Hers To Keep (Servite Academy #2)

Chapter 33

Chapter

Thirty-Three

ACE

H er words cut deep into my soul. The fear in them, the helplessness in them, the doubt she has in me. How could she trust me when all I’ve done is let her down?

Time and time again, I’ve lied to her, withheld information, and I continue to do so. How can I make her see that if she were to find out everything, it would not only put her life in even more danger than she already finds herself, but it would break her apart completely?

She can’t even imagine the depth of my uncle’s corruption, but he’s not the only villain out there. There is another evil that threatens to possess her. A more extreme force, more volatile and immoral.

Yet for now, I must work on destroying the evil which is a more prominent threat. My blood, my Uncle Wesley. In order to do so, I’ll need help. The only one who’d understand is my best friend, my brother, my right-hand man, Sebastian Silver.

I head out to the Silver’s beach house down at the edge of the beach, leaving Scarlett to rest. After everything she discovered today, after the truths about her parentage and the lengths of her mother’s maliciousness, she needs time to heal. Not to mention the bomb I dropped on her once and for all declaring my burning love for her.

I love Scarlett Steele.

I love every inch of her perfect body. I love every piece of her saintly soul. Every ounce of her wicked, rebellious side. She’s an alluring angel, a defiant devil, or something in between, but she’s all fucking mine. There is no doubt about it, and no one on this hellish earth can change that. Her heart beats so profoundly, holding so much love yet she somehow refuses to see it’s there. She believes everything that has happened to her is some sort of karma, some punishment for the vile shit her mother is responsible for.

How can I make her see that none of this is an unfortunate circumstance or some kind of retribution? It’s all been manipulated to happen exactly as it has. My uncle has worked tirelessly to make sure he has control over her and the situations she finds herself in. Before now, I played a part in all of that. I can never truly forgive myself for my part in any of this, but I’m determined to make things right.

That means bringing his empire down, at all costs.

The Silver’s beach house is the complete opposite of my family’s property. Where ours is clean, modern, and minimalistic, Bass’s is nautical, like a true beach cottage on the cover of some tourism brochure. All thanks to Beckett’s mother Eliza, the place is spotless. However, it also may be because it’s rarely visited since this last year we’ve all held up residence in mine.

I called Bass up as soon as we got in and asked him to meet me here, not wanting Scarlett to hear what I’m going to ask of him. He already knows how I feel about her, and that I need to bring my uncle down and make him pay for all he’s done, especially to her, but we’ve yet to make a plan.

So today, that’s exactly what we’re going to do .

I find Bass is already here, leaning back against one of the sandstone pillars that adorns his front porch, watching as I approach him, a bottle of gin held tightly in his hand as it always is.

I walk up the steps leading to his residence, stopping before him deciding there is no time left for bullshit. “I need you to forget everything we’ve been taught. Every bogus ideal that was ever instilled into our fragile minds by our fathers. I need you to forget everything for just one moment. All I need you to remember is that you’re my brother, my best friend. Because I need you to help me take down the very world we were created to protect.”

Bass brings the bottle to his lips, taking a large swig. “I knew whatever you were going to tell me was going to be fucking insane, but what the hell are you talking about, Ace?” he asks, wiping away the excess liquor from his lips.

“He’s toxic, Bass, dangerous, the scum of the fucking earth, and I need to destroy him before he succeeds in destroying her.” I don’t use his name directly, but I know he knows exactly who I’m talking about.

“This is all about Scarlett, isn’t it? Ace, I know that pussy must be…” he says, but I interrupt him before he says something fucking stupid that I might need to beat his pretty face for.

“I love her,” I blurt out, stunning him. I guess I was wrong. He doesn’t know how I feel about her. “I never thought I’d find myself in this situation, falling for someone, feeling any kind of emotion other than hatred. But she consumes my every thought, Bass. She draws out of me every emotion both good and bad. She’s fucking gorgeous and feisty, she’s loyal and selfless, she makes me want to be a better man, all while making me feel like I can be.”

Bass’s look of astonishment quickly changes to a knowing smirk.

“Of course you fucking love her, you fucking idiot. It’s about goddamn time you admit it to yourself. I mean what’s not to love. She’s fucking spirited and steadfast. Never once did she cower down to us, even when she was in clear and present danger.” He sets the bottle down on the porch railing beside us as he steps closer to me placing a hand on my shoulder. “But going up against Wesley is futile. He’s too powerful, has so many others under his command, willing to do anything to protect him.”

“I know what I am asking of you, Sebastian. That going against him, bringing him down, is going against your father.”

“I couldn’t care less what happens to my father, Ace. He’s as guilty as Wesley is in everything. But why don’t you just leave? Take her with you and just leave this fucking place. You’re both eighteen now, there’s nothing tying her to stay at Servite. Yeah, she probably doesn’t have any form of identification, but you’ve got a trust you both can live off of.”

Everything he says makes so much sense. For us to just leave my uncle, her mother, and everything about Hillcrest behind. But I know she’ll never agree to do that.

“She won’t leave, Bass, she can’t. She won’t leave her sister behind, or any of those other kids from her foster family. Although they’ll be eighteen soon, if they don’t stay and finish the school year, graduate from the academy, they’ll have no future whatsoever. She’s not selfish, she won’t do that to them.”

Bass runs a hand knowingly through his thick, wavy black hair flipping it to one side, his dark eyes displaying a hint of worry in them. He doesn’t fully understand the depths I would go to protect her. He’s worse than me when it comes to feeling any emotion. I may be cold and callous toward others, but Sebastian Silver is downright heartless.

“I’ll make sure Jade is taken care of. Hell, I’m sure my father would even let her move in with me, with us, if needed. I mean she’s Stella’s best friend, right? I’ll take care of her.” I raise a brow at his insistence to take care of Jade. Where the fuck did that come from? “Yeah, yeah, the lone wolf may or may not be getting under my skin. These women, man,” he admits, running his hand through his hair once more. “Fuck, they don’t make them like those two here in Hillcrest. ”

I laugh at his comment, agreeing one hundred percent. “Tell me about it, they’re unique. Stubborn, bold, and fucking magical…”

“And that fucking pussy,” he says, interrupting me and licking his lips. I know he sure as fuck isn’t talking about my girl.

“Son of a bitch, you fucked the wolf,” I yell, punching him playfully in the arm. I mean I suspected as much, but he hadn’t outright come out and told me.

“Fuck yeah I did, and God fucking dammit if it wasn’t the best fucking sex of my life. She’s a fucking animal, true to her name. So needy and greedy. Fuck, and she’s a fucking loud one, brother. The way she moaned, and cried my name out as she came for me. You know I’m a kinky fucker, and my God the girl met my every match. She likes it hard and rough...”

“Alright, alright, I don’t need to know what my girlfriend’s sister sounds like when she comes for my brother. What I do need is a plan to take down Wesley Servite.”

“Well come on in, brother,” he says, opening the door of his beach house. “Let the takedown of the king begin.”

“One last thing, well, two things,” I say, before following him in. He turns to me with a “what the fuck now” expression on his face. “One, she can’t know what we’re up to. I need this to go down without a hitch.”

“And second?” he asks, seemingly afraid of my response.

“We need Beck here for this. Only Beckett.”