This Round I'm Yours (10 page)

He stepped away.

Behind him, Alfred had caught up to them, his smile turning into a leer.
 

Her gaze jerked to Grant. “Why is he with you?”

“Who? Alfred?” Grant raised a brow. “You know him, right?” His chest puffed out, his tone boastful as he told her, “You probably never thought I’d be friends with him, did you?”

She shook her head.
No.
She never imagined he would be friends with someone like Alfred Cohen, but…didn’t Grant realize the other man didn’t think of him as a friend? She said uneasily, “Grant—”

Alfred interrupted, “Don’t you think it’s a good idea we talk about this in private?”

“Oh, yeah, sure.” Grant’s answer was so quick, so eager, it became clear in that instant. The reason why the younger man had suddenly come after her when he had been silent for so long. The reason why he had become more aggressive and demanding than usual.

It was all because Alfred Cohen had become his master. Alfred was pulling his strings this very minute, and Grant didn’t even seem to know he had turned into the other man’s puppet.

When her gaze met Alfred’s, the older man smirked. He knew she was on to him, but he also knew right now, she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

“Well, Lacey baby?” Grant was smiling again, his face a reflection of the delusional life he was living in. “Shall you show us to your room?”

Slowly, she nodded. She had no choice. She didn’t want to force Alfred’s hand and have their showdown in public.

The R.A. at her dorm gave Lace a rather suspicious look as Lace and the two guys walked past her.

If this reached Silver’s ears
, Lace thought wildly,
she could always deny it, right?
 

Inside her room, Alfred was quick to lock the door, and Lace bit her lip hard to prevent herself from saying anything about it. The sooner this was over, the better.

“This room’s just like your old one in Northwest,” Grant commented, his words drawing her attention back to him.
 

Seeing him in her room, her window and bed behind him, her greatest basketball idols looking down at Grant from where she had their signed posters framed on the wall – it didn’t feel right. It made her feel like she was living a nightmare, and she didn’t know what to do to wake herself up from it.

Grant grinned when Alfred came to stand next to him. “My baby’s even more beautiful in person, isn’t she?”

The other man grinned back. “I dunno…I gotta see more to find out.”

Grant guffawed. “Now, now, don’t talk about my future girlfriend that way.” He tried to pull her close, but she slapped his arm away. Lace held her breath, thinking it would make Grant angry, but he only laughed.
 

“Feisty as ever.” He glanced back at Alfred. “You were right, Fred. She’s still playing hard to get.”

Fred’s smile was oily, his gaze leering as it ran over Lace’s body. “You’re a lucky man, Grant. That kind of fire…she’s gotta be dynamite in bed.” His lips smacked together, and the way he looked at Lace now made her feel like he was undressing her. “I’ve got a copy of your videos—”

For a moment, her world stopped spinning.

And then her world faded as she threw herself at him. “ASSHOLE!” Nothing mattered anymore, her rage eclipsing her fears. She tried to scratch his eyes out, kick his balls, do anything to hurt him the way his words were still burning her body from the inside.

God. God. God.

Why was this happening?

“Stop it, Lace!” A part of her realized Grant was doing his best not to hurt her as he tried to pull her off Alfred, but she couldn’t make herself stop. She felt sick and dirty, and she couldn’t help thinking if she managed to hurt him just once—

A second later, she was crumpling to the floor, Alfred shoving her off him so hard she hit her head against the wall.

“Fucking bitch,” Alfred snarled.

“Fred,” Grant protested nervously. “Don’t—” But his voice died when the other man shot him a warning look.

“I’m just going to teach this bitch a lesson,” Alfred snapped.

The world was still spinning too fast around Lace by the time she realized Alfred was crouching down in front of her. She tried to resist when he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Listen well, you bitch.” Gripping her by the hair, Alfred knocked her head against the wall.

Lace cried out, the pain making her feel like her skull had been cracked open.

“My boy’s too nice to you, but it’s time you learn who’s the boss here.”

Even as the world spun faster, Lace made herself spit at him.

“Fuck.” Wiping the spit off his face, Alfred snarled, “Do that again and I’m going to knock your head against the wall until you pass out.”
 

When she started to scream, his hand slammed against her mouth hard. “You wanna do this the hard way, do you?” Another hard knock against the wall made Lace’s eyes smart with tears. “You make another sound, I’m gonna show the world something you’d hate for them to see, something worse than you playing with yourself in the shower.”

Grant swallowed. “Fred, I don’t think—”

“Relax, Grant. We’ve got this all under control.” Alfred’s gaze swung back at Lace. “Remember that time, bitch? You think your video’s the only thing you have to worry about, don’t you? Well…it’s
not.
Remember that time you left your laptop in his room? My boy, he’s got all your stuff saved in a USB. You didn’t know that, did you?”

The flushed look in Grant’s face told her every word was true.
 

“He gave it to me, told me none of it meant shit because he went through it, too. But I know a few tricks, and I got to hack not just into your account. Got to hack your friend’s account, too. The cute redhead.
Katerina Chariot.
”

Dread immobilized Lace the moment she heard KC’s name.

“Thanks to you, I got myself more stuff to jerk off to.” He laughed. “I can see you don’t know a thing. She’s kinky, that one. Your friend’s got this video, doing all sorts of things. And she’s got another guy’s video. More kinky shit.” His voice dropped an octave. “Wanna be the reason all those videos come out in the open?”

Her throat convulsed. The thought that this disgusting man saw something of KC he wasn’t suppose to see was repulsive, more so because she knew it was all her fault.

Lace whispered, “N-no.” One word, and they both knew he owned her.

He owned her.

Until she could prove he was bluffing…until she could prove he really didn’t have those videos…until she could be completely sure her friend wouldn’t pay the price for Lace’s stupidity…

This man owned her.

“Then we have an understanding, don’t we,
Lacey baby
?”

Slowly, he took his hand off. “You won’t scream now, will you?”

“
No
.” She choked the word out even though she wanted so badly to kill him.
 

“That’s my girl.” He chuckled, and then he grinned at Grant. “Sorry, I meant, that’s your girl.”

Grant returned the smile, but it was clear he was uneasy. Lace willed him to look at her, but he didn’t even turn her way, and she had a feeling Grant was now just as scared as she was of Alfred.

“My boy and I, we’ve got plans that will make us rich. Real nice plans,” Alfred was boasting. “Lucky for you, it’s gonna be a breeze to do. You just have to live happy-ever-after with him in front of the camera. You see the appeal of it, don’t you? Grant as the next Kobe Bryant, then you and your coaching shit.”

Crazily enough, she did, and that was what scared Lace. His idea of a show featuring her and Grant could work, and because it could, she also knew Alfred Cohen would stop at nothing to make it happen.
 

“The first episode, it’s going to be about tomorrow’s game. You could imagine my fucking surprise when we found out Northwest was going against you. Too perfect timing, and I kept thinking, well, Alfred Cohen, that’s your sign. This is your time to shine. The three of us…” He pointed at Grant and her. “We’re going to be so famous. And we’re gonna make that happen starting tomorrow.”

Alfred smiled at her. “Ask me how it’s going to happen.”

She made herself repeat the words, knowing that refusing would be pointless.
 

“I was thinking, you’re a really smart girl when it comes to this sport, so I figured tomorrow you could figure out a way to make your team lose. Make it all dramatic, but make sure CU goes down. And after that, Grant here comes to your rescue and says he wants you back. You do what you’re good at, play hard to get a little, ham it up for the camera – be sure to look at my camera. I’m gonna be right behind Northwest’s bench – but in the end, you agree and
the end
.”

The end,
Lace echoed in her mind, but not for her. She didn’t know what she could do to prevent it from happening. What she did know was that she wouldn’t stop until she found a way to prevent them from ever causing her friend harm.

“You’re going to do it, right?”

When Lace didn’t answer, he grabbed her chin again, forcing her head to move up and down. “Say it,” he hissed. “Say you’re going to do it or I swear to fucking God I’m going to break your ribs.”

He shouldn’t have bothered with the warning
, Lace thought dully, not when he was already doing it. This time, the pain was nothing like she had ever experienced and somehow, she felt herself falling, falling, falling—

Before she could answer, someone knocked on her door. “
Wyndham?”

Her eyes flew to the door in horror.

Silver.

Just thinking about him made Lace feel like she was falling faster and harder. But this time she fought it, knowing she had something important to do. It was bad enough her stupidity had caused KC to be involved. She would never forgive herself if she got Silver involved, too.

In her mind, she could hear everyone protesting, everyone telling her to ask for help, and again she ignored all of them.
 

But this time, it wasn’t out of pride.

This time, it was out of love.

This time, she could admit it to herself.

She loved Silver so, so much.

Loved him so much she would do everything
not
to have him involved with the likes of Alfred Cohen.

Part III: SILVER & LACE

Bad Words…Aren’t Always Spoken

Silver was tired. In the past thirty-six hours, he had flown halfway around the world and back, and his punishing schedule was beginning to take a toll on his body. Even so, nothing would have stopped him from coming here.

To Lace.

As he waited for her to open the door, several scenarios played in his mind. Various beginnings, same ending, and that was him inside of her while she cried out her love for him. He would do whatever it take to make that happen.

When the door opened, he started to smile at the sight of his little lamb.
 

But a second later, his blood turned cold, his smile wiped away by the sight of another man coming out of her room behind Lace. Both their clothes were rumpled, their hair mussed, and her lips looked ravaged.

Silver didn’t even think.

In an instant, he had the younger guy against the wall, his feet dangling in the air.

“Make him stop, Lace—”

“Don’t you fucking say her name!” Silver raised his fist, and he would have beaten the shit out of the guy if not for Lace crying out.

“Silver, no!”

He pulled his fist back, a chill running over his body, but this time it was for another reason entirely.

Lace’s fists beat his back. “Let go of him. Please.” Her voice was ragged, and he could feel her crying silently without the tears behind him.

Silver let go, and as the other guy hit the floor, he turned to Lace.
 

Around them, doors began to open, other students poking their heads out at the commotion and then stepping out of their rooms completely when they realized who was involved.