Page 1 of Broken Empire
MASON
“Weneedto findWinterbefore she does something stupid like try to hurt herself again, especially since that video is fake,”ItellRileywith an edge to my voice.
Thegirls all explode with questions andIhold my hand up to quiet them beforeIexplain howIstaged the whole thing to make that video look real.AndnowI’mpaying for that shit.
They’rerightfully pissed on her behalf by the timeI’mdone talking, andIdon’t blame them.ButIdon’t care about what they think of me or any of their feelings right now.AllIcare about is going after my girl.Ijust hope to fucking hell that she’ll let me explain everything to her and then give me another chance like she was going to before this video shit came back to bite me in the ass.
Idon’t know what the hell happened, and it’s bothering the fuck out of me.I’llhave to get to the bottom of it onceIget things settled withWinter.Iknow, for a fact, thatIdeleted that fucking video right afterIshowed it to her becauseIdidn’t want what’s happening now to happen at all.Ijust wanted to hurt her at the time, but not let anyone else see that shit.
NowI’mfucked!
I’mnot sure how someone could have gotten a copy of it, butI’mgoing to find out who the fuck did.WhenIdo, that person better be ready for the hellI’mgoing to unleash on them.
Theyare going to be sorry for fucking with me and what’s mine.Iknow none of my boys would ever do that shit, so it has to be someone else.Theywere the ones who were telling me not to make the stupid thing in the first place, but my hardheaded ass didn’t want to listen.Nowlook at this clusterfuck.
Istill can’t believe that some asshole would post that shit online for everyone to see.Thenagain,Iknow this is all my fucking fault.
Imade it so easy for people to hate her.
Fuck!IwishIcould go back in time and stop myself from being a dumbass.
Theactions of this asshole just fucked up any progressImight have made withWinterso far, and that alone makes me want to slam this person’s face into a wall.Itwasn’t much progress because she’s hardheaded as fuck, but at least it was something.Shewas finally beginning to soften up toward me a little, and now all of that was down the drain.Iknow she’ll just see this as another betrayal on my part.
Wayto fucking go, dickhead!
Whythe fuck didIeven make that stupid video in the first place?Oh, that’s right,Iwas filled with hate and so much rage that it clouded my fucking judgment.Iwasn’t thinking straight.Eventhough it was staged,Idamn well made sure it looked like it was.
Noweveryone who has seen it will no doubt think it’s real as well.Damn,Ireally know how to fuck shit up…
“Findout who the fuck jumped her andI’lldeal with them as soon asIcan,”Itell the guys, pissed as fuck that someone thought they could put their hands on her.
“Don’tworry, we’ll find out who did that shit,”Natesays asRoyceandBeckagree.Igive them a nod before turning toRiley.
“Putyour hands on her again andIdon’t fucking care if you’re my best friend’s sister.Iwill fuck you up,”Igrit through clenched teeth before turning and walking away from them.
I’msureBeckwill want to chew me out later for whatIjust said to his sister, but he’ll just have to wait.Myonly priority right now is findingWinter.I’llhave to settle for dealing with all that other shit later.Especiallythe person or people in this school who touched her whenImade it clear that she was off-limits and fucking mine.
Whycan’t shit ever go right?Ithink asIquickly make my way to my car.Iget in, start the engine, and peel out of the parking lot as fast asIcan.Idial myPRfirm and put it on speaker asIdrive toward her apartment.
“Hello,Mr.King.Howcan we help you today?” myPRconsultant asks as she answers the phone.Likeshe doesn’t already know.
“Iwant anything and everything aboutWinterCrownepulled off the internet and contact all the news stations covering the story.Threatento sue those assholes if they don’t get it offline and file the suit if you need to so they know we’re not fucking around.Iwant it done within the next hour.Makesure they know that if they post or run any other shit about her,I’llbe coming for them,”Igrunt into the phone.
“Surething, sir.We’llstart sorting everything out right away,” she tells me, andIhang up the phone.Imean, it’s the leastIcan do for my girl, right?
Idrive like a bat out of hell to get to her apartment, not caring about traffic laws.Ijust need to make sure that she’s fine andIneed to do that with my own two eyes.Thankfully,Idon’t get pulled over.
Mygut aches at the devastationIsaw in her eyes earlier, before she ran toward the car and away from me.Onceagain, it's caused by me.
Ifelt gutted and fucking angry at myself, even more so than howI’vealready been feeling recently.AllI’vebeen wanting to do lately is make it all up to her, but something or someone is always getting in the way of that, which makes it that much more frustrating.
Icome to a screeching halt and park haphazardly in the underground garage to our building and rush out of my car, heading straight for the elevator.I’mimpatient as it makes its way up to her floor.Isit just me or is this shit taking forever today?Whenit finally reaches her floor,Ibolt for her door and, using the keysIhad made,Iopen it and quickly step inside.
“Winter!Baby, are you here?”Iyell asIstep into the apartment.
I’mbarely through the door whenIget blindsided with a fist to the face.Ilet out a curse asIlook up to findHunterstanding there with a mean-ass expression on his face.Iflooks could kill…
Igrab a hold of my jaw.Ithurts like a motherfucker.Great, one guess as to why he’s talking with his fists instead of using his words.I’mthinking he’s already seen the news, which isn’t all that hard, since it’s currently making headlines on all the stations inRavenwood.Justanother thing for me to be pissed about.Ilet out a groan before he starts to speak a moment later.