Chapter 1
I know your secret...
I frowned, staring at the message on my phone from an unknown number, racking my brain, trying to figure out what secret and who was behind it.
My heart slammed against my chest...
Could it be?
No... impossible.
I looked around the cafeteria, wondering who could have sent me the message. My eyes landed on him... Luca Evans... Haliport’s resident bad boy and my very own dirty secret. No one would ever believe that I, the town’s sweetheart, was dating someone like him, yet ever since he came to town a year ago and offered me a lift during a rainy day... I couldn’t stop myself from wanting him.
Pulling myself out of the past, I deleted the message, tucking my phone in my bag before getting to my feet. My appetite completely ruined, instead I headed out of the cafeteria, up to the music studio. Music was a passion of mine, I loved it more than anything in the world. It was a dream of mine to get into Juilliard but I knew it would forever remain that... a dream. Father wanted me to take over the family business and it was non negotiable.
A gasp escaped my lips as I was pulled into an empty class, before I could fully recover or recognize who had dragged me in, warm lips covered mine and a familiar perfume filled my nostrils...
Luca...
I relaxed into the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss, moving down to my neck, sucking and nibbling.
“Luca stop... you’re going to leave marks” I protested.
“Come on Bella, no one will notice. You can use your hair to cover it.” He whispered against my throat. I let out a sigh as tempted as I was, I knew I couldn’t let myself be carried away, especially with the text I had received.
“No, we have to be careful.” I stated taking a step back.
“Alright, now tell me why you didn’t finish your lunch?”
I frowned, my brows knitted together.
“H-how did you notice?”
“I always notice everything about you, Bella.” He whispered, tucking my hair behind my ear. I smiled at him, watching as he brought out a pudding cup from his hoodie just as the bell rang signifying classes were about to resume.
“I have to go.”
He tightened his grip around my waist, shaking his head.
“Not until you finish this.”
“But...” I argued.
“No buts... finish it.” He ordered, I huffed, rolling my eyes at him before taking the cup. He raised a brow at me, moving closer to me. A squeak escaped my lips at the intense look in his dark eyes as he caged me against a desk.
“Roll your eyes at me one more time and I will bend you over my knee.” He whispered, my face warmed at his words and I looked down at my pudding cup, unable to make eye contact with him anymore.
“Now eat.”
I peeled off the film covering and dug into the pudding, a moan escaped my lips as I did, a few minutes later, I held up the cup.
“Done.”
He pushed himself off a desk opposite me and sauntered over to me.
“You have something right here.” He whispered, leaning down and wiping the smudge away. He ran his thumb across my bottom lip and instinctively I parted my lips. He placed the thumb in his mouth and sucked it clean.
“Yum.”
Oh God...
My eyes travelled to his lips, fully well knowing they had been between my legs last night, pleasuring me while my parents slept two doors down.
I know your secret...
The message from before flashed through my mind, chasing away whatever naughty thoughts my mind had previously conjured.
“We should head to class.” I whispered.
“Alright my little bookworm.” He pressed a kiss on my lips before nodding at the door. “You go first.”
I smiled at him and made my way out, looking around the empty hallway before rushing to class. Fortunately the teacher wasn’t in yet so I slid in next to Ava.
“Girl!! Where were you?” She asked before glancing at my neck, a wide grin taking over her lips. “You little minx, so that’s where you were!”
“Stop being so loud... did he leave a mark?” I whispered, pulling my hair around my neck.
“No he didn’t but I do know when you’ve been thoroughly kissed.” She teased, I shook my head at her. Ava had been my friend since Kindergarten, my family knew hers, her family knew mine and she was the only one who knew about my relationship with Luca. I didn’t want to dwell on that so I pushed it to the back of my mind just in time as the teacher walked in.
●●●●●
Ava and I walked out of school with the rest of the students.
“I think we should head to the mall.” She suggested. I glanced around for Luca barely paying attention to what she was saying.
“Hello!!! Earth to Isabella”
I turned to her.
“Huh? Sorry what?”
She sighed, running her fingers through her hair.
“I asked if you wanted to go to the mall.”
“Oh yeah... that sounds fun, I actually need to get a few things.” I replied. She beamed at me and we got into my car. She fiddled with the radio till a really nice song came on.
We sang along as I drove to the shopping mall, Haliport was a small town but it was a hotbed for the wealthy which explained why we had a massive shopping mall which had almost all the luxury brands you could find in any other city. Saturday afternoons for the majority of Haliport privileged teens was spent at the mall, either shopping or just walking around which made finding a parking spot a nightmarish activity.
Luckily someone was pulling out of a spot as we drove in, like a shark to blood; I sped over and parked before anyone could take the space. She let out a cheer of triumph, I laughed at her antics before getting out of the car. She got out and I locked the door; we walked across the parking lot to the entrance of the mall.
“Should we start with Sephora and work our way down?” She asked, looking around the two level building.
“Yeah, can we stop by Baths and Works? I need to buy another bottle of my favourite body spray.”
“Don’t you mean Luca’s favourite body spray on you?” she teased making me blush, it was true and partially the reason why I wanted to get another bottle. Luca adored the smell of Bubblegum and Vanilla on me, always nuzzling his face into my neck, sighing in satisfaction which was a huge contrast to the don’t-mess-with-me image he had.
“Gosh, you are so in love with him.” Ava sighed smiling; I rolled my eyes and walked ahead of her to Sephora. We didn’t stay long there, Ava persuaded me into getting a new lip-gloss and a tube of mascara. We stopped at Baths and Works and I got my body spray, happy that they had recently restocked.
“If it isn’t little Isabella.” I sighed, stopping at the sound of the voice; I turned to see Asher Miller waltzing over to me.
Asher was a family friend, son to my mother’s best friend and I use the term loosely. In all honesty they barely tolerated each other, just keeping up pretense; I mean it would be totally unacceptable for the Mayor’s wife and my mother to be enemies; so Asher and I had to be courteous to each other.
“Hello Asher.” I replied, taking a step back as he approached me. “What are you doing here?” he asked
“Just shopping.” I answered, he took a step closer to me and I took a step back. “what did you get?”
“None of your business.” Ava snapped. Asher glared at her “I wasn’t talking to you short stack” he snapped before turning to me, his eyes running over my form, resting on my bare thighs where my gown ended. I immediately regretted wearing the gown, his eyes glazed over and he stepped closer to me.
“You’re looking mighty fine today, why don’t we head out of here?” he murmured, lifting a hand to hold my wrist.
“I’m not interested.” I whispered trying to pull away, his grip tightened and he pulled me closer. “Come on Isabella, don’t be such a prude. I’m sure you have a hot body under that dress, I mean look at the way you dress.” I gasped, pulling harder to get away, he tightened his grip to the point that the charms on my bracelet dug into my wrists.
I hit him with my fist making him yell and push me aside. I screamed as I fell to the floor, hitting my elbow on the scruff of the wall.
“You asshole!!!” Ava yelled shoving Asher; he scoffed, rolling his eyes before leaving.
“Are you okay?” She asked, kneeling by my side.
“Yeah” I whispered looking at my elbow; it was a bit scratched up.
“Let’s get that cleaned up.” She said, helping me up, we walked to the clinic that was at the ground level. The nurse there was very friendly and she immediately had me treated. Placing a smiley face band aid on my elbow.
“Thank you.” I whispered, she smiled and we walked out. “Asher is such an asshole, we definitely have to tell your parents, and he basically tried to grope you in public.” Ava ranted. “Stop, no one is going to know.” I cut her off.
“But…”
“This stays between us.” I spun around to face her. “Please.” I pleaded. She sighed before nodding.
“Fine, but if I see him in the hallway, I am definitely going to kick him in the balls.” She snapped. I forced a smile wanting nothing more than to see Luca and curl up in his arms and forget about the incident.
“Let’s just get going. I don’t feel like shopping anymore.” I whispered we made our way out of the mall, to the parking lot. We got into the car and I drove us back home. My eyes went to my wrist, it was a bit red and one of the charms had punctured into my skin. Sighing, I pulled the sleeve of my cardigan and covered my wrist.
I pulled into Ava’s driveway, her house was big with massive windows and the largest front door I had ever seen.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Alright, take care of yourself.” She replied, getting out of the car. I pulled out and headed in the direction of my house.
I parked in front of the large red bricked house I called home. It was the second biggest house in Haliport but to me it had always been home. I kicked off my shoes and placed them in the closet in the foyer, the plush carpet tickling my feet. As usual the house was quiet; I made my way up the stairs to my room. Halfway across the hall, a door opened and a head poked out.
“Hello mum” I uttered, fixing my blonde hair to hide my neck. “Hello darling, you’re back early.” She smiled, stepping onto the hallway.
“Yeah, Ava and I ended up cutting our trip to the mall short.” I explained, not wanting to tell her about the meeting with Asher, knowing that she would storm the mayor’s office and raise hell.
“Alright then, I have some work to do, see you at dinner.” She replied, closing the door to the room behind her. I made my way to my room, shutting the door with a soft click.
My room was a pastel blue with large white windows overlooking the backyard, a door led to my bathroom with a connecting door to my closet. I had a few fairy lights pinned all around my room with a bunch of memorabilia I had gotten across the years.
I dumped my bag on my beanbag, making my way to my bed and falling face first onto it. I rolled over and stared at the ceiling, my mind far away. I sat up and frowned when I caught a whiff of Jason’s scent, sniffing my clothes, I smiled realizing I smelt like him, and I loved when that happened. I hummed, grabbing my phone and checking my socials. I guess I was more tired than I expected because I ended up falling asleep.
●●●●●
A hand shaking me woke me up; I peered through my lashes and saw Annette, one of the maids standing over me. I sat up, yawning and stretching.
“It’s time for dinner.” She informed me. I nodded thanking her, she smiled before leaving. I decided to change into cotton shorts and a tank top with a cardigan before heading out. I could hear my parents discussing as I made my way to the dining area.
“Hello sweetie, come sit, I had the chef make your favourite for dinner.” She stated. I smiled and slid into my chair, apart from a nod from my father; I didn’t get any sort of acknowledgement from him, not that I was expecting anything.
I was served dinner and I ate in silence, listening to them talk about their day and how father’s banking business was going. Father owned the town’s bank which had several branches all around the country, he also owned or had a percentage of ownership of several businesses in the town. The townsfolk always claimed that my father owned Vermont, he never confirmed or denied the statement but he basked in the fact that people knew how important he was.
“… Evans of all people.” My father mocked, my attention came crashing back to the table. Why was my father talking about The Evans? Oh dear God, did they find out about my relationship?! Could this be somehow connected to the text I had received.
“Does he honestly think you are stupid enough to loan him money?.” He continued.
I stared at him as he belittled them, my appetite vanishing with his every word.
“It’s a pity, his son seems like such a hardworking person.” Mother tutted. I dropped my fork and it made a clattering sound against the ceramic plate. I paled looking up at my parents who had stopped their conversation to stare at me, father with a look of irritation and mother with a look of concern.
“I’m sorry, I don’t feel like eating and I’m a bit sleepy. I’ll turn in early tonight. Good night.” I whispered. They nodded, biding me a good night. I made my way to my room, shutting the door behind me and leaning against it. I wiped away the stray tear, shrugging off my cardigan and flicking off the light.
I got into bed, under the covers, hugging my pillow to my body as the tears came back. It wasn’t fair, Luca was a good person, and he didn’t deserve to have shitty father who didn’t care about him. He was kind, he was hardworking, and he deserved everything good in this life.
I had no idea how long I laid, curled in bed, unable to sleep, my heart heavy at the thought of a sad future for Luca and the uncertain future we both had. I couldn’t take it any longer, not knowing what possessed me but I picked up my phone and dialed his number.
“Hey baby” I could hear the sound of the TV in the background.
“Luca?”
“What’s wrong?” He asked, his voice filled with concern.
“It’s nothing, I just wanted to hear your voice.” I replied, tugging at the fringe of my shorts.
“Isabella…” his voice became serious. "Don't lie to me.”
“Honest! It’s nothing."
“Bella, don’t make me come all the way there because I will.”
I nibbled on my lower lip… how on earth did he expect me to tell him that I had just sat while my father insulted him.
“Alright.. that’s it. I’m coming over.”
What?! No!!! You can’t! My parents are around!!” I whisper yelled, my eyes the size of saucers.
“Too late sweetheart. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
He ended the call before I could protest. Sighing, I flopped back onto the bed.
