10. Born To Be Wild

~ Audrey ~

“What girl? Please, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Ashton tried to deny it.

Audrey let out a scoff. Ashton did not know this, but Audrey was watching the entire event unfolding. She was sitting comfortably inside the Vanderbilt’s limousine. In her lap was an iPad hooked up to the CCTV camera. She saw everything that was happening inside the room, and Audrey wondered for the first time in her life, how did she ever fall in love with a guy like him.

“Audrey Huntington is not a girl you mess around with, you understand?” Killian replied rather sternly. Audrey smiled a little when she heard this.

Meanwhile, Ashton swallowed hard as his worst nightmare was coming to life. Killian then noticed that Ashton’s eyes kept glancing over to that fern. Smiling a smug smile, he walked over to the fern and pushed the leaves away, revealing the black GoPro camera. Killian picked up the camera and walked back, shaking his head as he said, “What were you planning with this anyway?”

“Answer him,” Caspian threatened when Ashton wasn’t answering.

“I… I don’t know how that got there,” he lied.

Killian gave him a bored stare, “Do you think we’re fúcking stupid?”

“I said answer him!” Caspian cracked Ashton’s fingers again when Ashton wasn’t answering. Ashton yelped in pain.

“No! I’m sorry!”

Killian nodded at Caspian and he let go of his grip around Ashton’s hand. Then he leaned down to Ashton’s ears and whispered, “If you lay another finger on her, I swear you’ll have no more fúcking fingers to touch another goddamn ball,”

Ashton couldn’t say anything. His eyes were fixed on his trembling broken fingers.

“You hear me?” Caspian shouted, grabbing Ashton by the neck and yelled, “Answer me, motherfúcker, do you hear me?”

“Y—yes!” Ashton mumbled.

“Louder!”

“Yes!” he yelled in fear.

Caspian had his fist up like he was about to punch Ashton.

“P—please...!” Ashton begged. He was so scared that he had peed the sheets.

Audrey winced and cringed. Even though she hated Ashton for what he did, she felt a little bad for the guy. The brothers really did a number on him. 

“Say the magic word,” Caspian seethed. His hands were slapping Ashton’s mouth.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’ll do whatever you want, please!”

“Tell her how sorry you are,” Killian spoke. He held the camera to Ashton’s face.

“Audrey, I’m so sorry! I’m sorry!” Ashton begged for dear life. “Please, make them stop!”

Audrey couldn’t watch anymore. She turned the iPad off and threw it to the seat next to her. She froze for a few seconds, and once she gathered her composure, she picked up her phone and texted Killian. 

“Stop, please…!” Ashton begged and begged.

Audrey: Stop.

Killian saw the text from Audrey. He shot Caspian a look and Caspian’s fist immediately connected with Ashton’s nose. 

* SMACK! *

Blood splattered out of the poor boy’s nose. Caspian held him by his neck and spat, “You don’t get to give orders here, you son of a bitch!”

“We’re the ones giving the orders here, you understand?” Killian tilted Ashton’s bloody chin up.

“Y—yes,” 

With a stoic look on his face, Killian raised his foot and pressed the sole of his shoes against Ashton’s lower area. His eyes shot up when he realized his member was being scrunched into his stomach. 

“Now listen up, if we ever hear that someone at school is talking about her behind her back, or if someone so much as looks at her the wrong way again, you’re gonna pay for that. So you’ll make sure that it doesn’t happen, you understand?” Killian’s piercing blue eyes were as cold as ice. Ashton knew better than to say no.

“Yes…”

Killian kept his foot there. He pressed harder and it caused Ashton’s eyes to roll back in pain. “Honestly, things could’ve gone a whole lot worse for you. But since we don’t like to keep our lady friend waiting, consider this your lucky day,”

With one last push to the groin, Killian smirked and pulled his foot away. Ashton let out the biggest sigh of relief.

“Stay the hell away from her, or you won’t be so lucky next time,” Caspian said with a shove.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Killian stopped himself from turning around. He leaned back down to Ashton’s eye level and said, “If anyone asks, you fell down the stairs and broke your hand,”

Ashton gulped.

“If a word of this ever gets out… well, let’s just say you’re gonna have a bright future in the adult film industry,” Killian waved the little camera in his hand.

And with that, the Vanderbilt brothers turned their backs on Ashton and exited the room. And even after they were gone, Ashton still couldn’t move. He just sat there for the next hour, in his own puddle of pee and blood, scarred for life.

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“It’s done,” Caspian said as he got into the car. “He won’t ever bother you again,”

“Oh my God! Is that blood?” Audrey gasped and her eyes widened when she saw Caspian’s bloody hand and sleeves. Killian also had a little splatter on his suit.

“It’s not ours,” Killian said simply, pulling out a handkerchief to clean himself. “Don’t worry, he’ll live,”

The car started moving and they exited the Plaza Hotel. Audrey had been waiting inside the car, alone with the driver for the past thirty minutes. The boys said they won’t be long, and they weren’t.

Audrey watched in silence as Killian handed his handkerchief to Caspian. Staring at the bloodstained handkerchief, Audrey said, “You know you guys didn’t have to do this for me… but… thank you,”

The brothers exchanged a look that Audrey couldn’t decipher. Caspian then turned to her and said, “Hey, if anyone else messes with you, you let us know,”

Audrey laughed at their generous offer. “What are you guys, like, Batman or something?”

“No, sweetheart, I promise we’re nothing like that,” Killian shook his head.

“Yeah. We’re just a couple of very angry guys looking to fúck,” Caspian smirked.

Those words sounded terrifying. And it should. Yet somehow, Audrey found it weirdly… intriguing.

What the hell is wrong with me? She asked herself.

She shook her head and threw those dark thoughts away. She then looked at the two brothers who were as calm and as cool as ever. They had their phones out and Killian was replying to work emails and Caspian was scrolling through I*******m. They were very casual about it, like they didn’t just beat someone up and it was just a normal afternoon.

“So… what now?” Audrey asked cautiously.

“I’m hungry,” Killian muttered, his eyes were still on his phone.

“Yeah, all that talking really drained my energy,” Caspian replied.

“What do you feel like eating?”

“Pizza maybe?”

“We had pizza yesterday,”

Audrey turned to both brothers who were bickering about dinner and she couldn’t help but laugh. The two boys lifted their heads from their phones and turned to her. Her laugh grew louder and they cocked their heads, watching her in amusement.

“What’s so funny?” Caspian asked.

“Nothing… it’s just that… you guys just beat someone up and now you’re talking about eating pizza,” she said in between laughs.

“Well, I’m hungry,” Caspian stated simply, and that only made Audrey laugh harder. 

“You know what? Why don’t you two come over to my house?” Audrey said after her laughter died down. “I can make some decent pasta… I think,”

Killian smiled appreciatively and said, “That sounds amazing,”

“But didn’t we just have pasta earlier for lunch?” Caspian interjected.

“Shut up,” Killian shoved his brother and turned to Audrey. “Ignore him. We’d love to try your pasta,” he smiled brightly

“…Okay,” she said.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“How is it?” Audrey asked and gauged the brothers’ reaction.

The three of them were seated at Audrey’s dining room. In front of them was each a plate full of Audrey’s homemade spaghetti Aglio olio e pepperoncino.

“It’s really good,” Killian said after he had a mouthful.

“Yeah, we might be coming over for dinner a lot more often,” Caspian added.

“Yeah, don’t hold your breath,” Audrey stifled a laugh and poured some wine into their glasses. “I only cook on special occasions,”

Audrey liked to cook, but she hated cleaning. Since she started living alone, she would cook for herself from time to time. But cooking for one was no fun. So she would only do it for special things like birthdays or when she wanted to have her friends over.

“Who taught you how to cook?” Killian asked.

“My nana did, it’s her special recipe,”

“It really is,” Killian agreed. “Tell your nana I’m a fan,”

“So, what’s special about today?” Caspian asked. “Why’d you cook for us?”

“I don’t know, but the fact that you two made my ex-boyfriend peed himself might have something to do with it,” she shrugged.

“I’d do it every night if that means I could eat this every day,” Caspian pointed to his plate with his fork.

“He’s not kidding, by the way,” Killian said to Audrey and she couldn’t help but smile. The thought that these two boys would kill someone over her homemade pasta was a huge compliment.

“Hey!” Killian protested as Caspian stole a forkful of pasta from his plate and shoved it into his mouth.

“Finders, keepers,” Caspian mumbled happily with his mouth full of pasta.

“Fúck you,” Killian shoved his brother.

“Fúck you too,” Caspian replied.

“Boys, stop fighting!” Audrey interjected as the two boys looked like they were about to punch each other. “I’ll make some more later,”

The two boys calmed down immediately and Audrey rolled her eyes at their immature antics. It was hard to believe that just an hour ago, these two were frightening a guy to death.

“Ah, Audrey, you really are an angel,” Caspian smiled teasingly.

“Then you two must be the devil,” she replied and drank her wine.

The rest of that night went somewhat… tame. Compared to what they were doing earlier, fighting over the last plate of pasta could be considered as tame. Audrey never expected the night to turn this way, but she was happy. She couldn’t stop laughing as Killian and Caspian would fight over the dumbest things. 

What a night, she said to herself.

After they were done with dinner, the two guys stayed for a while and they finished another bottle of wine. They continued talking until it got pretty late and Audrey felt sleepy. The guys realized it and Killian, ever the gentleman, said that they should leave. 

After the brothers left, Audrey took a quick shower and jumped into bed. Lying on her bed, Audrey replayed the events that transpired earlier in her head. She would forever remember that night as the night her new friends slash neighbors beat up her ex-boyfriend into a pulp and she made dinner for them afterward. Maybe that was mean, but Ashton fully deserved it. Because after that day, not he or anyone else at school dared to look at Audrey the wrong way again. No one whispered or murmured things about her as she walked past them in the hallway. 

And no boy would ever hurt her like that again. Ever.

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- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -