points to the other side of him, next to the door that leads outside. “I’ll be right back.”
“O-kay,” I mumble under my breath. He goes outside and I turn a little to watch.
“Hey, serving wench!”
I turn back around and look at the boys in the center of the room, then hate myself for looking. Because I just answered to the name ‘serving wench’.
They laugh at this. Like I am the butt of their joke.
“Did Cooper Valcourt say anything about turning around and watching him?”
“Uhhh…” I’m not sure I answer to these boys. So I’m not sure if I should be rude or not.
But I don’t have to answer, because Lars is suddenly in the center of the room, in front of the boy speaking. I recognize him as Ivan Turgenev. The Bully King of Prep. I’ve heard some stories about that boy over the years. He’s far worse than Cooper ever was.
“Did I give you permission to talk, cockling?”
Cockling? I snort out a laugh. Haven’t heard them called that before.
Ivan doesn’t back down. “She’s a fucking servant. I can talk to her any way I want.”
Well, I guess we all know how he treats his family’s house staff. I feel sorry for them.
Lars—not a guy known for using his fists the way Ax is—reaches down, grabs Ivan by the collar, and pulls him right out of that cushy loveseat and on his feet. “Did you just talk back to me, boy?”
Ut-oh. Lars is mad. He won’t hit him. That’s not Lars’ style. But it is Ax’s style. And everyone knows, if you fuck with one of them, you fuck with all three.
Even I know that.
I stifle a laugh. Because that can be interpreted in more than one way.
“Are you having fun here, Cadee?”
Cooper’s words make me tingle all over, because his lips are right up to my ear and his deep voice enters my body as a low vibration.
I take a deep breath. “No, sir. I’m not.”
He slides his body around mine and grabs my hips, tugging me close to his body. His hands slide down my ass and stay there, the heat from his touch so intense, I flush. “Well, that’s too bad,” he whispers. He licks his lips and my eyes dart down before I can stop them. I look up quickly. “But I think I can rectify the situation.”
I gaze up at him, recalling another time we were this close to each other, so close I can see the swirls of green that outline his blue irises. He uttered those exact same words to me.
I think I can rectify the situation.
As if my problem at the time was a situation to be rectified.
I stiffen, tilt my chin up, and glare at him. “Don’t do me any favors, Christopher.”
He laughs and backs off, turning away from me.
Whatever was happening with Lars and Ivan, it’s over now. Ivan is back in his seat and Lars is all the way across the room.
Every single set of male eyes is now one hundred percent on me.
Cooper throws something at Ivan, who catches it one-handed. It’s a water balloon. And it breaks, spilling all over Ivan’s lap. “What the fuck?” he says, standing up, his shirt and pants drenched. He looks down at himself, then back up at Cooper, glaring at him.
“Do not,” Cooper says in a low growl, “talk to my servants without permission, you fucking pleb.” Ivan opens his mouth to say something but Cooper beats him to it. “Do not look at my fucking servants without permission. Do not think about my fucking servants without permission. And if I ever”—he pauses—“ever catch you touching one of my fucking servants without permission, I will ruin you, Ivan.”
Ivan’s scowl disappears. “I didn’t fucking touch her. I was joking.”
Cooper looks back at me. “Did you think it was funny, Fugling?”
Fuck. I catch Victor’s eye from across the room. He’s shaking his head at me. And I can practically hear the words in his mind. Do not engage.
“No,” I say, straightening my back and lifting my chin. “I didn’t find him funny at all.”
Cooper’s heated glare lingers on me and for a moment I think I catch the beginning of a smile. But it never really materializes. Then he’s looking back at Ivan. “She doesn’t think you’re funny, Ivan. Do you want to try again?”
“What?” Ivan is confused.
And so am I.
“I said do you want to try again?”
“Am I supposed to make her laugh?”
“Do you want to make her laugh, Ivan?”
Jesus Christ. He’s