Page 64 of Ruthless Legacy

Archer cups my face with his hands. “We will take the video down and I will instruct every fucker in this school to delete it.”

“What must Wilbur think?” I ask him. “He probably thinks his granddaughter’s some easy whore now. Oh god,” I exclaim. “Kit. Oh, my poor brother.”

The thought of my brother seeing me in a sex tape makes me want to curl up in a ball and die. He will be so embarrassed. Here he is trying to settle in at a new school and all his classmates have seen me naked.

“Listen to me, Scarlet,” Archer commands me, pulling my eyes back to his. “Wilbur won’t think anything less of you. People have sex, it’s perfectly normal. What isn’t normal is someone thinking it’s okay to film someone without their knowledge and invade their privacy.”

“It’s got to be the stalker, surely,” Verity says from where she has been quietly listening, sitting on top of one of the desks.

“Seb, Rafe, go spread the word. Every fucker in this building will delete the video, and if they mention it or say anything at all, they’ll be dealt with.”

Rafe winks at me and pats my arm as he passes. “We’ll sort it, Eliza.”

“I need to go home. I can’t face classes this afternoon, but I need to speak to my brother first.”

Verity hops down off the desk. “I’ll go find him and fetch him here.”

I smile at her in thanks. It is nice having people have my back. It’s not something I’ve had much experience with since my parents died. Verity closes the door behind her, leaving Archer and I alone.

“I’ll kill whoever did this. No one messes with the Aces,” he promises me firmly, with burning rage behind his eyes. I feel this overwhelming need to bury myself in his arms, to feel protected, but I fight the shit out of these strange feelings, pushing them right down out of sight. Relying on someone else is a weakness and allowing yourself to be vulnerable to that feeling just brings on a world of hurt when that person lets you down.

“You’re quiet, Scarlet. You doing okay?”

I push back my shoulders and lift my head high, meeting his intense stare. “I’m fine. You think something like this will break me? I’ve told you, I’m fucking stronger than I look.”

He nods his head as he continues to assess me, and I try not to squirm under his eyes. I feel like he sees past my walls and sees what’s hiding behind there and it unnerves me to no end.

I breathe a sigh of relief when the door opens, and Vee walks in with my brother trailing behind her.

“Hey, Kit,” I say with a grimace, standing to my feet.

My brother throws his bag down on the floor and throws a deep frown Archer’s way before he turns his full attention to me. “You okay?”

I nod and fold my arms over my body. “I’ll live,” I tell him with a shrug. “Are you? It can’t have been easy having all your friends see that?”

He snorts. “I can deal, sis. Besides, most of them just want an invitation to the house so that they can see my ‘hot’ sister.” He air quotes the hot part and rolls his eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

He holds out a hand to silence me. “Did he do this?” He gestures with his head towards Archer, and I can’t help but grin, seeing my brother not wither in Archer’s presence. “Because if he did, I don’t care if he runs the Aces or all that shit. I’ll hit him for you, sis.”

I watch Archer’s eyes widen in surprise as he tries to fight a smile. I think we all know there’s no way my brother could ever lay a finger on him.

“He didn’t, but I’ll find out who did and when I do, I’ll take care of them myself,” I vow.

Kit nods his head and looks over to Archer. “So, are you two like dating or some shit now? Because I kind of thought you hated each other.”

I chuckle and look over at Archer. “Oh, I still hate him, but well, you know, sometimes shit happens.” I feel my cheeks flush slightly when I realise I am standing in a room talking about sex with my brother.

“I get it,” he tells me with a shrug of his shoulders. “I mean, every girl in this school fawns over him, so why should you be any different?”

“I don’t fucking fawn over him,” I protest, my brows crinkling in annoyance.

“Okay, you just fawn over his dick then,” Kit says laughing, and Archer clears his throat.

“Okay, junior, this conversation is over,” Archer orders him, giving him a playful push towards the door. “Get back to class and if anyone talks shit about your sister or gives you shit over the video, you tell me or the others, you hear me?”

“I hear you.” Kit raises his fist to Archer, and I watch in shock as Archer places his fist against his. Kit grabs his bag from the floor and with a quick smile my way, he leaves.

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