Hers To Keep (Servite Academy #2)

Chapter 24

Chapter

Twenty-Four

SCARLETT

N ew Year’s Eve. It used to be my favorite holiday. The end of a dreadful year, a new beginning bringing with it the hope of change. Yet year after year, my life remained unchanged. Year after year, the false promises of a new beginning reminded us of just how horrible our lives were. The only upside to it, my mother was never home. Because New Year’s Eve is an alcoholic’s favorite holiday. Ring in the new year drunk on your ass was my mother’s motto.

Tonight will be no different.

Much to my dismay, we will spend the evening down at the beach houses, thankfully not back at Servite Manor. Ace suggested we skip out on his family’s festivities and spend the evening alone, but with my life indebted to Wesley Servite, he says, I do. And he said it was crucial I be in attendance.

The Servites host a New Year’s Eve Gala, much similar to the Halloween Masquerade Ball I attended earlier this year, only this one much more grandiose, with bright lights, loads of champagne, and a firework show with an impeccable view of the Pacific Ocean. Tonight’s theme, The Roaring Twenties.

“Think of Gatsby, much bigger,” says Stella from inside my closet. The start of a new era requires a massive farewell and even bigger welcoming.

“Like the movie? Ooo I love me some Leo DiCaprio. Please tell me someone in your rich and famous town knows him,” Jade says from her spot perched on my bed. Her hair’s pinned up in Stella’s hot rollers, making her look like an old woman in the 1960s wearing vintage Velcro rollers.

“I’m fairly sure Ace’s mom Willa once dated him. She dated serially through Hollywood in her early modeling career. I believe she was only sixteen when she started. That was before settling down as a trophy wife on the arm of Warren Servite two years later.”

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask, how did Ace’s parents meet? His mom looks way too young to be with his dad.” Jade asks with a mouthful of popcorn.

“Oh, she is. Willa is only thirty-six, Wesley’s age. They were the ones who met first, but to everyone’s surprise, Wesley introduced her to his older brother. Warren is at least ten years older than her. She was only eighteen when they got married and she had Ace and Wynter right away. He allowed her to work for a few more years, but after that her job was to attend various high society events and galas on his arm. I think he was afraid of losing her to a younger man in her line of work.”

“Wow, so she got herself a sugar daddy?” Ruby asks, standing by the doorway with her hands on her hips, eavesdropping on our conversation. “Just like Wesley Servite wants Scarlett. It makes more sense now, his obsession with you.”

“Shut it, Ruby. Servite wants nothing with me, but to show us he has the power to ruin us. He’s just one of those sick bastards that gets off on instilling fear in others. ”

“You’re right,” she adds, walking in and over to us. “Definitely think he gets off on scaring you.”

“Fuck off, Ruby!” I grab my underwear and towel before walking over to the door, shoving past her as I exit. “I’m going to get ready for tonight and I suggest you all do the same. We’re leaving at eight.” I say, turning to face them.

Ruby chuckles sarcastically. “Ahh yes, your boy toy is going to send a car for us, right?”

“You don’t need to join us, actually I’d hoped you wouldn’t,” I mutter to myself, but I know she heard me.

“And miss out on the dramatics between you and Ace? I think not. Besides, Jax is going with Drake and Kai. So I’ll be flying solo this New Year’s Eve.”

“Without your boyfriend on New Year’s Eve? Do I smell trouble in paradise?” Jade sneers, causing Ruby to roll her eyes.

“No, but thanks to Scarlett and her little fiasco on Christmas Day, my brother wants nothing to do with her, so we can’t all hang out together. Jax is just being a friend and not turning his back on Drake.” Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes, as I head toward the bathroom to take a much-needed hot shower, hoping to ease the tension within me.

“That’s what you’re wearing?” Stella asks, eyeing my ensemble as she enters my room. Compared to her rose gold, knee length dress with fringe tassels and beaded embroidery, my gray jogger pants and a matching sweatshirt look ridiculous. Stella tucked her hair under a sparkling headband, making it appear shorter. Her lips are a bright pink, while her eyes twinkle under a layer of soft blush eye shadow. She looks beautiful, a real-life Daisy Buchanan.

“Honestly, if it were up to me, yes, but Ace wants us to dress up like some 1920s version of Bonnie and Clyde,” I say, continuing to apply my last bit of mascara and crimson lip stain.

“How romantic.” I can’t tell whether she’s being sarcastic or not.

“You know Bonnie and Clyde were murderers, right?” I ask, slipping out of my sweats.

“Of course I do, I’m not an idiot. I was just saying how romantic of him to want you guys to coordinate outfits.”

“Yeah, you know Ace, not only is he the King of Servite, but he also doubles as the King of Romance.” I chuckle lightly to myself at the sarcasm dripping from my comment.

“Okay now who’s being sarcastic,” she adds as I pick up my choice of attire for the evening from my bed, stripping out of my sweatshirt and slipping into the silver flapper dress, with a deep V-neck neckline and mesh underlining I’ve chosen to wear. I’m pairing it with a pair of matching silver heels and pinning my hair to one side with a silver studded pin in the shape of a cross, or sword, not really sure which it is.

“Wow, that dress is gorgeous, and it looks incredible on you, but that’s no surprise, everything always does. Ace is going to lose his mind when he sees you in that outfit.”

“His mind’s already lost,” I mutter, sarcasm clear in my scornful tone.

“Well yeah, all his sense of reason goes out the window where you’re concerned. Just as it does vice versa.” She walks over to my couch, dropping on it with a sigh. “I still can’t believe you’re dating Ace Servite.”

I laugh at her comment, finding the disbelief in her voice hilarious. “Contrary to what others believe, he’s just like you and me, flesh and bones, with blood running through his veins. Tainted maybe yet still red and warm.”

Stella crosses her legs grabbing a book from the table beside the couch, casually flipping through the pages as she speaks. “ Didn’t look that way until you arrived. He was cold and cruel, a true prick if I ever met one. But yet, not as bad as his counterparts. Ace has always been more of the suffer in silence type. He wouldn’t bother speaking beneath him and preferred to lead through fear. Not as mouthy and arrogant as Alek, or feigning honorability like Beckett, and definitely not as broody and detached as my cousin Sebastian.”

“He’s still the same, except now he has someone who challenges his position of power and makes him look at things from a different perspective,” I add, adjusting myself in the mirror, adding the final touches with some jewelry Stella lent me for the occasion.

“He’s in love, that’s the difference. Before you, he didn’t understand what that meant, and after you, I don’t think he ever will,” Stella naively says. She sounds so hopeful, I’m almost sorry for what I’m about to say, but she needs to hear it. If not, she’ll spend her life with a broken heart.

“Love is for those afforded the privilege of making mistakes. For those who have the opportunity of choosing to blindly trust another over their own judgment. Of allowing themselves to let their guard down and live with the impending threat of never being able to come back from the disappointment that is to ensue.”

“So you’re saying love is for the weak,” she asks, curious to hear more. I turn to her and see a look of innocence in her eyes as I debate whether to burst this idea she’s created in her head where people fall in love and live happily ever after.

“I’m saying love is for those willing to risk everything they are for a fleeting moment. For a distant dream, a flawed fantasy.”

“That’s sad,” she says, interrupted by Jade entering the room.

“It’s reality,” Jade says, as she approaches us. Her dark blue, sequined bodysuit sticks to her like a second skin. The top is long-sleeved and off-the-shoulders, with a cutout in the middle baring her midriff, while the shorts are barely covering her ass. She’s paired her look with knee-high silver boots, looking more like a futuristic Barbie than someone from the 1920s. “It’s what we were awarded the opportunity of witnessing first-hand before we made the mistake of willingly surrendering ourselves to another. Love is an illusion, a fantasy we wish to believe because the thought of no one genuinely caring for our wellbeing, our happiness, is too harsh a reality to swallow. So we trick ourselves into believing someone out there will choose to see us through a different eye. To see us for what we wish we were.”

“That’s a sad reality,” Stella whispers solemnly.

“But it’s the harsh truth. For someone who has endured so much death, pain, and tragedy, I would assume you’d understand firsthand what it’s like,” Jade says, referring to the fact that Stella lost both her parents. Her mother suffered from depression and countless other mental illnesses that drove her to commit suicide, while her father ended up drinking himself to death because of the guilt he felt a month later.

Stella stands, moving toward Jade while reaching her hand out to me to take. Jade takes her other hand and the three of us stand in my room holding hands, like the unlikely trio we are. An innocent child, an impulsive fighter, and a helpless sinner. A trinity of sisters. Not blood related but connected on a deeper level. Our souls interlocked to form a holy trinity of sorts. Three equal parts tangled together to create something unbreakable.

“I may have lost everything, but the difference is I once had it. The unconditional love of a mother,” she pauses, like a knife to the heart her words sting, but I know she means no harm with what she says. She pulls us in closer, embracing us both in a hug, her arms openly wrapped around us. “I’m so sorry neither of you did. My father may have been the reason I lost everything I ever cared for, but he was there for the most part, and deep down I believe he loved me too. But you two were robbed of both. Jade, you never had the chance to meet your mother, but I know she would have loved you so much, but your father is not worthy of your love. Scarlett, your mother is a vile human being, but deep down I’d like to believe your father might have cared had he known.”

“That’s the thing, Stella, we can’t spend our lives living with the ideas of the have and have-nots, the dos and don’ts, the what-ifs and what-nots. It’s exhausting, let alone depressing. We live for the here and now, the reality of what is, and the dread of what’s to come.” I reach up to wipe a stray tear from her cheek. Everything Stella feels she feels so passionately, and she makes you feel exactly as she does with just one look in her eyes. It’s exactly why I think she’d be perfect for Kai, she’s exactly what he needs to unleash his demons and learn to heal.

“But the fact of the matter remains,” Jade says, backing away, as we both turn to face her. “Ace might love Scar, and hell she might even love him. I might even one day find someone who will love me, and I’ll love them, but at what cost? What are we willing to lose? What forced sacrifice are we willing to make? What perpetual mistake are we willing to commit, for a fleeting moment?”

“The ultimate sacrifice,” Stella whispers, walking away and leaving us both to stand and wallow in our self-pity.

The car Ace sent over pulls up to the parking lot along the street of the private beach behind the academy. Although we walked down here countless times, tonight the weather is the coldest it’s been thus far, and our outfits don’t allow for bulky coats.

The beach houses are all beautifully decorated with bright LED lights and chandeliers vibrantly sparkling inside. The main event will be held inside each of the five houses along the shore ending with a countdown and fireworks show on the sandy area along the water. With the amount of people here, there’s no way they would all fit inside the Servite’s, even though it’s massive .

The moment we enter Ace’s beach house, I instantly feel him. It’s as if the room grows still, silent and all that’s heard is the rhythmic beating of his heart, like music to my ears. My heart pounds, my palms sweating vigorously, as a mix of anxiety and arousal overwhelm my senses. Beside me Jade reaches for my arm, my body swaying slightly as all the blood rushes to my head.

“You okay, Scar?” she asks, a look of concern overtaking her green eyes which tonight have a hint of her blue bodysuit reflecting in them.

“I’m fine, it’s just a little crowded here.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of people. It looks like they’re all in here instead of being scattered around the other houses.”

“This is the host’s house, why would you be anywhere else?” Ace says, as he and Bass come up behind us.

“Hey,” I mumble as I turn to face him. He leaves me utterly speechless as I take his look in, my eyes hungrily raking over him. He looks like a true mobster with a pinstripe black and charcoal suit and matching black fedora hat. The three top buttons of his dress shirt are unbuttoned, revealing his tattoos and his beloved silver cross chain. I’ve never asked him the story of it, but it must be important as he’s never taken it off since shortly after I met him.

“Well, well, Little Wolf,” Bass says, as he circles around Jade like a predator readying to feast on his prey. His eyes practically dilate as he takes in her gorgeous figure in her sexy outfit. “I don’t think the women of the 1920s wore such provocative clothing.”

“I went for more of a 1920s burlesque dancer, not like Miss Daisy Buchanan over here,” Jade answers pointing at Stella.

“Well consider me impressed, Wolfe, you look so fucking good,” Bass groans, biting his lip as he watches her, his gaze focused on her ass and long legs.

“Gosh, thank you, Sebastian, I’m so flattered you’re impressed, it’s all I’ve ever wanted,” Jade cries out mockingly, and we all start laughing at his expense .

“Oh really, you're going to play like that?” Bass challenges, stepping into her, crowding her space.

“Maybe if you get me a drink, you’ll find out just how I play,” Jade coos, raising a brow as she takes off toward the champagne fountain, flaunting her ass and leaving us all standing in shock at their flirtier than usual banter.

“Ugh, that was gross, but I feel like this,” Stella says, pointing between Ace and me. “Is going to take a turn in that direction too. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but Ruby, let’s go. I need a drink,” she adds, hooking her arm in Ruby’s.

“Little Silver, you read my mind.”

They take off toward the bar, leaving Ace and I alone, well alone in a crowded room of people I hate, watching us with prying eyes and regarding us shrewdly. The anomaly of our relationship is still a mystery to most, and an unfortunate circumstance to many. I look back at Ace’s freshly cut, unruly dark blond waves combed effortlessly in place under his hat. He looks like the perfect Ken doll, if Ken had spellbinding, blue, topaz eyes, and an immaculate muscular physique covered in sexy ass fuck tattoos. While here, I stand looking like ghetto Barbie accidentally wearing rich girl Barbie’s dress.

He moves closer to me, grabbing my hands in his and pulling me in for a quick kiss. “You look absolutely beautiful, Scarlett,” he whispers in my ear, taking me by surprise. His words sound genuine, not a single insult or crass comment coming from his mouth.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I mutter back to him, trying to hold back my true feelings and shout out how fucking delectable he looks. Leave it to me to be the one not able to keep it in my pants.

This man has made me into some insatiable nymphomaniac. I enjoyed sex with Drake, both of us new to it and not knowing what to expect. Then, after that, it felt good, but was always one sided, either he’d come or I would, rarely the both of us without a little extra help. Yet with Ace it’s absolutely mind-blowing and all-consuming.

Ace extends his arm to me, motioning for me to take it. “Why don’t we go enjoy ourselves,” he says, and after the shit week I’ve had, that’s exactly what I need.