Revenge: A Novella - Book 1 (The Belmont University Series) Read online

  “Nope,” he said snidely. “I’ve just been sort of…lying in wait.”

  “So what? You’re stalking me now?” I asked.

  “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m just here for good, old-fashioned payback, that’s all.”

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  “Simple. Revenge for that Facebook stunt you pulled on me. My father, the vice president of this college, was not happy.”

  “I’m sorry. I know things got out of hand, and I do feel bad for that. We’d all been drinking, and—”

  He held up his hand to stop me and stared into my eyes. “You look so pretty tonight, just ravishing.”

  “Thanks, Brad.” I took a few steps back. “Listen, I’ve gotta go. I don’t wanna be late.”

  He dangled the handcuffs in front of me, the fuzzy pink ones I’d used on him at the party. “Must you leave so soon?”

  “Brad!” I said, my heart sinking to the floor. “This isn’t funny.” I knew how pissed he was at me. What I didn’t know was just how far he would go to seek revenge.

  “I thought we could have a little fun,” he said.

  “Not a chance, you asshole!”

  I tried to leave, but he stepped in my path and shoved me roughly up against the wall, almost making me topple over in my stilettos. “You’re gonna do exactly what I tell you to do. Do you understand?”

  Realizing that he was getting a bit violent, I knew I needed to stay calm. I didn’t want to enrage him further, as I had no idea what he was capable of. “You know, I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hasty,” I said, trying to keep the shaking out of my voice. “Maybe we could go out on a second date.”

  “Please,” he said. “Why should I believe one word that comes out of that pretty little cock-sucker mouth of yours?”

  “Please just let me go,” I whispered.

  His mouth hovered over mine, far too close for comfort. “That’s what I begged you to do, but you didn’t listen.”

  “So what? You’re gonna handcuff me?” I asked.

  “Ah, so the pretty girl actually does have a brain. Go figure. And to think, I had you pegged as one of those bimbo sluts I usually bang. Yes, Alexis, I’m gonna handcuff you, so I’m afraid Debbie is going to have to entertain your man at that formal.”

  “What?” I asked, confused and aghast.

  “Debbie!” he called. “Get your butt in here.” He then grabbed my arms and threw me in a chair. He yanked my hands behind my back and handcuffed me to the chair.

  “What the hell?” I asked.

  “Wow,” he said. “Those words have a familiar ring to them.”

  “Unlock me, Brad! Right now!” I shouted.

  He tapped his chin. “Those words sound vaguely familiar too.”

  Debbie walked in with a smirk on her pretty face.

  I cocked a brow. “What’s going on? Debbie?”

  “Boy, I remember asking that too,” Brad said sarcastically. “It seems the tables have turned.”

  “Shut up, Brad,” Debbie snapped.

  “Uncuff me!” I screamed.

  “Now, now. If you don’t settle down, you’re gonna have your mascara running all over the place.”

  Debbie cleared her throat. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re about to stand Art up, the poor boy.” Her eyes grew cold. “But don’t worry. Like Brad said, I’ll entertain him.”

  I was floored by her words, rendered speechless as tears filled my eyes.

  “You don’t deserve him,” she said. “It’s as simple as that. And now that you’re going to break his heart, he’ll be like putty in my hands…and anywhere else I want to put him.”

  “Like hell! Does Art know about these new plans?”

  “I’m not sure, but this might help to convince him.” She opened her phone and showed me a video of me and her talking at the bar.

  “What the…?” I asked as I watched the video.

  “So you’re just taking him to the dance so you can dump him?” she asked.

  “Payback is a bitch,” I answered. “When he learns I’m Alexis from his high school days, he’s gonna flip!”

  “Isn’t that a little underhanded, a bit mean and devious?” she asked.

  “He dumped me at my prom without batting an eyelash.”

  “I-I…” I stuttered as she shut the video off. “Please, Debbie! Please don’t.”

  “Art is a good guy, a gorgeous guy, and he doesn’t deserve to be lied to,” she said. “I’m gonna let him know who you really are what your motives really are. You’re such a slut. You slept with him just so you could dump him.”

  “No! Things changed. I really like him, Debbie. Please don’t do this. I’ll tell him everything after the dance. I just need time to—”

  “You’re such a bitch!” she said. “You treated him like crap! Why would he ever give you a chance?”

  “He’s a good guy. I see that now, and I’m willing to leave the past behind me.”

  “When you stand him up at this dance and I show him this video and explain everything, he’s never going to want to see you again. It was always your plan to stand him up tonight. Who’s he gonna believe? You can talk all you want, but I’ve got you caught on tape.” She grabbed her purse and looked at Brad. “Do whatever you want to her, but just one word of advice. The little bitch will probably play coy and hard-to-get, but I heard she likes it rough.”

  Brad smiled. “Don’t worry. I have lots of plans for her.”

  She grinned. “I’m sure I’ll hear all about Alexis’s hot night at work tomorrow.”

  “Wait,” he said. “Won’t Alexis fire you?”

  “She’ll try, but Lois, the owner, is my godmother. No way she’ll give me a pink slip.”

  “Don’t you dare leave me handcuffed with him!” I shouted.

  She inched closer to my face. “Why? Are you afraid he might strip you naked? Post some pics of you on Facebook? Gee, that sure would be embarrassing.”

  Brad shot me a devilish grin as she walked out and left me alone with him. Clearly amused by the whole situation, he walked over and ran a hand through my hair. “Now, what should I do with you first?” he asked.

  “Just let me go,” I begged.

  His fingers ran along my jawline and down my neck. “Have you ever been handcuffed, spanked, and fucked?”

  I glared. “No!”

  “Aw. It sounds like you’re feeling down. Don’t worry. I can feel you up.”

  “Brad, if you touch me, I’ll—”

  “You’ll what?”

  I cringed as his hand slid up my thigh, under my dress. “Please stop,” I said softly.

  “I’m not a dog! You can’t just bark orders at me.”

  “Look, I didn’t mean to call you a dog that night. Just be smart about this and let me go.” I whimpered as he grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled.

  “You know what I like in a girl? My dick!”

  I spat at him. “Yeah? Well some big, hairy convict is gonna like his dick in you when you get locked up for this!”

  He wiped his face. “You are a bitch.”

  “I don’t know what I ever saw in you,” I said.

  “Think now. Should you really be saying something like that to the man who controls what’s going to happen to you? It seems to me you’re in no position to be making insults or shouting orders.”

  I stared at him hard.

  With a sickening smile on his face, he asked, “So, do you really like it rough? Because I’m really into that sort of thing, you know.”

  I didn’t even bother to respond to his stupid question.

  “If you want me to play rough, I will,” he said.

  “No. I don’t want you to play at all.”

  “C’mon. Let’s fuck. It’ll be fun. I’d love to tear that pussy up.”

  I rolled my eyes at him.

  He covered my mouth in an attempt to show his dominance. “Nobody will hear you if you scream. I know they say that in all those corny horror f
ilms, but in this case, it’s true.”

  I took a deep breath when he let go of my mouth. My heart pounded a steady staccato in my throat. I had no idea what the sick freak would do to me.

  “Do you want it as bad as I do?” he whispered in my ear.

  I didn’t answer.

  “Forget your lines?” he whispered in my ear.

  I glared.

  “Answer me, Alexis. Because we all know how much you love the spotlight. If you don’t answer, so help me, I will slap that pretty face of yours.” He grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled, harder this time. “Then again, you just might like that.”

  “Look, if you let me go right now, Brad, I won’t even call the cops,” I tried to reason. “It’ll be…our little secret. I won’t tell anyone.”

  “I don’t care who you call or tell, because my story will be very different from yours. Besides, when my dear old dad’s high-priced lawyer is done with you, you’ll look like the biggest whore ever.”

  I looked away.

  “There’s no greater performance than to pretend you’ve moved on. Because I know you still want me.”

  “What do you plan to do to me?” I asked.

  He stepped back and smiled. “Not what you think. I was just having a little fun with you. It’s called acting. I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last woman on Earth.”

  “Good,” I retorted.

  “I just wanted to make sure you missed your dance with Mr. Perfect. This is just a college prank, nothing more, so it will do you no good to call the police. Just think of this as payback. Looks like we’re even now,” he said as he turned to walk to the door.

  “Wait!” I said.

  “Yeah?” he asked, turning to look at me.

  Hoping there was some shred of compassion in that empty head of his, I said, “People knew you were handcuffed upstairs. Nobody even knows I’m here.”

  “So they’ll find you tomorrow. Have a great night!”

  Smiling, satisfied with himself, he turned around and walked out the door.

  “Don’t leave me!” I screamed, just as he’d screamed at us. Damn karma!

  I tried to think of a few plans, most of them from television. I needed to get my hands in front of me, and to do that, I would have to break the chair. I stood and slammed the chair against the wall, happy to be free of the seat when it shattered. I maneuvered the cuffs in front of me, being careful not to pop my shoulders out of my socket. Next, I grabbed a bobby pin from my hair and straightened it, then played with the lock until the handcuffs finally snapped open. Fortunately, they were from a sex store and weren’t all that sturdy. I let out a huge sigh of relief, rubbing my sore wrists.

  “Somebody help me!” I shouted, with no success. I kicked and banged on the door. Debbie had taken my phone, and I had no way out of here. The place was deserted, and I knew nobody was going to find me anytime soon. I tried everything, but the stubborn door wouldn’t budge.

  Thirty minutes passed, and no one heard my screams or my frantic pounding. I yelled till my throat was dry and sore. Since the door wouldn’t move, I looked around the room for the umpteenth time, but I saw nothing that could help me make an exit.

  “Finally!” I said when I threw open the closet and spotted a tool kit. I fumbled through the box and grabbed a long nail, a screwdriver, and a hammer, prepared to get the door open, one way or another. I remembered my dad taking a door off its hinges once when we’d gotten locked in a room, and it didn’t seem like it would be all that hard. Even if it was, I had no other option but to try it.

  I started to remove the hinge pins by tapping on the bottom with the nail and hammer. They popped up an inch, so I tried pulling them free with my fingers. “Please let this work,” I said.

  I kept working and eased the door off its hinges by lifting at the knob and under the hinges with the other hand. When the door finally came off, I grabbed my purse and car keys and darted to freedom.

  I sped to the dance, hoping I wouldn’t get pulled over. Outside the main doors, I explained everything to security. I smoothed out my dress and hair, hurried inside, and scanned the crowd. When I spotted Art dancing with Debbie, I scowled. “Art!” I said.

  Debbie’s eyes widened in shock and confusion, and her jaw dropped.

  “Did you think you could keep me locked up like that?” I shouted at her.

  The disappointment on Art’s face at the sight of me cut me to the very core. I knew she must’ve filled his head with all kinds of lies, and I’d never felt so shitty in all my life. I knew my childish behavior, my quest for ridiculous vengeance, might just cost me the most special guy I’d ever met, someone who had blown my mind in and out of the sheets. Yes, I had changed my mind but I had planned it, and that made me a shitty person.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Why would you even bother showing up? Could you be more cruel?”

  “I didn’t plan to ditch you, Art. Why do you think I’m dressed this way? This bitch locked me in the makeup room at the theater. I tried everything to get out.”

  “You’re delusional, Alexis,” she said. “You might have changed your mind now that you’ve been caught, but it’s too late.”

  Ignoring her, I talked directly to Art. “I broke out of those handcuffs. I even found a screwdriver and pried off the hinges. I did all that because I had to get here to explain that I’d never ever leave you.”

  He looked at Debbie with those beautiful brown eyes of his. “I need a few minutes alone with Alexis.”

  “Art—”

  “Debbie, please.”

  Security had summoned the campus police, and when the officers walked in to question her, the lunatic looked mortified.

  I pointed. “This is her, the woman who locked me in that theater room.”

  “I only did it because Art needed to see that you’re nothing but a loser,” she said, trying to spew her side of the story as the officers pulled her aside.

  “We’ll need you to come down to the security office and write a statement,” the campus policeman said to me. “We’ll find this Brad too.”

  “I’ll be there shortly,” I said.

  They nodded and walked off, with a cursing Debbie in handcuffs of her own.

  We walked outside and found a peaceful place, beside the twinkling Christmas lights. Art didn’t look happy, and I was afraid he was going to tell me to fuck off forever. I had to accept that I deserved it. I swallowed hard, trying to contemplate what he was going to do. For the first time, I actually cared about what would happen, because the guy had truly captured my heart.

  Art studied me carefully. “I can’t believe you’re the Alexis I knew in high school. Why did you hide that from me?”

  “You dumped that girl. I was afraid you’d dump me again.”

  “No. You wanted revenge, plain and simple. That’s why you didn’t tell me. You were mad at me for what I did to you, for prom.”

  “I know Debbie told you everything, and I know it seems really bad, but at least hear me out. You owe me that.”

  “I know how it played out. You wanted revenge because I stood you up. What I don’t understand is why you went so far as making love to me. Were you trying to make me connect with you, to get deeply attached just so it would hurt more when you ripped my heart out? How could you be so freaking hateful?”

  “I didn’t plan on us having sex. It just happened.”

  “So what? it was a complication, a kink in your plans, so to speak?”

  “I’ve always had a crush on you, Art. When you kissed me, you ignited a fire so deep that I couldn’t stop kissing you.”

  “So let me get this straight. Originally, you just hired me and everything, just so you could pay me back, but then you what? Developed feelings?” he asked sarcastically, as if it was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard of.

  “I thought you were just some ass who left me. I needed revenge.”

  “Why?”

  “I-I wanted you to hurt the way I did, but once I
got to know you, I swear I was over it.”

  “I understand how devastating it must have been when I didn’t show up. I wish I could go back and take away all your pain, but I can’t. I’m sorry for that. But I still don’t think I deserved this.”

  “Why didn’t you show up, Art? You never even bothered to tell me why. I know I wasn’t much to look at back then, and—”

  “Things happened,” he interrupted, his lips pressing into a grim line.

  “Things? You know the stupid thing? I had dreamt about my handsome date going to the punch bowl to get punch for me, but that never happened. I know it’s a stupid, silly little thing, but you took that moment from me. I’ve been to so many dances stag and all by myself. I hated seeing all those boyfriends going to get their date a drink. And here I thought I was going to get my turn. You weren’t there to ask me if I wanted punch, and that fucking hurt. Even worse, I had no reason why.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Why didn’t you call me and explain then? I’m a very understanding person, or so I thought.”

  “You know it’s just me and my dad. He’s the only family I have. His fishing boat sank somewhere near Mexico. When I heard they’d called off the search, I was beyond frazzled. I called my aunt, and we had to rush out on the next flight to go down there and investigate. She even hired pilots to search the area again.”

  I stared at him, saddened by his words. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “He was kidnapped, and we were in Mexico for months to sort it all out. He’s back now, and he’s okay, but it was a very long ordeal. All things considered, the prom just wasn’t as important as my dad being a missing persons case.”

  At that moment, I felt like the biggest idiot of all time. I had thought, for all those years, that Art was just a shallow asshole who couldn’t lower himself to being seen with the Girl Most Likely to Be Ugly, that he had probably found someone prettier to go with, to some prom at another school. In reality, he really did like me, and he would have been there with me, asking me if I wanted a glass of punch, if an emergency hadn’t taken him out of the country. While I was pouting and crying my mascara out over being jilted for some stupid school dance, he was worried sick, hunting for his father and trying to bring him safely home. All the while, I thought he had just ditched me and wouldn’t answer my calls. “I-I had no idea,” I said. “I didn’t know where you went after that either. I mean, I heard a few rumors, but still…”