Chapter 29: Pool Party Crashers

As Grace approached the pool with her three groupies, I couldn’t stop the frown that creased my lips. “Too crowded. I got better things to do than swimmin’ with a buncha plastic dolls.” I said with a snarky tone and a glare. I wasn’t intimidated or afraid but at the same time, I still didn’t have the patience for this situation. This was one of the few times where I’d rather walk away.

Grace immediately looked disheartened and pouted. I couldn’t help but get riled up as my annoyance turned into frustration because her puppy dog eyes looked just like Julian’s. “Aww. Are you sure? I think you should stick around for a while. Your bikini looks so cool! Can we get a closer look?”

For fucks sake…

My frown deepened for only a second until I flipped it into a cocky smirk. “Sure. Come a lil closer and I’ll give you a real good look.” My change in demeanor made Grace’s three followers hesitate on the spot. They’ve clearly never met with someone who grew up on the west-side. My smirk widens.

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

“I’d love to.” Grace was the only one who stepped forward and, instead of taking the ladder or doing a cannonball like Julian usually does, Grace did a dive and completely disappeared underwater.

This left me alarmed and unhappy as I looked around warily. If I can’t see the person I’m trying to keep an eye on, well, that has always made life all the more difficult for me. With slow kicks I spun side to side, waiting for Grace to come up for air at any moment. A sudden hand gripped my ankle and gave it a tug, making me give a startled gasp and kick in that direction. But my kick only went through empty water, the current of movement behind me alerted me that there was something there. And as soon as I spun around, I came face to face with Grace who has finally come back to the surface. She took in a soft breath despite how long she was underwater. Grace ran her fingers through her ashy-blonde hair to get the wet, dripping strands out from in front of her face. As soon as her face was cleared, she opened her eyes and smiled at me.

“Did I scare you?” Her voice seemed almost to have a purr in it even though I could tell she was still a little breathless.

“No.” I grouchily grumbled while glaring at her. Not gonna lie, that little ankle yank had put me right on the verge of getting pissed off. Again.

Grace then gave me another sweet smile with her glossy lips. “I’ve competed in quite a few swimming competitions and got a belt made of first place meddles. You could call me a pro swimmer. Maybe I can show you my meddles and trophies sometime?”

“Yeah, how about maybe not,” I grumbled again in the same tone with the same narrow-eyed look as before. Listening to her brag about all of her life accomplishments wasn’t exactly how I wanted to spend the rest of my day. I then looked at the other woman staring at us who hadn't even touched the water yet. “Are your marionettes gettin’ in or what?”

For a brief second, I saw her smile darken when it widened until he gave me another sweet smile. “Of course! They were just getting ready to come in. Right girls?” It seemed that the women really were marionettes because they came in the water right as Grace spoke the word. They either sat on the edge and slipped into the water or took the ladder. I would’ve snorted in amusement but the humor in this atmosphere was gone.

The three swam closer to us and I could feel them starting to cage me in, floating on all sides of me with Grace somehow always ending up behind me. Her skills in the water weren’t exaggerated. Unfortunately. My frown returned when they started to circle me.

My goosebumps returned when Grace swam up behind me and I could feel her warmth within the water against my skin, though she didn’t warm the water nearly as hot as Julian did. I only felt it because she swam so close while speaking so calmly. “Remember what you said about rats, Suki?” She murmured ever so softly. I wasn’t even looking at her face but I could still tell she was smiling just by the sound of her voice. And the tone had a touch of malice in it as well. “Well, I think I figured out how to handle them. Use a very big mousetrap. What do you think?”

Before I could give my hostile response, I shrieked when Grace pulled a single string from the tie on my bikini that held it together. I wrapped my hands around the cups before my breasts could fall out. The women laughed at my reaction and grabbed at my arms, stopping my efforts and making my bust exposed anyway.

Grace made a face full of disgust and contempt. “Ugh. You have gross, ghastly scars everywhere you look on your body. If it wasn’t for your tits and your ass, no man or woman would want to touch you.”

I could feel veins bulging out of my skin on both my neck and temple as I felt my temper boiling. “You fucking little shits!” I angrily yelled while fighting back. Unfortunately for them, I had more muscle within my curves and they weren’t able to hold on to me for long. The first woman I ripped my arm out of was presented with a harsh shove, making her fall backward into the water. The cowardly females instantly gasped and swam a few feet back. The only one who stood her ground and was about to make another move was Grace but before she could, there was the masculine voice that belonged to Julian boomed across the pool.

“Grace STOP! What’re you doing?!” As he shouted you could see the irritated anger in his eyes that reflected his twin sister’s.

“Mind your own business, Julian! We’re just fooling around. Right, Sis?” Grace then looked and me and gave me another sweet but venomous smile.

Her smile ended with a startled yelp when I snatched her by her soaked hair and gave it a very hard yank, almost dunking her into the water in the process.

“Yeah? How about we fool around at the bottom of the pool, huh??” My growl was full of ire and I was about to take action, doing what I said I was going to do without caring about the consequences. But before I could, I was stopped by a big hand grabbing my arm.

“I said enough!” He snapped at me this time, taking me by surprise and I released Grace. As Julian retied my bikini he then glared at his twin. “Will you just leave her alone already? Enough is enough! If Dad hears about this, he won’t be happy.”

“What’re you going to do? Tattle on me?” Grace snapped back at her brother with the same expression and same tone. Their identical similarities will forever be bizarre and rub me the wrong way.

“I don’t need anybody to tattle on anything for my sake.” I butted in with an aggressive shout of my own. “I can take care of myself just fine,” I tell Julian firmly then shoot Grace’s friends some nasty glares. “Put your hands on me again and I’ll break your fucking fingers!” I finally turned to Grace and pointed my finger at her. “You just fucked up. And you’re gonna pay. Dearly.” I growled with sheer lividness before swimming away from them.

Grace didn’t sass me this time though she did glare at my back. I couldn’t tell whether or not it was water or sweat but I did see an extra sheen on her neck. I heard Grace and Julian argue back and forth but I was far enough away that their words were inaudible now.

I hauled myself out of the pool and marched towards the mansion. So much for a lovely swim. Fuck this place. Before I could get far, I was startled by another strong grasp around my wrist. You’d think I would stop getting startled when Julian grabs me but after the years I’ve spent in the type of world I’ve grown up in, being overly wary was part of my nature.

“Dammit, Julian, what do you want now??” I sass him while attempting to rip my wrist free. But that feeble attempt ended in failure when he pulled me in close to his chest and pressed his forehead against mine while murmuring one word.

“You.”