’t respond, she says, “I’m not crazy, Logan. The doors didn’t open.”

Her eyes beg me to believe her. I do. This was a well thought out plan, to get her on that road. Alone. The driving instructor left her and could have locked the doors with some kind of remote that couldn’t be overridden from the inside. I hate to think what would’ve happened if one of the race idiots lost control of their car.

I go to the kitchen and fix her a drink, motioning for her to sit on the bed. She does, holding the drink in both hands. Not really saying anything. Just sort of watching me and yet not here. That vacant look is still in her eyes. I want to feed her, but I’m afraid to take my eyes off of her long enough to order some food. When she’s not quiet, she’s muttering to herself, and I know she’s worked out who’s behind her brush with death.

I’d love to turn her loose on Bella, but she’s in no way ready for that tonight. “I know you want to go after her, but rushing to confront her without a plan is a stupid idea.”

“I’ll have the element of surprise.”

“You’ll also be running into whatever crowd she’s with, laughing about what happened tonight.”

“So, what are you saying? I can’t beat your girlfriend’s ass?”

She knows that pisses me off, but now is not the time to get into a fight about her calling Bella my girlfriend. “I’d pay good money to see you do that. But you’re a planner, Jordy. The whole reason your revenge scheme was so brutal and effective is because none of us saw it coming. You need to bring that same level of planning to this. Acting on emotion causes mistakes.”

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