Rebel Princess - Book 2 (The Hope Saga) (7 page)

She stood. “You look upset.”

“We’ll talk more later, okay?”

She nodded.

I pulled Brett into a quieter part of the city, a room where no one was loitering around. I shut the door and looked at him.

“Well? What’s going on?” he asked.

“It’s your dad. He wants me to…he’s trying to blackmail me.”

Confusion flashed across his features. “He’s what?”

“He has footage of Rachel and me on the dock. He said he’ll expose us if I don’t break up with you, because he doesn’t think I’m worthy or good enough to date you. He doesn’t want us to be together.”

Brett looked at me, shocked and dumbfounded.

“It’s true. I’m supposed to break it off with you right now, or he’s taking the footage to the authorities.”

“And he didn’t think you’d tell me?”

I bit my lip hard. “I don’t know. We both know your parents haven’t ever liked me much.” I gripped his hand.

“Yeah, I know.”

“What else has he said? The usual crap about how wrong we are for each other?”

“You know my parents hate seeing us together, but I didn’t think…well, I never thought my father would go this far.” The next thing I knew, Brett was ranting and raving about his father, going off in a tirade of all-out rage. He was pissed beyond belief that his parents could be so cruel and diabolical.

“Shh,” I said, trying to calm him down.

He held me close, sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “How dare my dad do this?”

“He asked me if you knew about it, and…well, I couldn’t lie.”

Brett blew out a breath. “And what did he have to say about that?”

“He thinks I’m nothing but trouble for getting you involved in this mess. Don’t worry, though. You know if Rachel and I do get caught, we’d never implicate you. I’d never purposely get you in trouble.” I blew out a long breath. “What do you think is the worst that could happen?”

He embraced me tightly.  “The worst? They’ll take you away. I can’t stand the thought of being apart from you till I turn eighteen and go to the surface.”

“I can’t break up with you,” I said. “What are we gonna do?”

“Well, I’ll tell what we’re
not
going to do,” he said, staring into my eyes.

“What?”

“We’re not going to give in to my dad, that’s what.”

I smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

He leaned forward and brushed a stray strand of hair out of my face.
I felt his hot breath whisper against my lips. I cupped his face, and his lips swept softly across mine. When I looked into Brett’s eyes, the whole watery world seemed to disappear around me. My heart thumped excitedly, and a chill shot down my spine as he took my mouth with his. I loved the way his hot lips conquered mine. They were warm, soft, and smooth—absolute perfection. Brett made me feel like I was the most important person in the world. He tangled his fingers in my hair, and I devoured the sweet taste of his tongue as we entangled in a passionate, emotional kiss. Our mouths danced in perfect harmony, and we couldn’t get enough of each other. I knew, in that very moment, that I could never bear to be away from him, not for a second. I refused to be torn away from the boy I loved with all my heart. Brett was my everything. I couldn’t breathe without him, and in spite of what his father had threatened, I couldn’t let him go. I would never have the strength to let those horrible words come out of my mouth. His hands moved over my skin and slid slowly down the curves of my hips, sparking electricity in every nerve of my body.

When the door creaked open, I panicked and broke the kiss.

“It’s just me,” Rachel said. “I figured you guys would come here.”

Brett motioned her inside. “Come on in.”

“I just talked to your dad. He told me everything.”

“Yeah, well, he’s being a real jerk,” he said.

“We won’t break up,” I said. “We love each other, and we really don’t care whether anyone likes it or not. Besides, love conquers all, right?”

“Only in cheesy romance novels and movies,” Rachel said. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “He’ll do it, Sky. He’ll turn us in, and if he does, you won’t see each other for a very long time. Besides, orange isn’t my color, and I don’t wanna be stuck in one of those baggy jumpsuits with a number on the back. And what if they make us wear black and white pajamas? I’ll look like a pregnant zebra in horizontal stripes!”

“You’re asking me to give Brett up?” I asked, incredulous.

“Rachel,” Brett said, “we
love
each other. I can’t let my dad control what I do and who I love. I know I can talk him out of it. I just need some time.”

“It won’t work,” she said. “I saw how dead set he is on this. He has the leverage to pull you guys apart. You have to break up. I don’t see where you really have a choice.”

“You’re crazy,” I said. “I won’t do it.”

“You have to! Because if you don’t, we’re both gonna be locked up for a long, long time. How can you be so…selfish?”

I looked at her in disbelief. “Selfish? You’re the one being selfish here. Don’t you care about me, about my feelings? How can you ask me to give up the most important person in my life?”

She smiled suddenly, as if an evil idea had just crossed her mind. “You won’t have to.”

“What?”

“It’s quite simple. You’ve only got to make Brett’s dad
think
you broke up. Brett, you need to stay angry at your dad, so he’ll believe that he made you give up the relationship. You have to pretend you’re willing to give Sky up to protect her, like a star-crossed lover. Sky, if you wanna be convincing, you’ll have to stay pissed off too. Maybe you can even stir up a little trouble, which you’re good at—especially when you’re ticked off. We all know that if you were really forced to give Brett up, you’d break a few coffee tables with a firm, angry kick.”

I pondered her plan for a moment. “It’s brilliant,” I said.

Brett looked at me and grinned. “It’s ingenious! And I think it might just work.”

I blew out a breath. “Yeah, I think we can pull it off.”

“I don’t know though. We’ll be forced to sneak around,” Brett said, biting his lower lip. “My stupid dad! This is just ludicrous.”

Rachel peered at Brett, then me. “We
have
to make it work. It’s the only way out of this mess. If he shows that tape to anyone, we’re done for.”

“Gimme some time, and I’ll get my dad to destroy the tape.”

“Okay, but make sure you see it with your own eyes,” I said. “Burn it, stomp on it, or whatever you have to do. Just get rid of it.”

He nodded. “I know exactly what to do.”

“You’d better go have a talk with your dad,” Rachel said.

He kissed me on the lips and looked at me intensely. “Are you sure about this? Can we pull off being…secret lovers?”

“You know I don’t wanna hide our love, but if this is what we have to do to stay together, so be it. When we get to the surface in a couple years, your dad won’t be able to control us. For now, though, I guess we have to play by his rules.”

He kissed me one more time, then said goodbye and left.

I sat down in the recliner and kicked it back, blowing out a long breath. “I can’t believe this!”

“We shoulda known there were security cameras out there.”

“I know, but I guess it was the last thing on my mind. I was just so excited to see the surface.”

“Me too.”

“It was
my
idea, remember?”

“We both went up there on our own free will. I’m sorry you have to break up with Brett, even if it’s just pretend.”

For a moment, I was speechless, just thinking.

“What’s on your mind?” Rachel asked.

“That note from my secret admirer.”

“Why? Do you think he has something to do with this stuff about Brett?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, he’s sure gonna love to find out that Brett’s not in the picture anymore.”

“Brett’s dad is in charge of security. If anyone saw us go up there, they would have reported it directly to him. Hmm. Maybe we should see if Brett can figure out how his dad got that tape.”

“Do you think your stalker turned you in?”

“Well, whoever he is, he obviously knows a lot about me and my life, so I’m sure he knows Brett’s parents aren’t fond of me. If he’s a guard, maybe he saw that footage and gave it to Brett’s dad knowing he wouldn’t turn me in. Maybe he just wanted to use it as leverage to force me to break up with Brett.”

“Daryl’s a guard,” Rachel whispered. “My gosh. All the evidence is pointing to him.”

“Yeah, that thought has crossed my mind. I wanted to try and clear him, but it’s not looking that way.”

“I thought he was our friend.”

“He is, but I think being down here makes people…crazy. Being cooped up like this isn’t good for the soul. We need to be out in that fresh, clean air.”

“Do you remember how good it felt on our faces?”

“Mm-hmm. And the smell of the sea salt!”

“I remember that vividly,” she said, inhaling.

“I’ll never forget it for as long as I live. Every day, I long to go up there, to be free, and I dream about it every night.”

“I’ll never take the sky, the ocean, or the waves for granted. When I finally go up to the surface legally, I’m gonna appreciate it more than anybody in history.”

I smiled. “Me too.”

Chapter 10

Brett and I sold the break-up story with little trouble, and his dad seemed sickeningly happy about it. The first week was hard, because everyone kept trying to console me. I hated it. I hated lying, pretending to be lonely, upset, and heartbroken.

One day, while I was talking to friends in the lounge after school, I caught Brett’s gaze from across the room. He smiled, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

Rachel nudged me. “Stop it! Could you be any more obvious?”

“I know, but I-I miss him.”

“Why? You still see him. How can you miss someone you see every day?”

“I know, but we have to sneak around like criminals. I miss holding his hand whenever I want, even in public.”

She nudged me again, a little harder this time. “You’re staring!”

I looked away. “Okay, okay! It’s just…gosh, he looks so damn hot.” I inched toward her ear. “Tell him to meet me in the greenhouse later. I have a bunch of things to plant, and it’ll take me a couple hours.”

“Humph. I thought we were gonna play pool,” she said, crossing her arms.

“I told you I have to work late.”

“Fine. I’ll tell Brett about your little secret rendezvous.”

I grinned. “You’re the best.”

“Hey, Sky,” Carla said, interrupting our conversation, “I heard about your breakup. I’m sorry.”

I turned to meet her gaze. “Yeah. I guess we just didn’t…click,” I lied.

“I just don’t see why he didn’t dump your ass ages ago,” she snapped, smirking.

“At least I
had
a boyfriend.”

“Pssh,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t have a boyfriend because I choose not to.”

“And why’s that? Because you’ve still got some kind of whacko fatal attraction for poor Rex?” Rachel asked.

“Rex? No! I was only fourteen then. I barely even remember what that little boy looked like.”

“Yet you’re still holding a grudge against Sky over him.”

She rolled her eyes again; in fact, she did that so much, I wondered if they’d ever get stuck in the back of her head. “Sky won’t ever be able to keep a man, especially one as hot as Brett. Ya know, he looks really good. I think I might go over and have a little talk with him…now that he’s taken out the trash.”

I shot her a glare, but she ignored me and sashayed over to him, shaking her hips from side to side in a most exaggerated way. 

“Ooh, I wanna rip that girl’s heart out,” I said.

“Impossible,” Rachel said. “She doesn’t have one.”

I continued glaring over at public enemy number one as she touched my boyfriend’s shoulder and flirted relentlessly with him. I desperately wanted to walk over there and put an end to it, but Rachel held me back. 

“Don’t!” Rachel said. “You’ll ruin everything. You’re supposed to be broken up, so you have to pretend you don’t care who he talks to.”

Jealousy consumed me, and a knot formed in the pit of my stomach. “I hate this, Rach,” I whispered. “I hate having to stand idly by while she tries to dig her nasty claws into my man.”

“We both know she doesn’t have a chance with Brett.”

“I’m gonna go tell her off,” I said, rage reddening my face when Carla giggled and leaned over in front of him, purposely flashing her cleavage at him.

Rachel gripped my arm tighter. “You’ll do no such thing. Brett can handle her, and he will. Now c’mon. Let’s get outta here before you start shooting arrows at her face instead of her fruit.”