Page 498 of Filthy Elites

“Oh, this is brilliant. The great Sebastian Lockwood can’t get the girl he wants to want him back.”

“Fuck off, Courtney,” Sebastian warns.

“Oh I’m going, for now. But when she runs again, you’ll need to come begging on your knees to get me back,” she laughs. “Starling, this has been fun. I was going to threaten you again, but I don’t need to warn you away from him, you don’t want him anyway. Bye, babe, have a good night.”

“Bye, Court,” I smirk, thoroughly amused.

“She threatened you?” Clay demands.

“We had a grand reunion yesterday where she advised me she’d had you all and that her and Sebastian were practically engaged and I shouldn’t bother trying to get his attention,” I giggle.

Strong hands grab me and I’m turned into Sebastian’s chest. Tipping my chin back he forces me to look at him. “I never fucked her.”

“I don’t care if you did,” I shrug.

FIFTEEN

Sebastian

“I don’t careif you did.”

Her eyes are earnest and almost laughing at me and I fight the urge to haul her into the trees and fuck her until she’s screaming my name loud enough for everyone at the party to hear. She looks beautiful, but the emptiness in her gaze pisses me off. She should care if I fucked her best friend. She should be angry, furious even, but instead she’s impassive, disinterested.

Worry that I really did break her flows through me. It wasn’t my intention, I just wanted to punish her, to make her come back to me, to make her confess what I knew… that she wanted me as much as I wanted her. But I think I went too far. All those years ago when I told her I’d take everyone important from her, I never meant it. But when she didn’t come back, when she refused to fall in line, I was too far gone, too heartbroken that she would run from me that I acted harshly.

The friend was always going to have to go, even knowing I was with Starling, Courtney propositioned me within hours of me first publicly claiming her friend. I told the guys to play with her a little while I cemented things with my little bird, but it turns out the rich girl, who befriended the poor girl, was just a shark, setting things up to make her friend the bait when she needed it. She confessed to Evan one time that she’d seen the way I watched Starling right from the start, seen the way the others followed her and monitored her and then just bided her time, knowing it was only a matter of waiting until I staked my claim.

“Can we go?” Starling asks, bored.

“No.”

Rolling her eyes, she scowls. “Fine, can we at least sit, these shoes are killing me.”

I glance to Hunter, who nods, leading a path through the throngs of excited college kids to a small bonfire, with lawn chairs and huge wooden benches carved out of logs set around it. Sitting down, I pull Starling into my lap, while the guys take chairs on either side of us. Several familiar faces fill the chairs opposite and suddenly, instead of it being a party, it’s a powwow for the young, rich and powerful.

Instead of keg stands and tequila shots, the talk moves to alliances, engagements and business deals and I love it. Being here, being revered by some of the most powerful families in America with Starling on my lap, is everything I’ve ever wanted. Of course, when we leave Kingsacre we’ll change Solo cups and bonfires for boardrooms and top-shelf whiskey, but regardless of the location, my friends and I will still be the ones others seek out for approval.

I was hoping my little bird would have a drink tonight, I ache to see her relaxed and enjoying herself, but no matter what we bring her, she just pours it away. Even in my lap, she’s still tense, poised to go, to run from me, and I’ve no doubt tomorrow she’ll have bruises from how tight my grip is on her.

Letting her go isn’t an option, so I need to fix what I broke. I need to make her fall in love with me, to make her see that I can make her happy. The guys are all pissed at me too, Starling is so angry at all of us, but I don’t think they expected her hatred and it’s eating at them, especially Evan. She’s his stepsister and I know he genuinely wants a relationship with her.

“Let’s go,” I say, lifting her from my lap and onto her feet, holding her steady with my hands around her waist. Draping my arm across her shoulders, I press a kiss to the side of her neck as I follow Clay through the crowds and back to the cart that’s parked in our spot. I might not have been at Kingsacre for the last couple of years, but the others were, and I visited my brothers enough that people already knew who I was before I officially transferred. Our status on campus is why we have a parking spot mere feet from the party, and why our cart is untouched and there’s a clear path out without us having to wait for others to move. Lifting Starling onto the seat, I climb in next to her, placing a restraining hand on her thigh as Evan drives us back to the house. I’m tense until the huge metal gates close behind us and I know she’s contained, unable to run from me.

It's nearly three a.m., but instead of heading upstairs I follow the guys to the kitchen, towing Starling along with me.

“I’m tired, I’m going to sleep,” she says, trying to tug her hand free of my grip.

“You need to eat first,” Hunter says quietly. “We’ve been here two days and all you’ve eaten is half a sandwich and a dry roll, you’re practically wasting away anyway.”

“I’m not hungry and how do you know what I’m eating, are you all following me?”

“There’s always eyes on you,” I tell her, not flinching at the accusing glare she darts in my direction.

“Please, Starling, just eat something. I’ll make whatever you want,” Hunter begs.

“I need to sleep,” she argues.

“Eat and then you can sleep, little bird,” I tell her.

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