Shattered Kingdom: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Royal Falls Elite Book 2) Read online

  Shattered Kingdom

  Kristin Buoni

  Stella Hart

  Copyright © 2020 by Kristin Buoni

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  1. Laney

  2. Laney

  3. Hunter

  4. Laney

  5. Laney

  6. Hunter

  7. Laney

  8. Laney

  9. Laney

  10. Laney

  11. Laney

  12. Laney

  13. Hunter

  14. Laney

  15. Hunter

  16. Laney

  17. Laney

  18. Laney

  19. Laney

  20. Laney

  Epilogue

  More Information

  1

  Laney

  “You’re doing the right thing, Laney.” Camila Valmont smiled and offered her hand to me. “Come on. Let’s go to the clubroom. You can hide out in there as long as you want.”

  I nodded shakily, my stomach full of knots. Then I looked over at Hunter again.

  I didn’t know what I was expecting to see. Some sort of sign, maybe. Something to show me that this was all wrong, and my abject humiliation in the auditorium had nothing to do with him.

  That was the effect he had on me. Even when I knew he was guilty, and he hurt me so terribly, I still found myself craving his touch and the sound of his voice. All he’d ever done was lie and lie and lie, and I fell for it every single time. And lord have mercy… I’d probably fall for it all over again if I gave him half a chance.

  His brows shot up when he noticed me looking, and he called out to me over the top of Trina’s head. “Laney, come here!”

  I almost did. The tips of my fingers and toes itched with the need to go over and hear him out. Surely there was some sort of explanation for why he did this. Some rational reason for him to have shown that awful video to the entire school.

  Adam nudged my arm. “Don’t listen to him,” he muttered. “Don’t even look at him.”

  I swallowed hard. He was right. I had to stay away from Hunter, because there wasn’t a single excuse in the world that could justify what he did today. Even if he genuinely felt bad about it after seeing my shattered reaction back in the auditorium, it didn’t matter. What he did was unforgivable, and whatever brief relationship we’d shared had died a fiery, irreparable death.

  I took a deep breath and looked away from him.

  Camila and the other Medusa girls started leading me out of the foyer, toward the hall which led to their clubroom. As we walked, Hunter kept shouting my name from behind us.

  I turned and risked another quick glance at him over my shoulder, unable to help myself. Trina was still trying her best to block his attempts to catch up to me. When he called out my name again, I saw her lean in and say something to him with narrowed eyes.

  After that, he stopped calling for me. His face darkened, and he stood and watched me leave, hands clenched in fists at his sides.

  I tore my eyes away from him again, sickness roiling in my belly.

  “I’ll stand out here and make sure Hunter doesn’t try to get inside,” Adam said to Camila when we reached the door with the golden snake emblem. “I’ll tell Trina to come too, when she’s finished yelling at him.”

  Camila nodded. “That’s a good idea,” she said as she slipped a key into the door. She pushed it open and stepped aside, gesturing toward the lavishly-decorated room beyond. “After you, Laney.”

  One of the other girls led me over to the dark mahogany table in the center of the room. “Take a seat,” she said softly, gesturing to one of the ornately-carved chairs scattered around the table.

  As soon as I sank onto the plush salmon-pink cushion on the seat, a fresh set of tears welled up in my eyes. I did my best to keep them from spilling out, but the sadness engulfed me, squeezing my chest in a vise and firing spears of agony through the rest of me.

  I leaned forward and cried into my hands. Camila patted me on the shoulder and spoke to me in a low, soothing tone. “It’s okay. Let it out.”

  The tears kept flowing, and my words were barely coherent as they rushed out of me between sobs. “Why… why would he….”

  “Shh.” Camila rubbed my back. “We can talk about it later. Just sit here for now and let it all out.”

  “Trust me, it’ll make you feel better,” Kiri added. “By the way, can you give me your phone?”

  I sucked in a deep breath and wiped my eyes. “My phone?” I croaked.

  “Kiri is good with tech stuff. She’s going to do something to help you out,” Camila said.

  I pulled my cell out of my blazer pocket and handed it to her, chest still heaving with sobs. Then I leaned forward again and closed my eyes, letting the tears stream down my face.

  My body trembled as I blubbered, and snot started to slide out of my nose, mixing with the tears to form long, wet strings that slid through my hands and dripped over my lap. I knew I looked like a disgusting mess, but I couldn’t stop bawling. Bawling for the loss of my innocence all those years ago, the loss of the relationship I thought I was building with Hunter, and the loss of my life as I knew it just an hour ago.

  My mind raged against the injustice of it all. Why did so many fucked-up things have to happen to me? Was I just unlucky enough to attract the wrong people into my world? Or was it all my fault for making such awful decisions?

  Of course it’s your fault, an insidious little voice whispered in the back of my mind. You let Hunter seduce you so easily. You’re pathetic. So fucking pathetic.

  I tried to tell myself that I couldn’t have known what he was up to—after all, he was so convincing when he said he was sorry for everything he did to me—but the voice kept whispering to me, drowning out everything else.

  Don’t lie. You still had some doubts about him, small and quiet as they were. But you believed everything he said and slept with him anyway. You told him about the video, too. You brought all of this upon yourself.

  After sobbing for what felt like an eternity, I drew in a long, harsh breath and opened my eyes. All of the Medusa girls were gathered around the table now, whispering amongst themselves. I could hear most of what they were saying. They were discussing what had happened to me and how horrible it was that someone could do something so ruthlessly cruel, especially considering the contents of the video and what it meant about my past. They were also saying that it had to be the work of someone who truly despised me and wanted me gone from RFA as soon as possible.

  When they saw me looking up at them, one of them smiled gently and gestured to a box of tissues that someone had slid in front of me.

  “I’m sorry,” I murmured, wiping my face. “You’re probably going to miss your first classes because of me.”

  Camila shook her head. “Don’t worry. We have an arrangement with Sanders, so we won’t get in trouble for skipping anything. One of the many perks of being a Medusa girl.”

  “Oh.”

  She leaned over and patted my hand. “Trust me, it’s fine. You can take your time. You can even scream your head off, if you want. No judgment here.”

  A fat teardrop rolled down my cheek, and I slowly shook my head, shoulders slumping. “I just don’t understand why Hunter
would do this to me,” I said in a ragged whisper.

  Kiri snorted as she played with my phone. “I do,” she said, glancing upward. “We all know what he’s like. His friends, too. They think they own the world because they’re hot and rich.”

  “But they’re threatened by girls like you,” Camila added.

  “Threatened?” I gawked at her. “By me?”

  “Think about it,” she said smoothly. “Assholes like them feel entitled to everything. They expect everyone else to bow down to them and stay in the place they’ve deemed fit for them. But you refused to do that.”

  “You refused to quit after Hunter blacklisted you,” Kiri interjected. “Instead you kept your head held high and stayed at RFA, even after all the horrible shit everyone did to you.”

  Camila nodded. “Exactly. You showed him how much strength you have, and he couldn’t stand it because it made him look weak to all of his minions. So he wanted to strip your power. Put you back in your place, so to speak. All so he can feel like a big man again.”

  “But it doesn’t make sense,” I said. “We sorted out all of our issues, and he took me off the blacklist yesterday and told the whole school to leave me alone. Why would he do that if he still hated me?”

  Kiri pressed her lips into a thin line. “It actually makes perfect sense.”

  “How?”

  “He wanted to fuck with you really badly. So he lulled you into a false sense of security. Pretended you were fine and made that big announcement yesterday. Then he struck, knowing it would utterly blindside you,” she said. She cocked her head to one side. “And it did, didn’t it? You never saw it coming.”

  I dabbed at my face with another tissue. “I guess that makes sense,” I muttered. “I just… I can’t believe it happened.”

  “Believe it,” she said grimly. “This is what rich, heartless pricks do, and even when you think they’ve hurt you enough, they keep going. So trust me on this—don’t fall for anything he says to you ever again.”

  “She’s right. He’ll try to apologize and worm his way back in,” Camila added, leaning forward. “Just so he can hurt you again, even worse next time. You can’t let him do that. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” I said in a small voice, desperately wishing my body could catch up with my mind. I knew Hunter was bad for me, but my core still ached with need every time I thought of him, and my heart still beat faster every time I pictured his face.

  “On that note,” Kiri said, sliding my phone back over to me. “I’m done with this.”

  I picked it up, brows knitting. “What did you do to it?”

  Her eyes crinkled around the corners as she flashed me a crafty smile. “I blocked his number from calling or texting. I blocked him from every app and email account, too. Also, in case he tries messaging or calling from a friend’s phone to get around the blocks, I’ve set it up so that any calls or texts from unsaved numbers will be automatically forwarded to your friend Trina. That way, she can just delete it all for you from her phone, and you never have to see any of it. I texted her to let her know, too.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I know it seems like overkill, but I honestly think he’ll try to weasel his way out of responsibility for this,” she said. “Guys like him always do.”

  Camila nodded. “Definitely. You saw him back there, Laney. Calling out your name and acting like he was totally innocent in the whole thing. He’s already trying to get back on your good side so he can mess with you again.”

  “That’s how arrogant he is,” Kiri cut in. “He thinks he has that much power over you. But he doesn’t.”

  “I know.” I swallowed thickly, wishing I believed my own words.

  “From now on, you shouldn’t be alone on campus,” Camila said. “If he sees you by yourself, he’ll pounce. Especially now that he can’t contact you via phone. So you should always be with at least one of us, or your other friends. That way we can tell him to fuck off if he tries to come near you, and you don’t need to say or do anything. You can just blank him like he deserves.”

  “Okay.” I rubbed my temples and leaned back, letting out a heavy sigh. “I still can’t believe he did this to me. I honestly would’ve preferred it if he just walked up and punched me.”

  I meant that with every ounce of my being. A vicious jab to the face would’ve hurt a hell of a lot less than what Hunter put me through in the auditorium. Even a stab in the heart with a white-hot dagger would’ve hurt less.

  “I get it,” a pretty blonde girl said from across the table. I couldn’t remember her exact name, but I knew it was something like Lila or Layla. “It’s fucked up, and it’s a massive shock too. But you have us now, so it’s all going to be fine.”

  “Layla’s right,” Kiri said, nodding emphatically. “Hunter won’t be able to hurt you anymore. Not unless you let him back in. And obviously, you’re not going to do that.”

  “Even if you feel weak one day and start falling for his bullshit, we won’t let you, because once you join us, you’re going to be like our sister, and we don’t let our sisters get fucked over by guys,” Camila said, lifting her chin high.

  I wiped my eyes again and looked at her. “How does this work, exactly?” I asked. “Becoming one of you, I mean. Is there some sort of test I need to pass first?”

  She smiled. “I love the enthusiasm, but before we worry about any of that, I think you should take a few days off school to let things calm down a bit. I’m sure Sanders will be happy to let you do your classwork in your dorm for a while after everything you’ve gone through.”

  “I hope so. I don’t think I can face the rest of RFA at the moment. Or if I can face it ever again,” I murmured, inwardly cringing at the idea of walking through the halls and knowing that my shame was vividly imprinted on the minds of every student I crossed paths with.

  “You can. Trust me. You’re stronger than you know,” Kiri said.

  “That’s right. And now that you’re going to be one of us, no one will dare to cross you. Not even the Princes, as much as it might annoy them,” Camila said, brows rising in a triumphant expression. “Anyway, as I was saying, we’ll let you have a few days before we initiate you. You need time to recuperate after today’s shit-show.”

  “What happens in the initiation?” I asked.

  “We can’t really tell you that,” she said with an enigmatic smile. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  That made sense. It was a secret society, after all.

  “We can go over the membership conditions, if it makes you feel better,” she said, tilting her head to the side.

  “Yes, please.”

  “Okay, so I don’t know how much you remember from our meeting a few weeks ago, but there’s three things the society requires from a Medusa girl.” She held up one finger. “Firstly, you need to maintain excellent grades.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  She held up another finger. “Secondly, you have to attend any Network functions that you’re invited to.”

  “Okay.”

  “And lastly, after you’re initiated, you’ll sign a contract stating that you will never talk about what we do to non-members, and another stating that you will work at a Network-related company after college graduation.”

  “Right. I remember that now,” I said, nodding slowly.

  “Do you think that’s something you can manage?”

  I nodded again, more firmly this time. “Yes.”

  It wasn’t really a choice anymore. If I was going to survive the rest of the school year at RFA, I needed the Medusa Society’s protection. That meant I needed to give them whatever they asked of me in return.

  Besides, it wasn’t a bad deal. I could easily keep my grades up as long as I studied hard enough, and the fact that I would have a job waiting for me after college was a serious boon. The vast majority of students in this country weren’t that fortunate. They had to do everything alone instead.

  Camila beam
ed at me. “Great,” she said, squeezing my arm. “I’m so glad you finally decided to join us, even though it happened under such horrible circumstances.”

  “Me too,” Layla said, eyes sparkling. “Once you’re past this, we’re going to have so much fun!”

  I smiled tightly, even though I was in no mood for smiles. “I hope so,” I murmured.

  “Trust me. By the time you graduate, all of the shit from this month will be a distant memory,” Kiri added. “You’ll have everything you’ve ever wished for. Plus revenge against that asshole Hunter, if that’s what you want.”

  Camila’s smile faded. “Wait. Before we start coming up with any big retaliation plans, there’s something I should ask, just so I know we’ve covered all our bases,” she said, brows furrowing. “Are you absolutely sure it was Hunter behind the video stuff today? Like one hundred percent sure?”

  I hesitated.

  There were people back in my hometown who knew about the videos Peter Elton shot of his victims, but there was no way they could’ve gotten their hands on the tapes. None of them were wealthy, so they had no access to the things that uber-rich people could swoop in and grab whenever they wanted as long as they greased the right palms—things like sealed court documents.

  None of the people from my hometown had any motive to do such a terrible thing to me, either. I wasn’t popular back at Silvercreek High, but I wasn’t hated, either. There was simply no reason why someone from there would’ve followed me to RFA and played the video for everyone to see, especially with that text calling me a slut and claiming it was a sex tape.

  There was also Peter Elton himself. He had every reason to hate me—I put him in prison, after all—but he had no way of doing any of this stuff to me. He was rotting in a state penitentiary somewhere up north, and he didn’t have any close family or friends who would act on his behalf. I remembered that from the trial; how no one came to support him. So it couldn’t be him behind today’s attack on me either.