Faithless (Mistress & Master of Restraint) (10 page)

“I’m no ingrate. I love the man,” Ezra vows in absolute adoration.

“Me too. Marcus is-”

“The best man in the world… Too bad the bastard just upped and left us last week. Really?
And it was on your birthday, too. Not a cool way to spend your sixteenth.”

“
Marc did say goodbye to me before he left,” Cort sadly says, and instantly switches on the charm to cover his pain. “Like your sixteenth was any better? I’d rather suffer a brain aneurism than have a huge gala. You had to prance around with Adelaide on your arm,” Cort growls, looking a bit feral.

“Don’t give me that tone. Like I liked it any better than you,” Ezra whines. “So, welcome to the club, Faith.”

“Thanks, it’s one hell of a club,” I drawl. “I guess we just bitch about our problems?”

“Yeah,” Cort manages to inject snark into
that one word. “Who else do we bitch about this to? No one else would understand. They’re all from happy families with two parents and a shitload of siblings. Ezra and I are only children growing up in a shit-storm.”

“Ah!” Ezra’s face brightens
, and a second later, Cortez has a dreamy look on his face. “Here is one of the entitled, coddled, beloved-”

Cort interrupts with, “Ass-kissed, shit don’t stink-”

“Boys, are you talking about me again,” a pretty brunette purrs. She sits between the guys, giving them both a peck on the cheek- a beautiful book with two gorgeous bookends.

“And it’s all well-deserved,” Ezra says, a smile in his voice. I instantly feel jealous of the beauty. “How are you feeling today? I know you were weak this morning,” concern dominates his tone.
He gently rubs her back and she eats the attention right up.

“I’m doing great,” she says with a false smile.

“Bullshit,” Cort hisses. “But we love you anyway,” he purrs in his trademarked voice.

“I’m being rude,” Ezra berates himself. “Fate, this is Divina- my cousin. She’s a junior.”

“I hope these idiots aren’t giving you a hard time.” Her melodic voice has an edge of mischief in it. She looks like a brown-haired version of Ezra, but I bet she acts like Cort. Divina is a woman that gets what she wants, while wearing a huge smile on her face.

“Perfect gentleman,” I say, and laugh when they pucker up their faces
in exactly the same fashion. “Are you sure you’re not brothers or something? You look so similar.”

“Positive,” they say at the same time, causing Divina to snort.

“Two peas in a pod, these two- Aaron and I don’t stand a chance when they gang up against us.” Divina trills a laugh when the boys scowl at her.

“Aaron?” I ask.

“He’s still a little shit. Aaron’s our housekeeper’s son. He’ll be at Hillbrook the year we graduate. He’s only thirteen right now.” Ezra speaks with fondness and Cort’s nose gets bent out of shape.

“You’re Fate’s baby sister, right?” Divina asks me.

I go to reply, but Cortez beats me to it. “Why ever would you think that?”

“What?” I bark out.

“She’s Fate’s sister,” Divina growls at Cort. “I know she is. I’ve seen her at functions. I remember her from last year, so quit being a douche.”

“She does look just like her sister, I’ll give you that,” Cort purrs. “Same pretty blonde hair and big blue eyes and ti
ny body. But this one,” he points at me, “has nice tits.”

“Hey!” I shout
, turning heads around the cafeteria. “Stop it!”

“I saw them earlier wh
ile you were taking a beating. Saw your cute, round ass, too. Must be traits passed down from your mom, because your sister is flat on both ends.” Cort runs a hand over his chest in demonstration.

I cover my face in mortification, blushing like a sonofabitch. I’d hoped no one would notice those parts. I thought they’d be too concerned over my face- the blood and bruises and all.
Cort is positively a letch.

“Speaking of Fate, is she still friends with Regina Regal?” Cort’s gray eye
s twinkle when he asks about Regina.

“Yeah, why?
” I mumble in confusion. “Fate lives with Regina.”

Ezra busts out laughing, a moment later Divina joins him. “Boy has it bad. Regina was the only girl who didn’t succumb to his charms,” Divina breathlessly says.

“Huh?” I grunt. “Why would you care? I thought you were-”

“Thought I was what?” Cort
sharply cuts me off, a nasty sneer on his perfect lips. Okay… not going there, I guess. Gay is a territory you don’t talk about. Ezra gives me a look of pity, his expression screaming that Cort’s going through a denial phase.

“I just thought you were too young to like her,” I mumble
, trying to divert Cort from my obvious fuck-up.

“I’m never too young for a beautiful woman,” Cort
salaciously purrs, unfurling his finger underneath my chin. My head tips back until I’m staring into mischievous gray eyes. “Ten times prettier than your sister,” his breath flutters my eyelashes.

“Fuck that,
” Divina cuts off Cortez’s obscene flirting. “I want to know if Regina is the real mom to the Whittenhower prince, Niel. Please,” Divina begs. “You must know. It’s the biggest gossip around. C’mon, Cora’s not Niel’s mom, is she? It’s Regina. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Why would Regina live there? She didn’t know anyone besides Ade, and Ade is out in California at school.”

“Not telling,”
I trill. Giggles bubble up when I realize I have a lot of secrets about a lot of people. Secrets I didn’t even realize were important.

“Ah! No fun,” Divina
says in a tone that in no doubt always gets her what she wants. But she’s never been around the likes of me. I ignore her pouty lips and puppy-dog eyes.

“Time for class,” she chirps
when I don’t relent.

“Yes, mother,” Cort groans.

“Hey, someone has to keep you in line or you’d be walking around like a moron with your dick hanging out,” Divina teases.

“Moron? Pervert is more like it,” Ezra adds.

“Hey, now, there will be none of that. I will admit that my glorious cock is always hanging out, among other locations. But it’s Ezra that’s always naked,” Cort seductively purrs and winks at a flushing Ezra.

I’m so way out of my league with these guys.

~Chapter Eight~

“Are you sure you have to go?”
Ezra whines, tossing his pizza crust into the box.

We’re sitting in ShadowHaven’s
cavernous family room. A room I’ve been in daily for the past week and a half. Since the first day of school, the three of us have been inseparable. We’re doing something together from the time school is out until bedtime. On the weekend, I never even left. Our favorite hobby is gossiping about the entitled bitches. And yes, they already knew Regina was Niel’s mom because Ezra’s dad let it spill months ago. I thought I’d had secrets… Well, now I really do. Nothing gets past their ears.

The difference between last school year and this one is wild. Not only do I have Ezra and Cort as my constant buddies, Aaron and Divina tag alone more often than not.
I’ve never been to so many movies or restaurants in my life. Divina even pleaded for me to go shopping. I pushed my sister off on her. That was more Fate’s speed. The boys: Ezra, Cort, and Aaron, are definitely more my speed. I’d rather be naughty than proper. Mayhem follows in our wake. Who knew school could be fun? I look forward to Aaron joining us at Hillbrook.

My ghost, Boyd, ha
s tagged along to two movies. He wasn’t invited, but we included him anyway. Most of the time, he just makes sure that Cort or Ezra is with me, and then fades into the background. Boyd sits in every one of my classes they aren’t in. I’ve tried to engage him many times, he smiles and looks away. It’s like we all have a silent understanding, but Boyd is the only one who knows what it is.

Between the boys and their friends and Boyd, I feel like a different person. I never get a moment’s peace. It’s amazingly strange to be embraced by a ragtag group, to finally feel a part of something. None of us fit, but we do at the same time. It’s a comfort.

Tonight is a rare moment. Divina is out with her friends and Aaron had a family dinner to attend. It’s just me and the Ezes, for the first time ever. They were super excited for alone time, in a creepy sort of way… and I have to go before I can figure out what they want.

Damn Wil!

“Please stay,” Cort begs, kneeling on the sofa. He pouts out his luscious lips and blink big eyes at me. “It’s not the same once you leave.”

“Haha…
bullshitters,” I snicker. “You won’t even miss me. I have somewhere I need to be by ten tonight.”

“That’s hours away,” Cort grumbles.

“And it takes hours to get there,” I reluctantly admit. “I wish I could drive.”

“We’ll teach you. Your birthday is in a few weeks. Let’s start tomorrow. The driveway is huge. It’s perfect.” Ezra gets that plotting look in his eyes- the look that scares the crap out of me.

“What about Marcus. You’ve been sneaking me in here all week.” Ezra’s dad showed up about a week ago, after disappearing for almost a month. They said he’d done it one other time, and they were surprised when he came back so soon. Last time, he was gone for almost a year.

“We’
ll introduce you next time. Marcus likes taking in strays,” Ezra teases, and Cort sticks his tongue out at him.

“My dad stole over a million dollars from him- a million that is frozen in our bank account. I doubt I’m the type of stray he likes to take in.”

“Oh, but you’re so fucking cute,” Ezra growls, grabbing my face and squishing my cheeks. “Who could resist you?” he sings into my face. He releases his hold and gives me his patented stare-down. “Tomorrow,” he commands, “you’re meeting my dad.”

“Alright, you win. But I do have to get going.” I stand up, noticing the scowl on Ezra’s face. “What?”

“I have to
go
,” Ezra stresses, and I let the insult wash off my back. It’s Ezra and Cort’s job to teach me proper English. Every time I screw up, they tell me different-
differently
.

“Who are you meeting?” Ezra looks way too interested to know, which means it’s really time for me to leave.

“It’s just a friend of my father’s.” I find it easiest to stick with a version of the truth, that way I won’t forget my lies. “I knew his father… umm… their dad just passed away, leaving the seventeen-year-old son to take care of the fourteen-year-old daughter. I’m visiting to make sure they’re alright. You know… after everything.” Give me a medal for pulling a sympathetic look when I talk about my extortionist.

“I’m sorry, that must be hard,” Ezra softly says while Cort gets that faraway look that hurts my heart. “What was his name?”

“Jonathon, but everyone called him JJ- Jonathon Junior. He was a real nice guy.” I lay on the sweetness a little too thick and wince. Cort thinks the wince is because I miss Wil’s daddy, but Ezra thinks it’s something else.

“He was a
really
nice guy,” Ezra prompts. “I’m sure he was
real
, as in existed. But really means in truth or in fact,” Ezra schools me, and I actually appreciate it. He means well. “If you’re unsure, replace it with very.”

“One of these days, Faith is so going to kick your ass,” Cort taunts. “And don’t you fucking dare tell me how to fix that sentence. I can out Grammar-Nazi you any day…”

“Fucktwit,” Ezra growls and launches himself at Cort. They tumble to the floor in a ball of punching arms and legs. Giggles and snickers rumble up and echo around the family room.

I intervened the first time this happened, and then I realized it was their version of foreplay. I ended up getting my ass smacked- meant for Ezra- and a bite on my neck- meant for Cort. I’ve been walking around with
Ezra’s teeth marks for the past week. Everyone thinks I’m dating them both. I don’t bother denying it because it makes Cort relax. I don’t think Cort is comfortable admitting that when I leave, Cort and Ezra makeout… or more. Cort has firmly locked himself inside the closet with ten deadbolts and razor wire. Curiously, when I really think about it, his closet resembles my father’s prison.

“Oooo… bringing out the big guns now,” Cort giggles. “Twit is your favorite insult, adding fuck makes it so much more badass.”

“You’ll regret that,” Ezra warns a second before he grabs Cort’s crotch and twists. I ignore the fact that Cort was already happy and overflows Ezra’s hand. The moan that ricochets around the room comes from both of their mouths.

“Oh my God,” I sputter out
, covering my eyes. “It’s time for me to leave. BYE!” I shout, running from the room. I blush to my hairline. I’ve seen them kiss in a lip-smacker kind of way and beat each other senseless. Once, Ezra even choked Cort for mouthing off. But I’ve never seen them touch
there
.

“Hey! Your roaming hands scared off my girlfriend,” Cort growls at Ezra, a second later I hear a grunt as a fist lands, followed by a sharp curse. “Wait up! Faith, I’ll walk you out.”