Page 70 of Royal
He turns, his brow raised, while he continues to walk backward. “Why?”
“You’re not fucking taking that back to her.” The growl that comes out of me would scare most people, but Beckham simply smiles and winks at me.
He huffs out a mocking laugh. “Why not? It’s got her phone in it. She’ll need it. And if you don’t want to take it to her, then I will. After all, it might help my case.”
“What are you fucking talking about?” I roar, my chest heaving up and down with agitation. “If anyone is going to see her, it’s me.” I cover the distance between us in five angry strides, then hold out my hand. “Give it to me. I’m taking it to her.”
“You think she wants to seeyou?”He eyes me, his shoulders shaking with laughter. “Hell, I’m not so sure she’ll even want to seeme.And you know me—I can be really fucking charming. I actually highly doubt she wants to see any of us. None of us will get in the front door if whoever answers the door heard what happened back there.”
He could be right. Don’t fucking care. “Give the motherfucking purse to me.”
The fucker winks at me. “Sure, Royal. Whatever you want.” He slaps the bag into my hand, then heads toward SIN. I’m shitty company right now, and we both know it. And, really, there’s nothing to be said. This was a huge fuck up.
THIRTY-FOUR
ECHO
Betrayed.That’s the only word for how I’m feeling right now.
A knock on my door makes my stomach gurgle and flip. “Echo? It’s Cassie.” I try to pull in a breath, but my chest is so tight, I can’t get enough air. “Um. Royal is on the porch. He has your purse. But he wouldn’t hand it over. He said he wants to talk to you.”
My eyes crash shut. If I hadn’t been arguing with Davis, I never would have left that purse behind… and I wouldn’t know about the utter deception happening right beneath my nose.
My Emory and my Benneti. They’re Royal’s friends, not mine.Neverwere mine. My heart cracks a little bit more than it already had. And Royal. He planned this. He assembled his friends into a little anti-Echo army to take me down. And that’s when my heart shatters and falls to the floor. He set out to do as much damage to me as possible. He meant to slice me as deeply as he could. Who knows what else he would have done if I hadn’t discovered what he was up to with Beckham and Wilder.
One breath shudders from me, then another. “Cassie, can you give him a message for me, please?”
“O-okay. What would you like me to tell him?” I can sense her hesitation through the door. Of course. Because he’s Royal. He has this presence that makes most girls stupid and leaves most guys in awe. And everyone who doesn’t know what he’s capable of bows down to him. Kisses the ground he walks on. Thinks he’s a god here on earth. Wait until the people who idolize him find out how he treated me when I needed him most.
“Tell him to fuck right off. And give me my fucking phone back.”
I hear her heavy exhale through the door. “Shit, Echo. Are you okay?”
“No. No, I’m not.” I’m trying so fucking hard to hold myself together, but all I want to do is curl up in a ball. “Just give him that message for me. Please.”
“Okay.” She must hear the anguish in my voice because she doesn’t question me further. Resting my forehead and palms against the door, I listen as her footsteps fade away.
I swallow hard when the sound of the door opening reaches me. I can’t hear what’s being said, but I trust Cassie to accurately deliver my thoughts to Royal. There’s no way he’s giving up that purse without seeing me. I’m not stupid.
Sure enough, thirty seconds later, Cassie’s right back at my door. She raps her knuckles lightly on the wood. “Yeah. I’m sorry, he refused. I can ask someone at SIN if they can help? One of the seniors? They don’t really have a president like most frats and sororities do. It’s a little weird. But maybe Beckham would help? He’s pretty nice. He’s pretty tight with Royal, too.”
“No.” The word shoots from my mouth like a bullet. Fuck me, how did I miss what was right in front of my nose? My eyes slam shut. “That’s okay. I’ll figure it out tomorrow. Thanks for trying.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you’re having a shit night.”
“Thanks.” I wonder how much of my drama everyone knows about. I was so upset at KDK that I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention to who was watching me spew my venom at those three assholes. Pushing off the door, I turn around, bringing my hands to my hot cheeks. The blood is still pounding so hard in my head I can’t seem to calm myself down.
I release a stuttering breath, then jump a mile when there’s a sharp knock on the window across the room. Staring at it, I can’t see who’s outside. But I can certainly make a guess. Of course, he wouldn’t leave. Nope. Not Royal.
Shaking my head, I march over, then once I’m finally close enough to see him, I fold my arms over my chest. He motions that I should open the window and holds up my bag for good measure.Fuck.If my phone weren’t in there, I’d tell him to go fuck himself.
I press my lips together, trying to hold in my fury.Fine.I bend over, flip the lock, and tug the old window upward. I extend my hand for it, then raise my brows when he doesn’t immediately give it back.
Royal holds the little black bag just out of reach, like the asshole he is.
“I’d like my bag, please. It would’ve been too kind of you to have just given it to Cassie, huh, dickhead?”
His lips twitch. “That was some message you had her relay to me. I figured the least I could do was hand deliver this to you.”
