Chapter Eighteen

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I have seen some teen movies since I was allowed to watch whatever I wanted. I actually thought that maybe they exaggerated everything in the movies. The high school parties in movies were wild and I thought how can teenagers be this crazy? I wasn't, I couldn't pull something like that off even if I tried, so, how can people my age do all this?

But now as I looked at the frat house before me all the flashbacks of the movie parties flashed across my mind. It looked so out of control, I clutched my bag and took a small step toward the frat house.

I still had insecurities, fears, and anxieties and all of them washed over me with full force. People were making out, jumping in the pool from over the roof of the house, and alcohol was everywhere. Beer cans and bottles sprawled across the crowded lawn.

I looked around for Liam, Wade, Stacy, and Brittany. Hoping to find even one of them. All the girls were in bikinis and the boys were in shorts. I spotted Liam as he stepped out of the house, using his cell phone and looking around until his eyes landed on me.

He jogged over to me and whistled with a goofy grin on his face. "Look at you!"

My cheeks heated up, and I felt a flutter in my stomach as he appraised me up and down with appreciation.

"You look super hot but this is a pool party" he gestured toward my bag. "Got any bikini in there?" he asked as he sidled up closer.

"Yeah, I do, I need a place to change," I told him with a big smile, his compliment made me feel a bit more confident and at ease.

He wrapped an arm around my back and tugged me along with him. "Come on,"

We moved closer to the frat house and I could easily spot Stacy, Brittany, and Wade now. They were drinking, Stacy and Brittany wore yellow and bright blue bikinis and they weren't wearing any cover-ups.

Liam took me inside the house and grabbed my hand as we stepped up the stairs. He opened up a bedroom door. "This is my room, feel free to change"

I nodded and walked in, locking the door. I took off my shorts and t-shirt, I adjusted my bikini, still not very comfortable with my nakedness, I wore the cover-up. I put my clothes on the couch and grabbed my handbag and cell phone before stepping out of the room.

"Done?" Liam asked the second I opened the door.

"Yes," we went back down and toward our friends.

"Yay! I never thought you'd make it!" Stacy hugged me.

"Why not?" I asked

"Um, because I thought Costello wouldn't allow you to"

I swallowed uneasily and gave my head a gentle shake. "I don't need his permission."

Brittany choked on her drink. "Really? That's not what you said last week when we invited you for a sleepover"

I lifted a shoulder. "I don't need his permission anymore."

"So, he will have no problem if we hook up tonight?" Liam elbowed my side playfully.

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. After Nikolai humiliated me last week when I practically offered myself to him, trusting him with everything in me, I don't know if I was ready for another humiliation. I liked Liam but he didn't make me feel all the butterflies Nikolai made me feel. Not knowing how to answer his words, I just gave him a shy smile.

Wade handed me a drink. "What's this?" I asked as I remembered how I blanked out the last time I was drunk.

"Drink it!"

Because you live under my roof now. In my home, you need to follow my rules, Evangeline and that means... You. Don't. Drink. Unless. I. Allow. You. To—Nikolai's words rang in my mind.

I don't need his permission!

I took a sip and the bitter liquid slipped down my throat. I cringed and they all booed me and pressured me to drink the whole thing.

After a few drinks, I loosened up, and the anxieties and fears got buried somewhere in the back of my mind. Wade kept handing us drinks after drinks and I took them, drowning them, trying to forget about the embarrassing moment I had with Don Nikolai Costello.

"Come on, let's go swimming!" Brittany yelled out.

"Take off your cover-up" Stacy hollered at me.

If I hadn't drunk this much I would have never gotten the confidence to take off the cover-up but now I was drunk out of my mind and I was feeling very adventurous, completely forgetting about the fact that I can't swim.

I took off my cover-up, exposing my body to like a hundred pairs of eyes. I have never been this exposed before. We made our way to the pool but I stopped as the water came into my view.

I didn't know how to swim and the pooled looked really deep, my insides clenched with fear and I was almost about to turn away when Wade picked me up and threw me into the pool.

The sudden shock from his action whooshed the breath out of me. I didn't even get the chance to understand what was happening around me, all I heard was uncontrollable laughter as I grew frantic when my body touched the water.

I could feel my lungs screaming for air, crying out, as my legs and arms thrashed around wildly. I wanted to cry out for help, but I couldn’t bring enough air into my lungs. I was submerged with water swirling around me, crushing me. I sunk to the bottom of the pool, my lungs were burning, searching for any air supply.

My eyesight was becoming dark and deluded and then I felt a soft warm embrace around my body. Someone swam with me in their arm to the surface of the pool, I breathed in a lungful of air as we got to the top.

"Wade, are you fucking crazy?" I heard Liam's voice ringing around me.

"I was just fooling around, man, I didn't know that she couldn't swim" Wade answered but his voice and all the other voices became distant.

I was still in Liam's arms, I coughed and hurled the excessive water that entered my system out of me.

"Evangeline, are you okay?" Liam asked as he laid me on a soft surface.

I was in a room now, the noise and chatter from the party were distant and muffled, Liam has closed the door. I nodded as I still reeled from the aftereffects of being almost drowned. Liam wrapped a blanket around me. Warmth enveloped me and I pulled the blanket closer to my shivering body.

"I... just... I got so scared..." I breathed out, everything was spinning around me.

"It's okay, you are fine now..."

My head was all fuzzy from the alcohol and I was in no mood to party anymore. I wanted to go home. I really wanted to go home to Nikolai, I wanted to confront him about what happened the other day, I wanted to scream at him. All my feelings were intermixed right now, I have no idea what I felt.

"Liam, can you drop me home?" I asked.

"I can't, I'm too drunk to drive... how about you spend the night here and I'll drop you off in the morning. I won't do anything, I promise, I'm a gentleman" his voice was all slurred.

I needed to call Nikolai or Marco to tell them that I'm spending the night here. I need to call Marco and tell him to come to pick me up.

"I need to call Marco... my cellphone..."

"Where is it?" he asked

I thought about where I put it but couldn't remember anything. "I have no idea..."

"Shit! I'll go look for it, okay!"

I nodded as I snuggled more into the blanket. My head felt heavy, and my eyes were laced with sleep. I closed my eyes letting sleep take over me.

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The next morning, I groaned as a familiar splitting pain erupted through my head. The sun shone brightly through the window. I opened one eye; suddenly feeling the burn in my shocked retinas, before slamming it shut again but I did notice the strange room, the unfamiliar ceiling, and a heavy arm around my waist. Different thoughts ran through my brain, forbidding me to go back to sleep. I forced a moan as I opened my eyes slowly.

I still felt disgruntled from last night, I held my head in my hands and tried to get up. A heavy body stirred beside me and a deep, masculine grunt jolted me completely awake.

I looked to my side to see Liam sleeping next to me, holding me close to his muscular body.

Oh god! Where was I? I came to the party and didn't go back home. What if... What if Nikolai noticed that I'm not at home, I raised myself from bed with difficulty and a frightened gasp left my lips as I saw Nikolai...

My mouth opened and my body didn’t move. The color drained from my face as I stared at Nikolai leisurely sitting on the single couch before the bed, the t-shirt and denim shorts that I left there last night, laying over his lap.

Two of his fingers were brushing across his lips as he appraised me, his dark gaze then moved to the body sleeping next to me where it got stuck.

I swallowed, a feeling of dread crept up from the pit of my stomach. My heart was throbbing in my ears, loud and irregular, but I barely heard it, for my mind was clouded with fear.

He got up from the couch and my eyes followed his every single movement. The pain in my head faded to a dull throb. He stopped beside the bed, closer to me, and dropped my handbag onto my lap.

"Get up!" he ordered but it wasn't a normal order, his voice held a threatening and rough edge that implied that if I didn't listen to him now there are gonna be consequences that I won't like.

I pushed Liam's arm off me and hopped out of the bed, still feeling disoriented from sleep and hangover, I lost my footing and staggered but a vice-like grip wrapped around my arm holding me in place.

Nikolai's grip on my arm was almost bruising, punishing and so damn rough.

Liam groaned and my eyes traveled back to him. Please, stay asleep, please. The next second he opened his eyes and they widened as he saw Nikolai Costello standing in his room.

Startled awake, he got up from his bed. Liam eyed me up and down, I was still in my black bikini, and then looked down at himself, he was only wearing boxer shorts, and then his gaze traveled towards the bed we slept in and he paled. The color visibly drained from his face. What the hell is he doing?

"Nothing happened!" he voiced.

I squeezed my eyes shut, why? Why would he even speak to him? A muscle in Nikolai's jaw twitched, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around me, keeping his eyes on Liam's face.

"We're leaving," he said in an icy tone that made me shudder.

I nodded and put my arms in his jacket, wearing it over my bikini. His jacket ended right below my butt leaving all of my legs exposed.

Nikolai held my hand and walked out of the room, tugging me along. My eyes widened as I saw Scott, Marco, and a couple of Nikolai's men waiting for us outside the door. Darkness dripped from all of their eyes making the hair tinge along the back of my neck. Marco specifically squinted his eyes, a warning in them.

Nikolai nodded to Scott, who in return, gestured the men to enter Liam's bedroom. My heart pounded and my mind churned. A week ago, Nikolai accepted that he kills people without any fear or remorse, I couldn't help but be concerned about Liam's safety.

"Don't hurt him!" I blurted out and all the dark, heated gazes turned to me.

Nikolai's grip on my hand became almost unbearable for me. The next second, he strode down the hallway dragging me with him. He showed no concern for me as he hauled me like a rag doll behind him. I couldn't keep up with his long strides as I stumbled on every step we took.

When we reached his car, he dragged me to the passenger side, opened the door, and practically shoved me into the car. I didn't say anything, I didn't complain, I was too scared to even move.

This wasn't Nikolai, this was Don Nikolai Costello all my friends warned me about.

The driving seat's door flung open and Nikolai settled inside. I looked down at my lap and fiddled with my fingers. He didn't say anything and neither did I. I kept looking at the busy roads around us. I glanced at him and his body was tensed, his jaw clenched.

The huge gates of the Costello estate came into our view, and the gates opened and he drove straight in. He got out of the car and so did I. We silently walked inside, side by side.

"Evangeline" his voice fell on my ears and I flinched. "Take a fucking shower, wash the filth off yourself, and then meet me in my office"

Before I could ask him what did he mean by filth, he turned and strode straight to his study, slamming the door on his way inside.

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