Page 67 of The Invite (The Massacre Ball #1)

Augustus

“Us?” Nessa stammers.

It takes all of my strength to push the words out. “They know we’re together.”

She stumbles back and I catch her.

This isn’t how it was supposed to happen.

The world wasn’t supposed to learn about us like it’s a dirty fucking secret or a scandal for their gossip columns and social media posts.

Yet it’s being spread and talked about exactly like it is.

They’re tainting and diminishing what we have, what we feel for each other.

I haven’t even told Nessa the full extent of it.

It will destroy her to know there’s also a picture circulating around of us. Or how her reputation is being tarnished. I’m just as much to blame for her devastation as the person who’s unveiled our secret.

The threat I made to her in the classroom where I cornered her, each harsh and taunting word replays in my head. Like a terrible prophecy that’s come to fruition.

Everything I warned her would happen if it got out that she and I slept together, has come true.

They think she seduced me.

A sexual predator is what they’re calling her.

The job she told me she loves is in jeopardy.

The difference—it wasn’t at the hands of me. It’s all my fault that she’ll be living her worst nightmare from tomorrow. The one I vowed to protect her from.

I’m vibrating with rage. Devastation a close second.

Of all the things I’ve said to Nessa till tonight, I never wished it to be this.

My biggest worry—handling the wrath of my mother.

She’s going to come after my woman—not that I’m going to let it happen—for breaking the stupid NDA.

I never should’ve signed it in the first place and ripped it apart instead.

Nessa fights against my hold like a scared and frail little girl. Her entire face goes pale, no longer glowing from the countless orgasms I gave her a minute ago. We went from basking in the highest of highs and plummeted to the lowest of lows.

“This can’t be-e happen-ing,” Nessa chokes out, her breathing turning choppy.

“Honey, please don’t cry,” I murmur against the top of her head. “I’m so sorry.”

My entire being is attuned on taking care of Nessa that figuring out who is the culprit doesn’t even cross my mind. My innocent little prey is my first and only priority. Always. The rest of the world comes later—including my sister.

Nessa looks so lost and broken, I just want to cocoon her into my arms. So, I do by picking her shaking frame before sitting down on the nearby chair and bundling her onto my lap. I hold her tight and accept the brunt of her anger and sadness.

It takes her long moments to recover and each millisecond is a punch to my heart. I massage her back, kissing her head while rocking her. She hangs onto me like my touch is a balm to her hurt. It’s the only reason I haven’t gone on a rampage.

“Who would do this?” she murmurs after her sobs have died down. Her voice is rough and pained. “How can anyone know?”

Somebody followed us that night we went to investigate Amber’s murder. The picture floating on the internet was taken outside Nessa’s house. They took a picture of us while we made out in the car. Whoever it was must’ve been at the school too.

Fuck! How could I have been so reckless?

I pride myself on my vigilance. Yet I failed appallingly.

“They must’ve seen me show up at your place.” I give her the half-truth.

“It can be for anything. Doesn’t prove we’re together,” she counters, lifting her head. The optimism in her watery eyes dies upon seeing my closed-off expression. A tense beat passes, and she demands, “Let me see your phone.”

“Not tonight.”

Her body goes rigid. “You’re not telling me the whole truth.”

“Ness.”

“Oh god, it’s worse, isn’t it?”

“Nothing we can’t handle,” I reassure her by cupping her face. “Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. We don’t need to hide. I can proudly show you off on my arm. I know I wouldn’t have been able to survive pretending you aren’t my woman when I returned to school. Every second would’ve been torture.”

Whoever posted about us wanted to rip us apart, but it has only managed to bring us closer.

A small smile curves her lips but it becomes eclipsed by the fear in her pupils. The long lashes glistening with remnants of her tears. “Everyone will think I preyed on you.”

“I’ll kill anyone who does.”

“August!”

“They’re assuming you’re just a forbidden lay to me right now, but once I make them understand you’re mine and how precious you are to me, they’ll see you as a queen and show you the respect you deserve.

I’m going to do it in a way it will leave no room for confusion.

If they still dare to insult you, I’ll end them with my bare hands. ”

“I don’t want blood on your hands and to risk losing you.”

I smile, pinning her with my eyes. “I told you once that I run this town, little prey, and now you’ll see.”

Kissing her hard on the lips, I carve out the tension in her with every lash of my tongue. She moans, and I slow down to teasing sucks until she melts into my embrace.

Keeping her secured to my chest, I stand and trudge upstairs. After closing the hidden door, I grab a pair of sweatpants from the closet and walk us to the bed. Laying her down on my side, I straighten and put on the pants while Nessa quietly stares.

I want to puff my chest out every time I catch her admiring my body. It hasn’t escaped my notice how obsessed she is with my ink, especially the snake on my arm. She caresses it every chance she gets.

Before crawling into the sheets with her, I take both our phones and lock them in a drawer so she doesn’t go online and check the carnage during the night.

“Are you going to check on Scarlett?”

The question startles me. I’m not surprised, though. Nessa has a nurturing nature. “Tomorrow.”

Her hand grabs my wrist before I can climb into my bed. I glance at her quizzically. “Maybe you should do it now. She sounded upset earlier, August.”

The entire conversation with my sister slams to the forefront like a tsunami.

The wheels turning in my brain.

She wouldn’t be the one behind tonight’s disaster, would she? Not after I forbid her. How would she even know about Nessa and—

Shit! It completely slipped from my mind about the set of skills my little sister possesses. Being meddlesome and spying at the very top.

She could’ve easily followed Maverick after he dropped her off that night.

As my mind puts two and two together, I keep my thoughts concealed from Nessa. I pretend to be convinced at her suggestion and nod. Leaning over, I caress her cheek. “Will you be fine alone?”

“Don’t worry about me,” she murmurs.

Impossible. “I won’t be long.”

After one final look, I turn around and exit my room. My steps are determined as I fly in the direction of Scarlett’s room, which is in the opposite wing. By the time I’m outside her door, I’m convinced she’s the one who betrayed me.

Without knocking, I barge—returning the favor—into her bedroom.

Fuck knows she’s done it plenty of times to me.

I find her lying on her stomach on her canopy-style bed and scrolling on her phone. She jumps at my presence and snaps her head in my direction.

“Jesus! What did my door to you?” she yells and sits up straight. At my livid expression, apprehension crosses in her bright eyes. “Gus…”

I don’t reply. Instead, I cross the room to the nightstand, where her laptop sits.

“What happened to your back… wait, what are you doing?”

The sudden panic in her voice gives her away even before I tap at the keyboard, bringing the screen to life. Betrayal cuts deep and blistering as the evidence of her treachery slaps me in the face.

Right before me, sits a folder full of several pictures she took of Nessa and me from outside her home. Any shed of sympathy and protectiveness I felt for my sister turns to ash in the wake of her actions.

“Augustus,” she says cautiously. “Let me explain—”

“I gave you a specific instruction, didn’t I?” I whip around. “Not only did you go against it, you even went a step too far.”

Rather than show remorse, she juts her chin out and gives me a perplexed stare. “I did do as you said. I made up a lie about Kaid. This—” she points at the laptop. “—is backup for when shit goes sideways. I kept your word while making sure we’re safe.”

“You didn’t do shit!” I roar, flinging the laptop at the wall until it shatters into pieces on the floor. Scarlett jumps. “You just ruined Nessa’s life.”

“You were plotting to do the same. It’s what you told me this morning,” she accuses like I’ve lost my damn mind. “You were pussyfooting around, probably fucking her until you got bored. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to move things along.”

“I also told you to stay the fuck out of my business,” I hurl back. “How conveniently you forgot about that.”

She blinks up at me in utter confusion. “You’re… mad?”

Christ! Is she that dense?

I run a hand through my hair in frustration.

“I thought you’d be ecstatic. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

If she’d asked me this on the first day I met Nessa, my answer would’ve been different. I would’ve been proud and victorious. However, my intentions have flipped upside down.

I don’t want revenge on Nessa, but on the people who have crossed and hurt her.

Never thought my sister would be one of them.

“I did it to protect us. Don’t you see?” Approaching me, she shakes my shoulders as she gazes up at me. “Now you have proof to undo the stupid suspension and put Miss Davenport in her place.”

I thought regret is what I felt after I walked out on Nessa. It’s nothing compared to the guilt coursing through me today.

Scarlett flinches as I throw her hands off me and curl my lip in a snarl.

Anger twists her features at my reaction, and she snaps. “Why are you so upset? I handled your mess. You should be thanking me.”

Throttling her is what I want to do. The more she talks like she’s done me a favor, the closer I am to acting on the violent urge.

“You betrayed me, Scarlett. Broke my trust. I thought I could count on you, and it was my mistake. You acted the way you always do. Selfish and impulsive.”

She stumbles back like I slapped her, and yells, “All because I did what you were too chickenshit to do? Why do you care about her? Nessa is a fucking nobody. A lying little bitc—”

I slam Scarlett against the nearest wall before she can even finish her sentence.

She gasps underneath my grip on her throat as I get in her face.

Fear flittering across her expression as I grit out, “Watch how you talk about her. Nessa isn’t a nobody, she’s my woman.

Insult her again and I’ll expose our secret myself. ”

The threat makes her eyes go round and she chokes out in disgust. “Do you like her or something?”

A hollow laugh builds in my throat and I let her go, putting distance between us.

Like is a mediocre word to encompass what I feel toward Nessa.

There are no words to describe it.

Nessa lives inside my head, runs in my veins, and consumes my soul, my entire being, every second of every day.

“All you need to know is that she’s mine and I will shield her from anyone who dares to mean her harm. You’re no exception, little sister. Tonight is the first and the last time you’ve hurt her.”

Chest heaving, she studies me as she absorbs my warning, and finally says, “I’ll leave her alone, but don’t delude yourself into thinking your relationship with her will last. You can protect her from me, but not from our mother.

Nessa doesn’t belong in your future and even if she was, Mom will never let her. ”

“The only one who doesn’t belong in my world anymore is you, Scarlett.” Her face crumbles, turning ashen. It doesn’t sway my decision. “You’re on your own.”