Page 71 of The Invite (The Massacre Ball #1)

Augustus

I glance at Nessa, who’s gazing out the passenger side window as I drive us home.

She’s been quiet and lost in her thoughts ever since she returned from the teachers’ lounge. I got worried and went after her when she was talking so long. She met me in the middle of the hallway and said she got busy checking a few emails.

Did something else happen she’s not sharing?

Or is she worried about how Anonymous will retaliate?

Pulling the car over to the side, I cut the engine.

“August, why did you stop?”

I unsnap my seat belt, stretch the seat backward, and lean over to undo hers. Grabbing her under the arms, I pull her onto my lap. Tucking a loose strand behind her ear, I coax, “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

“Nothing.” She chews on her lip.

My insides twist because I know she’s lying. I free her lip with my thumb and caress the pink spot. “You’ll tell me if something was bothering you, right? I can’t fix it otherwise, Ness.”

Every second she stays silent is torture and I have the urge to set the world on fire. The wind is knocked out of my lungs when she does speak with a slight tremor in her voice. “I’m afraid I’m no good for you, Augustus.”

“What?”

“It’s true.” Her eyes go glassy with unshed tears. “Everyone in my life dies. We should part ways before I kill you too.”

My grip on her small waist tightens at the thought of her leaving me behind, and I growl, “You have it wrong, Nessa. I will die if you’re not with me.

My heart—” I lay her palm over it and press hard.

“—will stop beating the minute you’re not near it.

If that’s what you want, then sure, we can part ways. ”

A tear rolls down her cheek as she whispers, “I’m not strong enough to survive losing you.”

“You’re not losing me,” I fiercely say and crush her against my chest. “Ever.”

“Promise?”

“I promise, little prey.” Tilting her face, I fuse my lips to hers. I pour everything into the kiss as I claim that sweet mouth deep and rough. I show her with every swipe of my tongue and little nips on her plump bottom lip that I’m going nowhere.

I can’t believe I wasted all these weeks not kissing her.

Motherfucking stupid is what I am.

She keeps humming and kissing me as I lay back against the seat and bring her with me. My dick roars to life, crying for action. But the moment is more than about fucking. It’s about deepening our connection. Binding us together. Eradicating her fears that she’s anything but my lucky charm.

I keep holding her long after the kiss ends, not giving a single fuck we’re parked on the side of the road in the middle of the day. Wrapping her hair around my fist, I tilt her head until she’s staring at me.

“Honey, I’m shit at feelings and I haven’t been in a relationship.

You have to help out your man here.” I goddamn plead with her, laying out my weaknesses.

“If you’re sad, tell me. If you’re happy, kiss me.

If you’re angry, hit me. But don’t go quiet on me.

It’s hellish because you’re right here, yet still so far away. ”

She blesses me with a heart-stopping smile. “I won’t.”

I lay her back on my chest but we’re interrupted by my ringtone. Nessa slides off my lap and goes back to her seat after passing me the device.

I accept the call and connect it to the car’s Bluetooth. I mouth Seat belt to Nessa just as the new security guard’s urgent voice fills the space. “Mr. Grayson.”

“What happened?” I ask as I put the car into drive and pull onto the road after checking the rearview mirror.

“I was manning the gate when someone in a hoodie tried to deliver two black envelopes.”

Nessa tenses beside me while I go alert. “Did you catch him?”

“I tried but he slipped away.” I curse under my breath but shut up when he informs, “But I was able to catch his phone. It must’ve slipped during the tussle.”

I won’t get my hopes up until I check it’s of any use.

“Bag it up and the letters until I get there.” I disconnect the call and flash Nessa a smirk. “At least we know it’s a man.”

Her lips twitch before she goes somber. “Don’t underestimate him, August.”

Driving faster to her place, I shoot a text to Maverick to meet me there. If there’s a letter waiting for her on the doorstep, it means my bluff didn’t work. It will put Nessa at risk. Though, I’m hoping Anonymous took the bait.

Half an hour later, we arrive at her house. Her gaze immediately lands on the black Harley parked in the driveaway.

“Who is that?” she questions.

“Maverick,” I answer as I park the SUV behind it. “He’ll stay with you until I return.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she complains.

“Then consider him a guest.”

“I didn’t invite him.”

“An old friend then.”

“Hardly,” she scoffs. “He’s not sta—”

Unbuckling the seat belt, I grab her throat and shut her up with a kiss. She doesn’t return it, slapping my arm, but a bite to her tongue melts her defiance. Lust and need swim in her pupils when I pull back. “Do you want me distracted while I’m out?”

“No.”

“Then he stays.” Once she agrees, I let her go and unlock the doors. Nessa slips out just as Maverick strolls out her front door and whistles upon seeing us together.

I scowl at his antics while Nessa stays reserved.

I’m a sick bastard for liking it. But fuck if I care. Her smiles and sharp tongue all belong to me. I interlace my fingers with her small ones and press her body to my side.

Maverick leans against her porch and crosses his arms as we climb the short stairs and stop in front of him.

The grin on his face widens and he wiggles his brows at Nessa. “Want happened to never wanting either of us, Miss Davenport?”

Color hits Nessa’s high cheekbones in embarrassment.

I punch him hard on the arm until his shoulder slips from its perch, and growl, “Apologize.”

“Dayum!” Disbelief paints his features as he regards me while rubbing the sore spot. Gazing at a slacked-jaw Nessa, he impressively says, “Who knew you’d be the one to make an honest man out of my grumpy best friend? Excellent work, Miss Davenport.”

“I still didn’t hear an apology.”

He rolls his eyes and bows his head dramatically. “Please accept my sincerest apologies, Miss Davenport.”

“It’s… okay,” she murmurs.

“Also, nothing’s changed,” I retort to him. “She still doesn’t want you, asshat.”

“She would after one night wit—”

I clock his jaw before he can finish the sentence.

“Augustus!” gasps Nessa.

“Stop injuring the bodyguard, dude,” he grumbles.

“Then stop running your mouth.”

“Man, love really makes people go crazy,” he mutters to himself as he pushes past us into the house.

The L-word makes Nessa suck in a sharp breath and she runs after Maverick before I can say a word.

Is my best friend right?

Have I really fallen for this woman? Is that what’s happened to me? All I know is my world revolves around her and the thought of anyone harming her or separating us makes me want to tear it apart. If that’s love, then I have fallen for her.

Does she feel the same?

Nessa has gone to her bedroom when I walk inside. I find Maverick lounging on her couch and sit down beside him. “Did Anonymous leave her a note?”

“No. But he took the one I left,” he replies low. “I caught him on the camera but he kept his head down and was covered head to toe in black.”

“Did you think he knew about the cameras?”

“Don’t think so.” His tone turns thoughtful. “I’m trying to catch his face from a different angle.”

“I might have a clip you can use to match the body type and a phone with his fingerprints. Have your guy at the station look into identifying the prints.”

“He’s on vacation. Won’t be back for a week.”

“Fuck!” I scrub a hand on my jaw and grunt, “He left a note for the rest of us, Maverick. It can’t be anything good.”

He curses before suggesting, “Play his game until we have a solid lead. It’s only a matter of time.”

Sighing, I nod and stand up to leave. “Make sure she eats.”

“What is she? A baby?”

I glare.

“You’re pussy-whipped, Grayson,” he jibes.

With the way her pussy tastes, who wouldn’t be? I’m almost out the living room when he asks from behind, “Do you see a future with her?”

“She is my future.”

“Then tell her the truth, man.”

I shoot him a smirk. “I’m going to show her instead.”

***

The Merc parked in the driveway when I reach home sours my mood.

Looks like dear old Mom cut her business trip short.

The woman couldn’t bother to fly out when Scarlett was involved in a road accident when she was young and was admitted in the hospital for two days. But the moment her precious future is in jeopardy because of my scandal, she flies back at the speed of a rocket.

I’ve barely stepped out of the car when I’m ambushed by Bertha.

“Mrs. Grayson has called you to the office right away,” she informs me with worry shadowing her eyes.

The car beeps as I lock it and push past her.

“She’s livid, Augustus,” warns Bertha.

“When isn’t she?” I retort dryly. Pissed and taciturn are the only two moods she possesses.

Wanting to get over with the confrontation, I quickly stride to the office situated on the ground floor. Without knocking, I shove open the door and enter the lifeless room, just like the woman inside. Cream-colored walls try to suffocate me with its nauseating presence.

My mother has removed any signs that this room once belonged to my dad.

I wonder what he thinks about her from the grave?

“Is it true?” My mother’s voice cracks through the air like a whip.

I let her seethe as I take my time reaching the chair and settling down. Meeting her irate gaze, I answer, “Yes.”

“You will end it,” she hurls, slapping her palms on the desk. “Or so help me God, I will destroy her until there’s nothing left of her.”

“No.”

Her eyes turn into slits and her lips curl in an ugly snarl. I sense the shift in her tactic before she opens her mouth. “She’s a distraction from your goals, Augustus. Don’t destroy your dream because of a silly infatuation.”

“You mean your dream, Mother.”

Her jaw tightens, close to snapping, as she roughly inhales. I hear the cogs turning in her brain as she threatens, “I can send her to rot away in jail for lying in the contract she signed.”

“You can.” I smile, but there’s nothing friendly about it. “But it won’t separate us because I’ll be right beside her.”

“Exactly how will you do that, son ?” she mocks.

“The desk you’re sitting on, Mom .” I lean forward, knocking my knuckle on the surface. “Uncle Matthew is buried under it.”

Deafening silence follows as her pupils blow wide and she sags against the seat.

For the first time, her composure shatters.

“Yo-you killed him?” she gasps.

“He was a scum and a pedophile,” I growl, the unfortunate night replaying in my head. “He’s exactly where he belongs.”

Flinging herself off the chair, she scrubs her hands down her face and paces back and forth.

Watching her break down is priceless. After all, she was the one who let him into our lives.

My father’s body wasn’t even cold in the ground, and she was plotting her future. Money and power are what she breathes.

Whipping toward me, she glares. “You fucking bastard. Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“It’s too late for a lecture.”

“Who else knows?”

“The better question is, who may find out? Send Nessa to prison, and I will end up in one myself, obliterating your precious empire,” I threaten, making her swallow. “Or you can back off and watch me fulfill your dream as I rule this town. Your choice, Mother.”

I’m not shocked when a beat passes, and she utters, “You win, son.”

As I’m walking out, her ominously proud words float toward me. “Perhaps you do have a bit of me in you, after all.”

I’m a lot like her.

And I loathe it.