Page 18 of Ella's Masquerade
“Uh-huh.” She narrowed those beautiful eyes at me. “Why?”
“Because you’re special.”
She gave me a look. “Seriously, that’s the best you’ve got? At least Dash called me beautiful and commented on my intelligence. You’re going with the bare minimum in an attempt to lure me to my humiliation.” She leaned forward, her voice pitching low. “You’ll have to do a lot better than that.”
“Lure you to your humiliation,” I repeated, mulling it over. “Now, see, I think you’re playing this game all wrong, Ella.”
“It’s not a game.”
“Everything in this world is a game, darling.” She just hadn’t realized it yet. “You’re just reluctant to take on your role. But I can help you. And together, we’ll win.”
She arched a brow. “Win what?”
“The war between you and your evil-as-fuck stepsisters.” I unbuttoned my jacket and spread my arms out across the back of my side of the booth, loving the way her eyes tracked every move. “By the time we’re done, they won’t know what hit them.”
She contemplated for a moment, distrust a heavy emotion in her features. Considering our brief acquaintance, I couldn’t blame her. And given everything she’d been through, she would need more than a few words from me to prove my point.
Which gave me an idea.
“How about this,” I said, leaning forward once more and lowering my voice. “Give me tonight. Let me show you what I have in mind. If you don’t like it, we’re done and I won’t interfere in your circle anymore. But if you do like it”—which I knew she would—“we’ll continue. And I promise that, by the end, your stepsisters will see justice for the hell they’ve put you through.”
“You speak about my background like you know so much about me.” Ella started tapping against the table, her expression skeptical. “Are you stalking me, Nacht?”
I grinned. “If I said I was, would you believe me?”
“I’d believe Ryan put you up to this crap,” she replied, folding her arms across her chest. “That would explain your comment about my stepsisters putting me through hell.”
“Or perhaps I’m observant and studied the school dynamics before transferring in.” Which was exactly what I did.
“Okay, say I believe that.” Her tone told me she absolutely did not believe it but was humoring me with a hypothetical situation. “What’s in it for you? Why help meseek justice, as you put it.”
“Because I like you, Ella.”
“Right. Because I’mspecial.” She used air quotes around the word. “I’m going to need more than that, Tray.”
I scratched my stubbled jaw, considering what I could offer to change her mind. “You realize the reason your stepsisters are so hell-bent on tormenting you is because they’re jealous, right?”
Her brow crinkled. “Jealous?” She released a humorless laugh. “Yeah, okay. Also, changing the subject won’t improve my opinion of you.”
“Don’t worry. I’m working toward my explanation, darling.” I paused to accept the drinks Belinda dropped off, then refocused on Ella. “You have the power to be the queen of Darlington Academy. It makes you a threat. That’s why you’re a target.”
“Right, so clearly you’ve not been stalking me.” She smiled, but it wasn’t friendly. “They hate me because they seem to think my father favored me.”
“That’s part of it, but not all of it,” I argued. “You’re gorgeous, Ella. Something they’ve gone out of their way to hide, but even Charlie and Dash still notice. Hell, everyone does. With my help, you could rule that school.”
“And let me guess—you’d stand by my side in the process?”
I shrugged. “It’d be a benefit, yes.” But my primary goal was to see those fuckers pay for what they’d done to her.
“Hard pass,” she tossed back at me. “I have no desire to becomequeen beeof any academy.”
Which only made her more perfect in my eyes.
Still… “You have no desire to make them pay for what they’ve done?”
“Again, you make it sound like you’re familiar with my past.” Suspicion glinted in her gaze. “Where did you move here from?”
“It doesn’t take a genius to realize they’ve made your life a living hell,” I countered, deflecting her inquiry. “What surprises me is how little you care about the possibility of getting revenge. Most would jump at the chance.”
