Page 7 of Soul Mates: Hercules Valentine and I

Something’s wrong. O’Brien’s arm is around Paisley’s waist, and her head is against the side of his chest. Her arms are flailing like she drank too much. She just got here. Paisley Grove can’t be that drunk already. The hairs are standing up on my arms because I know O’Brien’s deep dark secrets. I walk fast, and my strides are long as I keep my eyes on them.

“Hercules, where are you going?” Greenly whines. She says something else, but her words get gobbled up by ambient noise.

I’m close. “O’Brien!” I try to stop him from closing the door to the elevator. I curse under my breath as I weave past people. I don’t want to create a scene.

When I make it to the roped-off hallway where there are two private elevators facing each other, they’re gone. I can't stop here. I have to go after them. I step over the red rope.

“Hey, hey, hey,” a security guard says, grabbing me by the shoulder.

My anger erupts like a blast from a stick of dynamite. All I see is red. He has his hands on me, but he didn’t feel the need to stop the slimeball from taking advantage of an obviously drugged girl. My movement is too swift to stop myself. The guard is against the wall, my forearm against his neck, and I want to hurt him badly for what he let happen.

“Why the hell didn’t you stop him?” I say, my lips clenched.

“Hercules!”

I face whoever called my name.

“What the hell?” Darby bellows like I’m the one who’s in the wrong.

I toss the guard away from me like he’s yesterday trash. Since Darby is near enough, I reach out to grab him by the collar. “Where did he take her?” I growl.

Darby’s eyes expand. “Who are you talking about?”

“O’Brien. Where’s he taking girls he’s raping tonight?” I’m loud, and I know it. I want everyone within earshot to hear me. I know for certain that they’ve done it before, but no one can prove it. It’s why I never go to their parties. And I want to rip his head off for allowing his buddy to do it to Paisley Grove.

“Do we need backup?” The guard asks. I take a glance. He has his radio to his mouth.

Darby and I glare at each other like two lions before battle.

“No,” he spits, lips clenched.

He shoves me hard in the chest, but I don’t budge. My stalwartness sends him a message. I have two older brothers who are hard as hell. I can absorb punches, and Darby sure as hell doesn’t want to take one from me.

I draw him close. We’re nearly nose to nose. “Where did O’Brien take Paisley Grove?”

“Let go of me.”

“You’re taking me, then?”

“Yes,” he says in a low snarl.

I release him, thrusting him away from me. He finds his footing, circles his shoulders, and eyes me cautiously as he reaches out to hit the down button on the elevator.

“Is everything okay?” the guard asks.

Darby slaps a hand against the wall and sniffs bitterly. “Get out of here. You’re fired.”

The doors slide open. I don’t look at the guard. Usually, when an asshole like Darby fires someone, I’ll figure out a way to hire that person. In this case, the security guard pretended not to see a rape in progress just to keep his job. He deserves to be canned.

We’re riding down to the first floor of the penthouse. I’m glaring at Darby’s image on the steel walls in front of us. I want to rip his head off. The thought of something bad happening to Paisley enrages me at an irrational level. I’m aware that she’s only here because I laid it on thick in the hallway. I wanted her here. She was supposed to be mine tonight. And O’Brien plucked her away from me. I swear, if he’s violating her—I clench my fists—I’ll kill him.

“I thought you didn’t like the Groves,” Darby bitches.

I bite down on my back teeth, steadying my anger. It’s all I can do to stop myself from ripping his head off for saying that.Prep school jerks go so far. I never asked any of them to choose sides—not for me, at least. My brothers set the rules about how anyone with the last name Grove should be treated long before I arrived at Dorset Meacham Academy.

I’m staring at the gold-plated wall in front of me. I can’t focus on anything long, though. All I see is red. “You’d just better hope your friend doesn’t have his cock in her.” Thinking about what she might be experiencing right now makes me want to break something. Between my brothers and me, I’m the most measured, but if someone messes with me or anybody I care about, I become hell on earth.

The doors slide open, and Darby shoots out like he’s afraid I’m going to toss him out. If he hadn’t moved fast enough, I would have. I’m following him down a hallway that looks like it’s part of a museum. We’re passing nude statues encased in glass. Marble breasts and cocks on display makes the moment worse.