Call You Mine (Servite Academy)

Chapter Ten

WYNTER

S aint & Second is a beautiful, indoor establishment which was previously one of my favorite places to dine in. Its laidback atmosphere combined with the chic and elegant decor of the modern space, makes it the perfect place to wind down after a long day, have some delicious diverse cuisine, and indulge in the decadent handcrafted cocktails they offer.

Any other day, I’d be happy to be here as it used to be a place I frequented. However, today, it’s the last place I want to be.

I honestly thought my mother was going to weasel her way back into the country club and use my boyfriend's name to get her membership reinstated, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that wasn’t the case.

Damon might have been a nobody until about a year ago, but he’s now one of the wealthiest men in Hillcrest Hills, and that means something to people around here. Not that Damon would give two shits about being part of the obnoxious and elitist establishment, but he could definitely be if he wanted to.

I mean Willa technically could, throwing the right amount of green on the table can get you anything, but I know her false sense of pride will keep her from ever begging for her place back. Yet my mother seems to have something else up her sleeve. Something that frightens me because I don’t have a damn clue what she’s capable of.

I once thought I knew the extent of her maliciousness, specifically after discovering what she hid from Ace and I for so long, but after being ambushed and threatened by her at Stella’s wedding, I feel like I never knew the woman. The woman she has become is a stranger to me, regardless of the reason she is who she is now, she is the only one to blame.

Damon’s been silent since we left the house fifteen minutes ago but I’ll admit I haven’t been quite the chatterbox either. Our drive here was awkward to say the least, the silence embarrassing as if we were suddenly strangers who had no clue how to act around one another. Though after everything that’s happened I’m not surprised.

How could two people who used to speak every day suddenly have nothing to say to one another?

I’m sure Damon has plenty to say to me only I know none if it is what I want to hear. If it were up to him, we wouldn’t be humoring my mother by meeting her out for lunch. If it were up to him we’d blow her off and wait patiently as she disappeared once more.

If it were up to him, he wouldn’t be standing here with me pretending to be my boyfriend to keep up appearances.

But I know my mother, at least I know the woman she once was and her pride won’t allow her to leave without getting what she came for. If we don’t do this, she will latch onto us like a deadly plague, irritating us with her constant presence and destroying us if we were to drag this meeting out.

Willa Servite is best dealt with head on. What Willa wants, she gets. It’s always been that way and we’d be foolish to think things are now somehow different. That she’s somehow matured and learned from her past mistakes. People like her, my father, my uncle, they don’t learn until it’s too late.

Just as we’re about to enter the restaurant, Damon reaches for me, tugging me by my hand and pulling me into him. My back clashes with his hard chest and just as I’m about to turn and curse him out for nearly making me trip and fall flat on my ass, I’m rendered speechless when I find his eyes, dark and demanding, looking at me in a way I’ve never seen before.

Like they know me. Like they want to figure out every secret, every dirty detail I hide behind them. More than just lust and desire, he’s looking at me like he’s someone who knows the way my mind works. And maybe he does or at least he’s playing the part well enough.

The muscles in his jaw clench like he’s contemplating saying something to me but can’t find the right words to say it. The sight of Damon Drake dumbstruck and speechless is unnerving and slightly exhilarating. To know I cause his stupor. That I have the power to render the Daunting Dragon speechless.

Damon breaks the silence the way he knows best—with a taunting demand. “The moment we walk through that door, we’re no longer Damon and Wynter, we’re a couple. Boyfriend and girlfriend and I’ll play my part just like I said I would. But be warned, Wyn,” he says, turning me back around so his chest is to my back. Goosebumps cover my skin as he scoots in closer and leans in to whisper, his erection digging into my lower back. “The moment she steps out of line to insult you, I don’t give a fuck if she’s your mother or the goddamn Queen of England, I’ll put the bitch in her place.”

It’s the last thing I’d ever thought he'd say. I was sure he was going to berate me once again about lying about our relationship and remind me this thing between us wasn’t real, just a ploy to trick my mother into leaving me alone.

The only part he doesn’t know, the part I know will ruin this little pact we’ve made, is I made my mother believe I’d get her the money she wants, from him. I’m not sure yet how I’m going to get out of that mess but I need to find a solution quickly before he figures it out. I need to find some dirt on Mommy Dearest, something that will have her fleeing Hillcrest Hills with her tail between her legs, again.

I thought about telling Damon the truth, but I know how that conversation will go. He’ll put an end to our entire agreement before it’s even begun and I’m not willing to give up on this. He may think it’s all fake, all part of our contract to stop Willa from forcing me to marry one of her sugar daddy prospects, but I’m willing to use this chance to prove to Damon that we are meant to be together.

The pull, our connection, it’s all too real to give up on. I’ve felt nothing like it and seeing him again, being this close to him, and feeling his hands and mouth on me even for just a second, has made me realize I want him more than anything. Yet he’s always kept me at arm’s length. I have also, but that was when I had to because Enzo was a threat to us. When he was an obstacle standing in my way, but he’s not anymore. He’s dead and we’re both better for it.

Deep down I know my lies will be nothing more than a betrayal to him. If there’s one thing Damon Drake hates more than the ghost of his dead mother and the scumbag who fathered him, it’s dishonesty. Regardless, I can’t get myself to tell him the truth, even if it is the one thing that will ruin me for him.

Walking inside hand in hand, my heartbeat pumping wildly as I look around the room at the blank stares and gaping expressions on everyone’s face, I realize this was a horrible mistake.

Did I think coming back home after years of being absent would not matter?

No, but I’d hoped people would be a little more subtle about their distaste. Acquaintances I once had, friends I once believed were authentic, all staring at me like I’ve risen from the dead or grown a third head overnight.

Leave it to Willa to choose a place that’s crawling with people from our past life, all here expecting us to cause a scene. They had to have known she was back. It’s all anyone was talking about after Stella’s wedding and I’m sure word got around.

“Welcome to Saint & Second,” the hostess says from behind the front podium. I watch her eyes widen as they flick from me to Damon, spending way too long admiring him.

I mean I get it, he’s a fucking vision in the black slacks that fit perfect and tight around his thick thighs and hard ass, and the black dress shirt does the same wrapping around every inch of muscle along his shoulder, arms, and chest. The black ink snaking around his neck and hands makes him look dangerous. The good kind of dangerous, like some Mafia Dom. Wicked with the promise of a good time if you were his.

In this case, I am his, and it’s more than a little unsettling to watch the redhead little bitch ogle my man.

I spot Willa the instant the hostess leads us toward the dining room. She’s sitting in our usual booth, toward the back side of the room underneath the glimmering gold chandelier, the same she had put into our dining room home because she loved it so much.

“Mother,” I utter spitefully, air kissing her on both cheeks. The scent of her fruity perfume sits bitter on my tongue.

“My darling, it’s so good to see you again. It’s been too long.”

I watch as her gaze fades away from me and to the man standing way too closely behind me I feel as if I’m suffocating between the two of them.

“Yes, well, seems like not long enough,” I murmur under my breath, feeling Damon’s hand rest at the small of my back. He pulls out my seat before extending an arm out to my mother.

“Mrs. Servite, it’s a pleasure to formally meet you. Damon Drake.”

My mother doesn’t hide the desire in her gaze as she checks him out right there in the middle of the restaurant, in front of me.

“Why yes, the pleasure is mine dear. Wynnie, how did you snag a man like this?” she asks, obvious distaste in her tone. Willa’s eyes sweep over Damon with apparent interest but a shark like her can smell his tainted blood from a mile away. His current bank account may rival my family's net worth, but it’s obvious to her that wasn’t always the case.

“It’s me who’s won the jackpot with this beauty, Willa,” Damon taunts, his tone deep yet playful as he notices her intent to rattle him. “But of course you know that seeing as she gets her beauty from her mother.” I roll my eyes and subtly step out of his hold annoyed by his comment.

There’s no denying my mother’s beauty but the idea of him noticing and pointing it out makes me sick to my stomach. Willa smiles, fake as she can sense his sarcasm though his act is pretty convincing.

The asshole is too damn good.

Damon sits in the seat beside me and places a hand upon my thigh making me quiver at the contact. I gasp when he slides it higher, his gaze remaining glued to my mother who watches us with suspicion. As Damon’s fingers continue to move along my skin, I realize he’s not touching me sexually. His touch serves as reassurance that he’s here, with me, as my boyfriend. To stand up for me, protect me, and be the friend he knows I need.

“So, Damon,” my mother says, being the first to cut the tension. “Since I saw you at Stella Silver’s wedding, I can’t shake the feeling that I know you from somewhere. Have we possibly met previously?” The smirk on her face is triumphant, like she’s aware she’s caught us in a lie or up to something, but before Damon can respond, we’re interrupted.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Ace shouts as he appears with a suddenly very pregnant looking Scarlett on his arm. It’s funny how just a few days ago you could barely see the slight bump but now nearly entering her third trimester it’s more pronounced.

Ace’s eyes find Damon’s beside me when no one responds and I can see a look of triumph on my mother’s face. What the actual fuck is going on?

“Oh, my dear boy, no need to play the overprotective brother,” Willa says, picking up her dirty martini and taking a long, swift sip. “Our Wynnie here is a big girl. Hell, even you’ve made your own choice by marrying that wild young girl the Servite men were all so enamored by.”

“She’s right here mother. And not only is she my wife but the mother of my two children.”

My mother glares, annoyed by the reminder that at thirty-nine years old she will soon have two grandchildren. “Right,” Willa says, acknowledging Scarlett who’s been standing here beside my brother the entire time.

“Great, now that’s all cleared up, someone tell me what the fuck is he doing here?”

Just as Damon is about to stand to most likely beat the shit out of my brother, I move quicker, holding him down by my hand on his shoulder as I step between them.

“It’s great to see you again dear brother, and to answer your question, which is rude of you to insist on, Damon is here because he’s my boyfriend, and our dear mother invited us to lunch. By the looks of it she’s invited you and your wife as well, so instead of coming at us with your protective alpha bullshit, turn it on Willa who clearly has an agenda. Right, mother?” I ask, not bothering to look her way instead keeping my eyes on Ace’s who’s glaring at me like he wants to strangle me.

Feeling’s mutual brother.

The vein in his temple is visibly strained and pulsing, and I can almost smell the blood inside his mouth as he bites down on his tongue to hold back the colorful words I’m sure he’s about ready to spout out at me.

“Stop fucking calling him that,” Ace growls, and I can’t help but laugh at his petty bullshit.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Tell me brother what is it about my boyfriend,” I say, annunciating each syllable to make a point. “That you don’t approve of?”

I pause for effect and when Ace doesn’t reply I continue, feeling bold and not giving one fuck about the scene I may be causing. “Is it the fact he was born dirt poor and that elitist bullshit our father’s drilled into your brain? Yeah plural,” I spat out, glaring at Willa who just rolls her eyes nonchalantly. “Is it that his parents did him the favor of dropping dead instead of torturing him his entire life and haunting him from beyond the grave or a mere two feet away? Or is it you're too much of an asshole to want to see your little sister happy for the first time in her goddamn life?”

I’m shouting by this point, my lips quivering in anger and tears pricking at my eyes but I’m too damn proud to break down here in front of all these prying eyes.

Mental breakdowns are to be dealt with in private, and I keep forgetting that.

“It’s the fact that he’s screwed my wife!” Ace snaps back at me and I swear I hear the entire restaurant gasp in horror. Well done, brother. Way to one up your neurotic sister.

“Ace,” Scarlett murmurs horrified at the same time Ace’s face drops, visibly regretting what he’s just said. Too fucking late. Damon immediately stands and nearly shoves me out of the way before grabbing my brother by the collar of his dress shirt.

“You’ve got some fucking nerve Servite,” Damon growls, looking equally full of rage.

“Get your hands off me Drake,” Ace utters calmly though his glare is dark and demanding. But it’s obvious my brother’s realized the scene he’s just caused and is trying to prevent a full out brawl from breaking out.

“You don’t get to waltz in here like a fucking saint and treat my girlfriend like she’s a piece of gum beneath your shoes or some dirty whore for fucking me. Need I remind you it was you who fucked my girlfriend, not the other way around.”

“Drake, please.” This time it’s Scarlett who pleads for them to stop, placing a hand on Ace’s shoulder.

I do the same to Damon, though we’re all taken by surprise when Willa claps loudly, comfortably leaning back in her chair like she’s just watched an Oscar awarded performance. Her black dress hitches up her crossed leg, while her red lips turn upward in a wide smile.

“Bravo, my children,” she says, looking damn pleased with herself. “This was better than I could have ever imagined our little reunion would be.”

“You conniving bitch,” I shout, and once again the room gasps in response. The few people at earshot don’t look familiar to me, but everyone in Hillcrest Hills and its surrounding towns knows who we are. I’m sure this minor altercation will soar through socials and front pages of gossip sites in a matter of minutes.

From the corner of my eye, I notice someone recording us on their phone but before I can say anything Drake rushes the poor guy, grabbing his phone and slamming it down on the table. The asshole jolts in fear and nearly pisses his pants at the daunting force of a man that is Damon Drake.

Without a word, Damon stalks back over to us, but Willa’s smile only widens. He has proved the point she’s suspected from the get go. Damon is not one of us, and in her eyes, the old me would never have been caught dating a guy like him. Hence, this relationship is a fraud.

My mother straightens in her seat, her smirk slowly fading as she stares at Damon protectively grabbing my waist. “Watch your tone Wynter. Regardless of what you think of me, I am still your mother and will not allow you to disrespect me.”

Beside me, Ace chuckles. “You mean the way you just put your two kids up against each other in hopes of what mother? Huh? What did you expect to gain out of Wynter and I fighting like this?”

The restaurant guests slowly go back to their mundane conversations, the women grazing like livestock at the minuscule salads in front of them, while the men sip their expensive liquor from cut glass drinkware.

“That perhaps you’d realize the god-awful mistakes you both made in choosing your partners. I mean just look at him, Wynnie, the man is a savage. Threatening your brother like a madman.” She turns to Ace, “And the girl, son, going after your father wasn’t enough. She needed to complete her twisted threesome with you.”

“Cause your choices were so classy mom. Fucking your husband wasn’t enough, so you had to fuck his brother too? Tell me did you know we were Wesley’s kids? Or were you so confused who’d come inside you first.”

“Watch your tongue Wynter,” she shouts, standing up abruptly. Ire blazes in her blue eyes, disgust on her face as she looks at me but I know the same expression sits on my face as I stare blankly back at her. Her voice lowers as the restaurant manager approaches our table. However, the look in her eyes as she glares at him, makes him turn right back around the way he came. “The choices they made for me were out of my control. Not that you’d care, obviously, but I would have never fucked either of them if they’d given me a choice.”

I almost feel sorry for my mother and the idea that she had no say in what happened to her. I paid little attention to the story of how I was conceived after news broke out about Wesley being my biological father, but apparently Willa’s husband Warren was sterile. Being the oldest Servite son, he needed to provide an heir. My grandfather took it into his own hands to appoint Wesley, his youngest son, as his heir and forced him to conceive a child with Warren’s wife, my mother.

Some sick and twisted shit but knowing my grandfather and our family history in this town, I don’t doubt it to be true. But my mother is a monster and regardless of how that happened, I can never forgive her for all she’s done to me.

A server approaches our table but makes the correct decision in biting her tongue as she sets another martini in front of Willa.

“Now,” Willa says, taking her seat. “The two of you will sit down right this second, or I promise you this is the friendliest version of me you will see.”

Drake is the first to speak, beating Ace who looks so taken aback by the way I responded to our mother to even form a sentence. Yeah brother I grew a fucking backbone. Where the fuck is yours?

“You may think you still have power over them or anyone Willa, but you are mistaken. You can insult me all you want, but I will not stand for you disrespecting Wynter that way again. I don’t give a fuck who you are or who you may have fucked to get you where you are, you don’t scare me.” Damon’s expression turns wild as he continues to show Willa no mercy. “You are right. I am a fucking savage who grew up in some no-good slum, parentless and penniless, but that also means I have come face to face with some scary fuckers in my past. A bit of advice, Willa, I would think twice if I were you before you come at me or my girlfriend again.”

This time it’s Scarlett who laughs under her breath, clearly pleased with the way Damon’s standing up to my mother.

“How dare you?” Willa sneers, but he ignores her, instead grabbing my hand and tugging me toward him.

“Wyn, let's go. We’re fucking done here. And don’t expect to hear from us again Willa. You’re better off disappearing off the face of the earth again.”

Willa sits stunned, her cheeks burning red in embarrassment at the way he so easily dismissed her. Damon looks toward Ace before we pass him and Scarlett. “She deserves better than to be spoken about that way. I’m sure you know that since you married her, but in case you’ve forgotten.”

The strangest thing happens next. Ace doesn’t argue back or try to punch Damon for insinuating he’ll just allow anyone to speak so poorly of Scarlett, but he nods in agreement with him.

Damon drags me through the restaurant and out the front door. “Damon, please stop,” I call out, barely able to catch my breath but he ignores me, continuing to pull me down the street toward where we parked along the curb. “Damon, stop. We need to go back.”

In a rush of movement, I’m slammed back against the car door. Damon presses himself against me, caging me in under his weight, one hand still tightly wrapped around my wrist while his free one lands at the small of my back pulling me in. “Don’t push me on this Wyn. There’s no fucking way we’re going back in there. You’re going to be a good little girl, keep your pretty mouth shut, and get your ass in the damn car.”

I melt to a puddle of mush at the authoritative tone in his voice as a rush of desire nearly paralyzes me. Holy shit this man is a fucking animal. I shouldn’t turn me on, the way he’s forcing himself against me. The crass way he speaks to me, demanding and ordering me around, but fuck if I’m not embarrassingly wet by the mere look in his eyes and the way his nostrils flare in anger.

“Or what huh? You're going to pick me up and throw me in?”

His lips tease mine as he leans forward, breathing me in to calm himself down. I raise my hand against his chest, feeling his heart beat slow under my palm and decide to push my luck. Wrapping my free hand around his waist, I pull him in closer to me making him growl in my ear. The hairs on the back of my neck raise awareness of how close we are and what’s about to happen.

“Don’t fucking tempt me, Princess. I’m not above bending you over the hood of my car and fucking you raw until you learn to do as you’re told.”

A soft moan escapes my lips and just as our lips touch, we’re interrupted by the sound of my brother’s voice calling my name. Fucking cock blocker.

“Wynter,” Ace shouts, rushing toward us.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Damon groans, pushing off of me and turning to find Ace and Scarlett standing behind him.

“Out here on the side of the street, really?” Ace scoffs, disgusted by the compromising position he’s found us in. His blonde hair has grown out more than it usually is, and his face looks fuller, the dark shadow of hair along his chin and jaw making him look older than he is.

Making him look like him. It’s surprising no one ever suspected we were Wesley’s children. Looking at my brother, he’s the spitting image of our bio dad. It’s unnerving, the devil looking at me through my brother’s eyes. His ghost haunting me through a familiar face.

“What the fuck do you want now? You finally ready to be a man and stand up to mommy? Or are you going to continue to let her degrade your wife and mother of your children?”

Ace’s face turns bright red, anger emanating from him in ferocious waves directed at the man by my side. “Fuck you, man. You don’t know what you're talking about.”

Damon scoffs, “What I know is that you stood there before her like a dumbstruck little boy. Your sister had more balls than you and the nerve to stand up to her.”

“Damon, please. Just stop,” Scarlett pleads, and frankly it’s annoying that she’s asking him to stop when Ace is the one who’s come over to continue to insult us.

Ignoring Scarlett’s pleas, I sidestep Damon and move to face Ace head on, pushing my finger into my brother’s chest. He falters back slightly. “You need to back the fuck off, Ace. I don’t give a fuck about whatever bullshit beef you have against Damon for whatever happened between him and Scarlett in the past. He’s my boyfriend now and if you want to be in my life you better get used to the idea. I’ve gone three years without so much as a goddamn text from you, I can go a lifetime without speaking if need be.”

My brother’s eyes go wide in disbelief. Does the idea of me choosing Damon over him really surprise him after all we’ve been through? We haven’t been close since we were ten years old, since before Wesley began molding him into the soldier he needed him to be, making Ace forget he had a twin sister who needed him. “You’d really choose this asshole over blood, Wyn?” Ace asks, his expression softening as he looks deep into my eyes. Mirrored reflections of his in both color and pain.

“When has blood done me any good, Ace? You witnessed the same thing I did. A woman who’s supposed to be the one person to protect us and love us unconditionally is just another devil wearing sheep's clothing. Or have you forgotten that Wesley, our blood,” I enunciate the word to make my point, “Tried to have you and your wife killed?”

Because I haven’t.

Months before our high school graduation from Servite Academy, Wesley and another one of his associates, a man I now know was Franco Marchesi—Enzo’s psychotic uncle who was banished exiled from the Famiglia—essentially kidnapped Ace and Scarlett, with the help of Scarlett’s mother who was related to Franco. It’s all too confusing to keep track of, but the bottom line is the three of them, along with Scarlett’s biological father, died that night. Who shot who is beside the point. Luckily Ace and Scarlett made it out with only a few bruises and cuts after Servite Manor, my home, exploded into bits.

Within the year he had it rebuilt, but I’m glad Ace is selling it. The place is haunted by their ghosts.

The truth is blood means nothing to my family. Nothing but a false sense of loyalty and an excuse to be complete dicks to one another.

Shame flashes in his eyes as he looks away from me. “You’re right, okay. I’m sorry, but fuck Wynter. Him really?” he asks, his voice now low so only I can hear him, but still clearly bothered by the idea of Damon and I being together. It’s unconventional but hell, I thought he’d have gotten over it after seeing the way we were together at Stella’s wedding. Regardless of the fact I sprang this lunatic idea on Damon last minute, we were pretty convincing.

“Does your pathetic and frankly stupid feud with him mean more than seeing your sister happy, Ace?”

Ace contemplates my question but Damon doesn’t give him the chance to respond. “We should go,” Damon says, opening the passenger side door for me when he senses my unease. I don’t argue, tired from the day's events, I just want to go home and forget all of this happened. I slip inside the car but just before Damon can shut the door, Ace calls out my name once more.

“Wynter,” he says, looking between Damon and I, unease flickering in his eyes. “This isn’t over.”

I nod my head only I’m not sure any of them can see it. “I know brother,” I mutter back, accepting the fact that we can’t leave things like this. Not if we plan on being in each other's lives. And after being gone for so long, having absolutely no one to rely on, I need my brother. But I won’t sacrifice my happiness to do so. “But I’m done fighting with you, Ace. Come find me when you're ready to apologize.”