Page 14 of Cruel Prep (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 1)

“Dallas?” Lily leans back against my chest so she can look up at him. “What—”

“Where are you taking her?” Dallas asks, redirecting his question to me.

I tighten my hold on Lily and tuck her head against my collarbone, my cheek brushing against her temple.

“To fucking Disney World.”

Lily giggles. I turn and kiss her cheekbone without even thinking about it.

“She doesn’t want a dumb fuck like you,” he sasses. “Besides, she’s drunk.” Dallas studies Lily and then grimaces. “And clearly on something. What did you give her?”

“He didn’tgiveme anything. I took something,” Lily says, trying to defend me, though her words slur in the attempt.

Dallas leans down to look in her eyes. His own are bloodshot, but when aren’t they? Dallas is almost constantly fucked up.

“You need to go anywhere else but here, baby girl,” he rasps.

I don’t appreciate his tone. Like he thinks he has a right to talk to her that way.

Wrong. Very fucking wrong.

Lily opens her mouth to answer, but I pull her back and shift my body in front of hers. “She doesn’t need to go anywhere, Hell Princess. She is happy being with me. If you didn’t notice, she was the one leading the way.”

Dallas steps forward until we are toe to toe, but I don’t back down. All of the Hell Princes are the same. They’re tough when they’re in a group, but they don’t fight by themselves.

“The problem is that she doesn’t know you like I do. She doesn’t know what you’re capable of.”

Lily tilts her head back to look at me, and I roll my eyes. “You act like I’m a criminal, Dallas. We’re just going upstairs. You were the one trying to assault me out on the porch.”

My fists clench at Lily’s accusations. This motherfucker tried to dowhat?He touched her?

Big fucking mistake.

“Lily, don’t go with him.” Dallas grabs Lily’s hand and yanks it towards him, trying to pull her out of my arms.

“Dallas, no.” She pulls back, but even fully sober, she’s no match for Dallas.

Before I can think much about it, I shove Lily away from me, draw my fist back, and let it fly.

Dallas’ jaw jerks to one side as my punch lands. He lets go of Lily’s hand to try and protect himself, but it’s too late. Solid contact.

He spits blood on the stairs and looks up at me with hate in his eyes.

“Go upstairs, Lily,” I order without looking at her. “Third door on the left. I’ll be there in just a second.”

She hesitates for only a moment before nodding and running away.

Then it’s just me and Dallas. He’s standing a step below me, fists clenched at his side and a trail of blood running from one nostril.

When I hear my bedroom door open and shut, I turn back to face him.

“You shouldn’t have touched her, Dallas.”

He wipes the blood with the back of his hand. “Don’t tell me what to do, motherfucker.”

“She’s mine.”

He laughs scornfully. “Contrary to popular belief, not everything in this town belongs to the Fosters.”

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