Page 374 of Filthy Elites

“She’sdangerous, Dare.”

He grabs me and pulls me closer to him. “I know Anae’s unhinged, but I would never let her hurt you. I know this wasn’t the outcome we expected, but this still accomplishes everything we need it to. By the time she gets out, we’ll be off at college. We won’t live in Baymont anymore. If she’s still nursing a grudge and has the bad fucking judgment to come anywhere near us, I will get rid of her. I promise you that.”

I shake my head. “She deserves to pay.” I look over at him. “And maybe she can’t hurt us anymore, maybe you’re right. But what if she hurts someone else?”

I can see that he understands the enormity of what he’s asking. He tries to make me feel better about it. “Hey, you never know. Maybe that time at the psych hospital will actually do her some good. She’s probably better off there than prison, anyway. Prison would just teach her new tricks.”

“It would contain her,” I mutter. “Honestly, I am not Anae’s advocate, and I don’t care about her getting better. I just want her to be removed from the rest of society so she can’t cause any further damage.”

He takes my hand and brings it to his lips, luring me in with his big brown eyes. “But you don’t wantmelocked away with her, right?”

I pout. “It depends on which day you ask.”

He smirks, leaning over me and kissing my pouty lips. “Fuck, you know I can’t concentrate when you do that.”

“You want me to unleash all this literal evil on the world, and I hate it.”

“Hey, you’re doing your part to contain Baymont’s evils,” he teases, moving on top of me and kissing my neck. “Can you imagine all the damageIwould do out there if I didn’t have you to keep me occupied? You can’t save everybody.”

I sigh, tilting my neck. “I need to assemble a team.”

“Someone call the Avengers,” he murmurs biting my neck and likely leaving a brand new bruise on my skin. Immediately, he kisses the same spot, soothing the hurt he caused.

When he’s done getting me all riled up with his kisses, he wraps me in his arms and pulls me against him. I close my eyes, enjoying the warmth and security of his embrace, but dreading tomorrow.

As if he can tell, he kisses my forehead. “Don’t worry, mermaid. It’ll all be over soon.”

___

It’sstrange showing up at school Monday morning in Dare’s car, but not having to worry about people seeing us.

They still stare—more than usual, as a matter of fact, but the reasons are different, and so are their attitudes.

It’s all friendly smiles and treating me like I’m one of them now. Even the asshole who stole my picture off the ground and made that comment about me sucking a dick includes me in conversation as they chat on the quad.

There are whispers in the halls, rumors spreading like wildfire about Anae’s arrest and Dare’s speculated involvement.

When he saunters in with his arm wrapped around a new queen, no one questions the bruises on her neck or face, and no one dares say an unkind word about her. If the thought even passes through their minds that maybe he mistreats this one differently than he mistreated the other, no one mentions it.

I spot Hannah in the halls and give her a little wave, but I don’t expect her to approach since I’m with Dare.

Surprisingly, she hugs her books to her chest and marches right up to us.

“Hi,” she says.

I smile. “Hey.”

Dare stares at her like she just threw a gauntlet on the ground in front of him, but doesn’t offer a greeting of his own.

She’s not paying attention to him, anyway. Her gaze is drifting from my face to my neck. “I have some makeup in my purse. I think I’m a little fairer than you, but I can try to cover those up if you want.”

I tried before I left for school this morning, but I did a shit job and ended up washing all the makeup off. “Sure, I…” I pause, looking to Dare.

My heart beats harder when I realize I just instinctively looked to him for permission. I frown at the foreign instinct, but don’t fight it. He’s been so ridiculous about Hannah, I feel the need to. It might scrape my pride a little, but if it keeps her out of his crosshairs, then so be it.

Hannah notices the exchange, but doesn’t remark on it.

“Go ahead,” Dare says.

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