AS LOCK DROVE US ACROSS CAMPUS, his fury at what Helen had gone through, the way she’d been violated over and over, fed into mine. I was barely able to contain it all. My chest felt swollen, near cracking. My throat burned to bellow the rage churning inside me.
Lock’s teeth had to be ground to dust by the time he parked half on the lawn, half on the curb in front of the house. A few guys were hanging on the porch, probably still drunk from the night before. I grabbed the first guy who crossed my path. Dick was his name. Or Colin. It didn’t matter.
“I need you to get Daniel. Tell him he’s wanted outside,” I ordered.
Colin shrugged at my demand and sauntered into the house, calling out Daniel’s name. Beside me, Lock cracked his knuckles and his neck.
A minute later, Daniel emerged, dressed in boxers, slippers, and a silk robe. He had a joint pinched between two fingers and a glass of orange juice in the other hand.
“Wow, what’s the drama, Whitlock?” He practically stumbled down the steps. “Isn’t it too early for this kind of thing?” He gestured to Lock with his cup-filled hand, spilling OJ over the top. “And what’s with the lumberjack? Is he your hired muscle?”
My hands flexed at my sides. “You know why I’m here.” Not a question. He obviously knew.
He leaned an elbow against the bottom rail. “This wouldn’t have something to do with the practical joke I played on that stripper, would it? I’m impressed with how much money she earned off her sweet little body. It’s all upstairs in my room. Why don’t I go grab it and you can stuff it in her G-string? I heard she likes that.”
“A joke?” I growled. “Was it a joke when you were feeling her up in her sleep?”
He chugged his orange juice, tossed the glass in the bushes, and sauntered closer. “Perhaps my sense of humor is more refined. I thought it was pretty fucking hilarious that your stripper girl was insulted about me copping a feel. I suppose I should have thrown some ones at her first. Is that what you do? Or do you have to shell out the big bucks for full service?”
Daniel was puffing on his joint when I swung at him, connecting solidly with the side of his head. The joint fell, and he staggered to the side, bouncing off Lock’s puffed-out chest.
The guys on the porch took notice of what was going on, some getting up to come closer, others dashing inside, no doubt to alert the house of what was going down on the lawn.
He cupped his cheek, twisting an ugly look at me. “Oh, you’re dead, Whitlock. Daddy won’t save you now.”
“Yeah? Is Daddy gonna save you when it comes out you like to creep into girls’ bedrooms?”
He scoffed and spit on the ground. “No one cares about a whore, bro.”
Lock’s big hand fastened around the back of Daniel’s skinny neck, giving it a sharp jerk. “Daddy’s teat is going to run dry soon, boy. When his date-rapist son’s misdeeds come to light to his board members, they’re not going to be too happy.”
Daniel’s face flushed red, his expression flashing with fear he quickly plastered over with indignation. “Fuck you. I don’t even know you. Get your filthy hands off me, you fucking ox. Shouldn’t you have farm equipment yoked to your neck?”
Lock tossed him aside like a used cum rag. Daniel stumbled sideways, losing a slipper in the process. He laughed, like this was some big joke. To him, it probably was. People like Daniel could assault and steal from a girl one night, then wake up in the morning to spend the day on their parents’ yacht without a second thought. It disgusted me that I’d been fighting tooth and nail to stay in a world filled with Daniels.
“I know you just by looking at you.” Lock folded his thick arms, sweeping a look of loathing over Daniel and his silk robe. “Better to be an ox than a snake.”
“Oh, please.” Daniel threw his arms out to the side. “All this over a girl who’s not worth anything and never will be, no matter what degree she earns? Once a whore, always a whore.”
I took a step toward him, my muscles so taut they were vibrating. “Once a little bitch, always a little bitch.”
Daniel smirked, like he was amused, glanced to the side at all the guys from our house watching with bated breath, then he charged. I met him before he could gain speed, sweeping his legs from under him and taking him down to the ground easily. He was high, lanky, lazy, and I was filled with righteous anger.
I was on him in a flash, knees on his arms, landing a blow to his jaw. “You don’t deserve to breathe the same air as Helen Ortega.” Another punch to his cheek. “She has more integrity in her pinkie than you’ll ever have in your life, you spineless piece of shit.”
He spat at me, saliva mixed with blood. “Fuck you and your whore. You’re finished at this school, man.”
“That’s what you think?” My palm on his face, I mashed his head into the grass, grinding it back and forth while he screamed from his gut. “That’s what you really think? You’re nothing, Daniel. You have no power. No say in what happens to me or Helen. You’re a sad excuse for a man.”
He bucked under me, but he didn’t even jar me. He wasn’t a challenge. Beating him felt hollow, especially with him pinned down so easily.
“I know what color your girlfriend’s nipples are, man. Ask Colin. He knows too.”
With wild eyes, I found Colin. He held his hands up, backing away. “I don’t know anything. My memory is wiped.”
Daniel howled and craned his neck to see who else was around. By now, half the frats at Savage U were gathered to watch the show.
“Ask Duncan! He was there too.”
Another guy took a similar stance as Colin, shaking his head. “I have no memories of that night. I must’ve hit my head or some shit.”
“That’s the right answer,” I growled.
“Motherfucking pussies!” Daniel bellowed. “All of you, pussies!”
Dear god, I couldn’t stand looking at his face, so I painted it red with a direct punch to his nose. Blood splattered at the sound of the crack, and it kept coming. My fists kept coming too, hitting soft and hard places alike. I was out of my mind with the need to see Daniel as nothing but pulp.
“Dude, get off him!” Someone grabbed at my shoulders, but I shrugged them off. I wasn’t done. Not even close.
“Theo, he’s had enough. Come on, man.” Another pair of hands gripped my arm, this time with more force. I didn’t need two arms to fuck Daniel up, though. I slapped him like a little bitch, sending his head sideways.
“Come on.” Strong arms locked around me, hauling me forcibly off Daniel’s prone, bloody form. He was alive and groaning, rolling to his side, which was unfortunate.
“I’m not done,” I gritted out.
“You’re done.” Lock had me, dragging me several feet from Daniel. “He got the message. All the other assholes got it too.”
No one was helping Daniel, not even Deacon, who’d been one of the voices telling me Daniel had had enough. Everyone was standing around, watching Daniel struggle to his feet. Most bore looks of distaste, aimed directly at Daniel. Not that most of these little shits were any better, they were just a little more discreet.
“He’s not ruined.”
“No,” Lock agreed, “but if I know anything about how you feel for Helen, he will be. Just not like this.”
I sagged, some of the fight leaving me. “You can let go of me. I’m not going to kill him.”
Daniel was limping into the house anyway, everyone giving him a wide berth. I got the distinct impression it wasn’t a show of respect, but more like a shunning. No one liked Daniel anyway, but after his show of indiscretion on our front lawn, I hoped they wouldn’t be subtle in their dislike.
Deacon jogged over to me, his arms spread wide. “What the hell was that about?”
I narrowed my eyes on him, fury still burning low in my gut. If he stepped wrong, I’d make him feel it too.
“That was about Daniel disrespecting, touching, and stealing from my girl. You’ve done all but one of those things to her, so you need to know I’m watching you. If you so much as breathe in Helen’s direction, you’re dead to me.”
He flinched. “Helen? Helen Ortega, the drug dealer, is your girlfriend?”
Lock growled low behind me. Deacon’s gaze jerked to him, then back to me. Color leached from his face. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Deadly. And her name is Helen. All that other shit is in the past. If you ever refer to her, it will be with respect, and it will be by her name.”
He blew out a heavy puff of breath. “Does your dad know?”
“No, but I do not give a shit what he thinks.”
Deacon gestured to the house. “He’s going to find out.”
I lifted a shoulder. “Again, I do not care.”
He tucked his hands in his pockets, giving me a long look. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“This is the first time in a long time I know exactly what I’m doing.”
That was the truest thing I’d ever said. For years, I’d gone along, letting others take the lead. My coaches, my dad, even my friends. In my old life, the one in the lead was the first one to fall. It took meeting Helen and being shaken out of that mindset to see I didn’t like the direction I was being taken by the people I’d willingly given the reins to. This was me taking them back. My path had never been more clear.
