Forced Proximity (Bluebell House Duet Book 1)
Forced Proximity: Chapter 5

It was turning into an obsession, keeping an eye on Evelyn Cromwell…well, Lewis now. I couldn’t fucking forget that.

Not that she made it easy on me, and not like I had a choice, since her father was all but blackmailing me into the arrangement, which meant I would be the new girl’s shadow for the foreseeable future.

When Laura dropped her hand on my arm, I was momentarily distracted from my task of watching Eve wander across the courtyard. “Baby, we haven’t had a proper date in ages,” she whined. “You’re always so busy with family events, and extra study. Can’t you take me to Finnegans this weekend?”

As she batted her eyelashes at me, a few of their fake lengths scattered in different directions, and I fought the urge to reach out and fix them. I didn’t like when life was out of order, and generally she kept her appearance smooth and refined, but today Laura had an unkempt feel about her. The urge to shake off her touch was strong, but since we were bound through family ties, and she occasionally graced me with half decent blowjobs, I resisted.

“Can’t this weekend. I’ve got prior engagements. But I’ll get my assistant to check my schedule and figure out when we’re due for a publicity photo.” Afterall, what was the use of this political arrangement if not the publicity?

Her father was the vice president, and the rest of her family powerful players in mom’s world, and Madam President was one of the few people on this planet I gave a damn about.

Laura pouted but knew better than to push me. I controlled the direction we took in our arrangement, and right now, she was not a priority.

I returned my gaze to the other side of the courtyard to search for Eve once more, catching sight of her purple tinted hair when a blast echoed through the air, the explosion rocking the ground. The force knocked me down, and by the time I scrambled to my feet, brushing off the dirt I could already feel on my palms, security had descended.

Laura and I ended up under a pile of trained soldiers, all using their bodies to shield us from further attack. “Get the fuck off me,” I growled, pushing at the muscled back blocking me. “I need to check out the damage.”

Not to mention they were in my personal space, and I was barely resisting the urge to start punching them to get free.

“Sir, stay down. You’re being moved to Secure Location Alpha until we can assess the threat level.”

Dammit. Eve had been close to that explosion, and I had to check on her, but these men were too well trained to let me anywhere near the attack. They took their orders from Mom, and they wouldn’t back down from the normal protocol—which was to get me and other politically important students into the bunker.

Sure enough, Laura and I were yanked to our feet and dragged between the agents until we started to move on our own. Guns appeared in their hands as more security stepped around us. I tried to ignore Laura bawling and yanking on my arm as I peered through the guards toward where it looked like one of the walls had been blown out of the science building.

Right where Eve had been standing when I saw her last.

Fuck.

I ducked my head and attempted to dodge my way through our human barrier, but before I made it three steps, two burly men grasped my arms and yanked me forward. Their comms chirped with orders as they moved us into the storage room that hid the door and stairs leading down into the bunker.

There was no chance for me to do anything but bark orders, which most of them ignored, more focused on locking us away. “Just make sure she’s fucking okay?”

Benji, the security I knew the best on these grounds, nodded. “I’ll see if I can replace her, sir. And as soon as we’ve established the threat level, I’ll be back to release the lock.”

My back teeth gritted together as they closed us into the ten-by-ten room. It wasn’t a huge space, but it had enough essentials to get us through a week of isolation. Not that I’d last that long, of course. Not when I was stuck in here with Laura, her two best friends, and the other three dickheads my mom insisted I be friends with for political gain. The only one I gave a single shit about was Prince Oliver Thorningale of Denmark, who I actually considered a friend.

Even so, eight adults in a small space had my skin crawling, and I’d be clawing it off within a few hours.

“You okay?” Oliver said, sidling in next to me and running a hand through his dark curls. “Need me to distract Ms. Can’t-take-a-hint?”

Too tense to joke, I nodded my head, and he accepted that, wandering off to occupy Laura.

There was a very good reason I considered him a real friend.

I started to pace in front of the door like a caged beast. Thankfully, Benji was back within ten minutes, giving us the all clear. “Explosion in the science lab,” he said shortly, waving his hand to let us know we were free to leave. “Try to avoid that area if possible. They’re in the midst of a cleanup.”

“And the girl?” I asked, lowering my voice as Laura glared at me.

Benji nodded. “Yes. I found out that she’s been taken to the medical center. She has injuries but apparently nothing too severe.”

Relief almost sent me off the step and back into the bunker. “Thank you.”

Breaking away from security, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to the person I trusted most in this world. If anyone would know how to help me keep my promise, it was him because it was growing abundantly clear I couldn’t do this on my own.

He hit me back in less than a minute, and I broke away from the group, ignoring Laura’s calls as I headed across campus toward a small grove where all the shady deals went down. It wasn’t in my best interest to meet publicly with my best friend, not when our worlds were so far apart, but no one who cared about politics would be caught dead in the grove.

Choosing one of the few trees not designed to drop shit all over me, I waited in the shadows for Connor. He appeared without a sound, stealthy despite his massive frame. “Hitting the roids again,” I said, eyeing the way his biceps strained at his shirt.

Connor flashed a smirk my way and flexed his biceps. “Don’t be jealous that I’m naturally more jacked than you. Your prissy ass just needs to lift heavier.”

At home I was in the gym every morning. Here, though, I’d rather eat rusty nails than step foot in that germ-ridden cesspit that smelled like month old ass. It was on my list to figure out if I could commandeer a space for a private gym.

Once I got through everything else that was pending.

“So, not that I don’t love our clandestine meetings,” Connor said as he dropped back to rest against the tree, uncaring that his shirt was now covered in bark and moss, “but I’m assuming there’s a reason you’ve called me today. Right after that explosion.”

“I need your help.”

The smartass expression he’d been wearing dried up, replaced by a lethal intensity that reminded me why he was not only one of my best friends but my first call in a crisis. “You never ask for help. You’re Mr. Independent.”

It was how I survived, but this wasn’t about me. “Every aspect of my life has been controlled since I was born, with the aim of building the perfect political family for Mom to achieve her goals. You know that. I know that. I don’t have to ask for help because it’s either done for me, or I’m forbidden from doing it. But this…it has nothing to do with that side of my life.”

“Tell me what it is, and I’ll make it happen. Or I’ll make it go away.” He slapped his hand onto my shoulder before smoothing down the crease he made and releasing me. Connor and my other old friends got me in a way very few did, not even Oliver. I’d learned how to keep my idiosyncrasies under control, but with my core group, I didn’t even need to try.

Taking a breath, I admitted my darkest secret: “I’m sure you remember when I was sixteen and my dad was caught fucking his secretary.” The whole world remembered it, and that was the turning point for Mom in having the support of her country. “I went off the rails for a few months–I honestly can’t even remember those days. One night I got super fucked up and took out Mom’s Bentley and by the time I sobered up, I was wrapped around a pole.” Connor started to pace, and I could tell that he was not going to take this next part well. “Daisy was in the car with me.”

Connor cursed so loudly that there was a chirp of birds nearby taking flight.

“Daisy. I wondered what the hell happened to her. She just vanished from your life after you spent weeks fucking her on every available surface.”

“I was a piece of shit during that time. And I got one hell of a wake-up call after the crash. Daisy was dead by the time I came back to consciousness. Her throat was slit by the broken glass, filling the entire floor of my car with blood. I fucking killed her, and when I realized, I panicked and called Abraham Cromwell.”

Connor stopped pacing. “Who the fuck is that?” His shoulders were tense in a way that suggested he wanted to punch shit.

“Evelyn Lewis formerly Cromwell’s father.”

It took him a beat to realize who I was even talking about. “New girl? Why would you call her father? What’s her connection to you?” Connor detested not understanding a situation—his instincts had saved his life more times than I could count, and they made sure he never walked into a situation blind.

The fact that he hadn’t known one of my secrets was no doubt throwing him for a loop, but this was one I’d expected to take with me to hell, where I belonged.

“Abraham was friends with my mom in high school. Like old, old friends, and he was around for years even when my parents were married. And not that Eve remembers it, but we used to hang out all the time when we were younger. She went to live with relatives for some reason and we lost contact, but her dad remained in our lives. Mom always called him Mr. Fix-It. As in, if you had a problem, he was the one who could fix it. I don’t know why the fuck I called him that night, but in my panic, that was all I could hear. Mom’s voice telling me to fucking fix it.”

“He covered it up for you.” Connor knew how the seedier side of our world worked. “Are you sure Eve doesn’t remember you?”

I nodded with a huff. “Yeah, she shows no recognition at all; she was pretty young the last time we hung out. But I remember her.” Even back then she’d been all big hair and stormy-grey eyes, always following me around.

Connor stared out across the covered path for a few minutes, mulling over the story. “So what do you need my help with, then? What’s new girl and new girl’s dad got to do with the trouble you’re in?”

This was the part he’d be most pissed about. “He called me a few months ago and told me Eve was in danger. He asked if I could get her into this school and keep an eye on her while he cleaned up whatever mess almost got her killed at her last school.”

A realization dawned on Connor’s face. “That’s why you’ve been all over her. I couldn’t quite figure it out. I mean, sure, she’s hot, but nothing like the straitlaced bitches you usually enjoy.”

Evelyn was gorgeous with her thick, purple-black hair, long tanned legs, and intense blue-gray eyes that shifted color with her emotions. I wasn’t immune to her charms, that was for sure, but Connor was right: she was quirky and messy, which was far from my type.

Not to mention I had a politically advantageous girlfriend, which meant Evelyn was solidly off-limits.

“This explosion today almost took her out, and I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but I’m not taking a risk with her again. Abraham knows a secret that could destroy not only my life but Mom’s. I need to ensure that I don’t fuck this up.”

Connor growled, his chest rumbling, which was the signal he was about to lose his shit. “Fucker is blackmailing you. Maybe we should just take him out and wash our hands of the entire situation.”

I shook my head. “Nah, I don’t think he’d actually reveal it, but it’s still a debt I owe him. A huge one.”

Connor nodded as if he understood; in his family’s line of work, he was rather familiar with debts. Blood, money, life—they dealt in it all. “While I don’t think this is a good idea, bro, especially since we don’t have enough information to know what we’re protecting her from, I get why you’ve got to do this. You know that your debts are mine. I’ve got your back in whatever way you need. Do you have a plan?”

Thinking about how the last plan ended, I was ready to try out the new one. “I had a plan, but today showed me that, in an emergency, I’ll be too far away to keep her safe. I think we need to bring in the other guys. I have a feeling that keeping one Evelyn Lewis safe is going to require a team.”

Speaking of, I needed to get to the medical center and make sure she was still doing okay.

“Okay, what do you need from me?”

Leaning in, I lowered my voice. “You have to go to Dean Attworth and get him to agree to move us, the guys, and Eve into a co-ed dorm. Right now she’s in the female dorms, outside of our protection and far too vulnerable. I need her under the same roof as me, and I need all of you assholes there too. It wouldn’t hurt to get one of us into each of her classes as well.”

Connor rubbed his hand across the scruff he hadn’t bothered to shave this morning. I had no idea how the feel of it on his skin didn’t bother him, but very little bothered my best friend. Except his brother. With that in mind, I added, “And we need Ethan.”

His fists clenched and he almost looked like he was about to throw punches. “Fuck no. We don’t need that bastard.”

“The dean will never agree to this without a teacher chaperone. No matter what you threaten him with. It wouldn’t look good to the school committee and parent’s union.”

Connor fumed for a few minutes, pacing up and down, before he released a cursed snarl. “Fucking fine. I have so much shit over the dean, I’ll have the request approved by the end of the day. Start packing your shit, Drew. We’re about to be roomies.”

He left as silently as he arrived, and I smoothed my shirt down, making sure everything was in place. Stepping from the grove, I glanced around to make sure there was no one else around to catch me out here. No doubt most of the students would be in their dorms while the aftermath of the explosion was dealt with.

I was about to do the same. First thing was figuring out if that was a deliberate attack and, if so, what I needed to do to end whoever tried to hurt her. Second was locking Eve to my side until I completed my end of the deal with her father.

Then I’d finally be free.