The Prey: A Dark Enemies to Lovers Romance (Oakmount Elite Book 3)

You would not look good in orange. You would not look good in orange.

I repeat the mantra to myself for the tenth time today. Tanya’s bodyguard, Marcus, is breathing down my neck, and I’m about to become a member of the TV show Snapped.

One more insult, or little comment, or slight from either of them and I’m going to lose my shit. It’s bad enough that I have to take crap from Sebastian everyday, but Tanya has a way of making me feel…bad. Like, as a woman—something I thought I’d gotten over when I came to Oakmount, saw the blond Barbies traipsing around and just accepted that I’m smaller, more athletically built, and all around not a super feminine beauty. Sure, I’m pretty, but I wouldn’t call myself sexy.

And I’m okay with that.

Marcus steps closer as I gently ease Tanya’s clean clothes into a drawer. He’s crowding me, and I don’t like it.

“Do you mind?”

He shakes his head. “Not at all.” There’s an accent there, but I have no idea where it’s from, so I don’t bother speculating.

“Did I do something wrong? Is that why you are here…monitoring me?”

He shrugs. “Just keeping you on your toes.”

“Can you keep me on my toes from another room?” I deadpan, grabbing the next stack of lacy undergarments and tucking them in the drawer with the others. Thousands of dollars in lingerie, and I’m wearing my cotton Hanes Dollar General bra and panty set.

I sigh and finish putting away the rest of the clothes, then turn to check the bed is made tightly. The last thing I need is her hunting me down in the middle of the night for some trivial thing. Other people work here, but she seems to have designated me as her personal slave.

It’s nothing I can’t handle, just annoying as hell since she’s an absolute bitch. But she’s one of those bitches who say really bitchy things in the most polite voice possible. For your benefit, of course.

I tighten down the corners of the sheet and smooth the coverlet, then check the trash can in the bedroom before I go in to clean the bathroom.

Marcus follows me, of course, and I’m thankful it’s not a tiny bathroom.

“Aren’t you a bodyguard?” I question as I clean the shower drain and spray the inside of the tub with cleaner.

He makes some kind of noise in his throat. I can’t tell if it’s a snort or what.”How can you guard someone when the person you are protecting isn’t here?”

“I think you should worry about yourself. It’s none of your business what I do,” he says, keeping his vigil at the door. I feel his hawk eyes on me as I make my way around the bathroom, wiping up toothpaste, disinfecting, imagining flushing Tanya’s head down her own toilet.

I peek back at Marcus as I sweep the floor. Tall and muscular, he definitely looks like a bodyguard with his dark suit and shaved head. I’m not stupid, though, and something tells me guarding isn’t the only thing he’s doing with Tanya’s body. Not to mention her bed is always rumpled on both sides, and he doesn’t allow me into his room to clean.

It only takes a few minutes to clean up the floor and shake out the small rugs that decorate the space, considering she makes me clean her entire room every single day. Even the ones I’m supposed to be off for. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past her to march up to the school and pull me out of class if I so much as forgot to fold the toilet paper edge on the roll.

I re-lay all the rugs and clean up the sink while I consider how to get rid of my shadow. He’s making me nervous, and I’m not even doing anything but cleaning.

“Can you leave while I finish up, please? I’m almost done,” I ask as I wash out the sink and then wipe down the mirror. There’s toothpaste splatter all over it. Considering I clean this everyday, she must spit at the mirror to make this kind of mess.

“No, I won’t leave until I can lock the door behind you.”

He’s never hovered when I cleaned before, nor has he locked the door behind me…what’s going on that Tanya suddenly feels the need to hide things?

I roll my eyes and continue cleaning, having to stretch so tall my calves hurt to reach the top of the mirror.

The granite counters inlaid with black and gold gleam in the overhead mirror lights, and I ensure no water spots remain on the gilded fixtures.

I guess I should be grateful my own suite’s bathroom isn’t as gaudy as this one.

I quickly clean the toilet bowl, which is still sparkling from yesterday, and grab the couple of items from the bottom of the wastebasket to throw into my bigger trash bag.

I freeze when I spot what looks like a pregnancy test wrapper. What the fuck? The first thing that comes to mind is whether she should even be having kids at her age? I try to calculate her age, but I know she’s Sebastian’s aunt, not his mother, and his uncle, Sebastian’s adoptive father, was older than her. All of which I caught from conversations with other staff members and Tanya herself in passing. It doesn’t matter…it’s none of my business. I trash the tissue and the wrapper, then notice some dust on the edge of one of the vanity drawers.

I go back into the other room to grab a clean rag and have to squeeze by Marcus’s gorilla-sized frame.

“Excuse me,” I murmur, but it comes out like fuck off.

He leans against the doorjamb to take up more space once I pass.

Dick.

I turn my back to him and swipe the dust on the drawers, opening the top to make sure I get around the edges. I’m both stunned and confused by what I find there, and my lungs tighten from the effort it takes not to breathe. There’s a pregnancy test pressed to the edge of the drawer, tucked face in like she’s trying to hide it.

One, that’s super unsanitary since her makeup is in here, too, but I can’t resist. Shock gives way to curiosity, and I flip the test over to see the result.

Positive.

Oh shit. Marcus, the asshole, is going to be a father…poor kid.

I move to flip the test back over where I found it and accidentally send it sliding.

The door banging against the wall behind me scares the ever-loving shit out of me, and I jump, snatch up the test, and shove it into my pocket. If he gives me a minute of privacy, I can replace it where I found it, and no one will know.

The door, however, wasn’t Marcus lunging at me, like my brain so helpfully supplied in my imagination, but is instead Bel. She stands in the doorway, her shoulder nearly pressing into Marcus’s chest.

“Hey, girl, I was looking for you.” She smiles, her blond messy bun bobbing as she folds her arms across her chest.

I close the drawer behind me and face her fully, smiling back. My heart slowly eases out of my throat and back down to where it belongs. “What’s up? You need your toilet cleaned, too?”

It’s a joke, but when the words are out, it feels more like I’m complaining.

Her smile slips away, and I know she can tell something is wrong. “You okay? What’s up?”

I shake my head. “It’s just been a weird day, and I don’t like to be surveyed while I work.”

She tilts her head back to look up at Marcus who has refused to get out of her way, or move a muscle. “Can you give us a minute?”

He glares daggers at her, and I doubt he would be looking at her like that if Drew was in the room. “No, I’m doing my job.”

Bel smirks. “As far as I can tell, your job includes carrying overpriced luggage and fucking your boss…neither of which needs to be done right now.”

“You’re lucky…” he snarls and walks out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, knocking Bel to the side as he goes.

“Yeah, and so are you. Because if I told my brother you’re trying to intimidate his staff, your ass would be canned.”

“Ooo, I’m so scared,” he taunts.

She rolls her eyes and steps closer to me. “That guy needs his ass beat. Has he been messing with you for a while now? I’m not joking about telling Sebastian. If he’s giving you a hard time, I’ll talk to him about the ogre.”

I sigh. “No, today’s the first time he’s ever done this. I’m okay. I’m just tired. It feels like all I’m doing is working or going to school.”

She reaches for my hand, but I jerk away and then hold my hands up so she can see the latex gloves I’m wearing.

I strip them off, trash them, then wash my hands in the sink. “What did you need?” I ask as I meet her eyes in the mirror.

She shakes her head. “Nothing important. I kind of want to drag you out of here and force you to have some fun. Sebastian is giving you time off, right?”

I shrug. “Yeah, he is. If only Tanya understood I’m not a twenty-four-seven staff member, then I could actually enjoy it. Maybe I need to leave the house on my off days.”

As I say it, I know I can’t, not with Yanov running around, knowing where I am and who I’m with. I’ll never feel safe out there alone.

“Why don’t you come out with me tonight?”

“To do what?”

“Socialize. Relax. It’s just a little party.”

“What party?”

“The party at The Mill. It’s to celebrate the start of the recruitment season and all that. It’s really a glorified excuse to drink and hang out, like anyone at this school actually needs one though, am I right?”

There’s a noise from the bedroom, and Bel shakes her head. “I think someone is getting antsy out there. Come on.” She grabs my hand, and I let her, taking my trash bag in the other.

In the bedroom, I grab my supply bucket and broom and head out behind Bel. We go to the cleaning closet, and she helps me put everything away. Then she waits patiently while I dispose of the trash. I double-check that I have my wallet and my keys in my jacket pockets, and as I’m patting I feel an unfamiliar outline in my skirt pocket.

Oh shit. The pregnancy test. How could I have forgotten to put it back? Panic rises in my chest. If Tanya realizes it’s gone before I can replace it, I have no doubt that she’ll know it was me who took it. And then what? I need to get rid of it.

“Are you leaving right now?” I question.

“Yes, and I’m taking you with me. I won’t take no for an answer. You work way too hard, and you need a damn break.” She winks and then grabs my hand, dragging me out the door. I try to dig my feet into the ground and conjure up any response I can so that I can turn around and put the test back without suspicion, but there’s no use.

Crap. I’ll have to make sure I keep it hidden and that I don’t lose it.

“Could you slow down? I have tiny legs,” I grumble, and Bel lets out a laugh.

“I’m sorry. I’m just so excited.”

Her response makes me smile, and I let her lead me out to a sleek silver car that likely cost a fortune. She jumps into the driver’s seat, and I slide into the passenger side. Once inside, she tosses a bag in my lap as she starts the car and buckles herself in.

“Here, I have some makeup if you want to use it. No pressure, but I didn’t exactly give you time to get ready.”

“No, you basically kidnapped me.”

“Touché.” She grins.

I smile back at her, take my hair out of the messy braid I’d put it in earlier, and finger comb the dark strands. Then I dig through her bag and find some lip balm and a little bronzer. I refuse to use her mascara because…germs…and quickly shape my eyebrows. I look at my reflection in the tiny compact mirror and give a small nod. I look human and less like the pale maid version of myself. Not that anyone will notice.

In the ocean of sharks at this school, I’m the little seahorse simply trying to keep up. If anyone notices me at this party tonight, I’ll be shocked. I do have to wonder, though, if Sebastian will notice my absence.

Who am I kidding? He’ll definitely be in attendance. At least one person will notice me. Nervous energy encompasses me, and I start to bounce my leg up and down. I’m out of my element here.

My anxiety rises as we pull up the long drive to The Mill house. I’ve been here a couple of times since I came to Oakmount, but this will be my first official party here. Bel parks the car in the driveway and exits the vehicle, urging me to follow. I exit the car a little more slowly, and she waits by the hood for me.

The second I’m near, she threads her arm through mine and drags me up the stairs to the huge double doors. “You’re going to have a great time. I promise.”

One of the doors is propped open with a football, and she nudges it to lead me inside. Music thumps from inside, and as soon as we walk in I’m assaulted with numerous sounds, sights, and smells. The space is already crowded even though by school standards, it’s still pretty early. I’m tempted to look anywhere but at the people in attendance, but that would be awkward as hell, so I look up and scan the crowd.

A good majority of the partygoers dance on the makeshift dance floor, red plastic cups in hand, while others linger at the edges, a guy or girl glued to their side. Not what I was expecting. Someone slips in behind us, bumping into me, and I skitter out of the way, in turn bumping Bel and causing us both to teeter.

A pair of strong arms circle her waist, dragging her backward into an ironclad chest. Instantly she relaxes into Drew’s embrace, and it’s like he’s an envelope and she’s the love letter tucked inside. Nuzzling the side of her neck, he whispers something into the shell of her ear that makes her smile.

Jeez, watching them makes me feel like I’m watching some sappy rom-com. I’m happy for her, though. The best love stories are the most hard-fought.

Turning away from them, I scan the crowd once more. My gaze stops on a man who’s sitting on a throne across the room. Okay, not a throne but a huge, ornate chair. I find it hard to breathe when I notice those familiar green eyes of his, the same eyes that haunt me in my dreams. He’s staring at me, legs splayed wide, leaning on the hand he has propped up on the arm of the chair. His hair is disheveled, and he looks bored out of his mind, but it’s hard to tell if he really is or not since that’s his usual expression.

He looks away, his gaze cutting from mine as a girl crosses in front of his path and then settles into his lap, grinding herself against his groin. My cheeks heat as if I have a reason to be embarrassed. Yep. This is exactly as I’ve always pictured him. A king sitting on his throne, giving no thought to the rest of us peasants.

No. I can’t stand to see him like that. Not when I know what lies beneath the surface, hidden under that cruelty and emotionless smile.

Without giving him another ounce of attention, I turn and head toward the kitchen to find something to drink. If I’m going to survive this party, I’m not doing it sober.