Wicked Titan: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Golden Olympus Academy Book 1) Read online

  WICKED TITAN

  Golden Olympus Academy Book 1

  A.J. LOGAN

  Copyright © 2020 A.J. LOGAN

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Edited by KD Proofreading

  www.kdproofreading.com

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  CRUEL TITAN

  About the Author

  1

  The cold tile presses against my back, clashing against the steaming water bubbling around me. Taking a deep breath, a wave of dizziness swirls through my mind as the overwhelming scent of chlorine burns my nose. It might be the temperature of the water, but it could also be the shots Haley insisted on doing before everyone arrived at her house. Being that my house is next door, I might’ve indulged in a few more shots than normal. I could easily blame it on the fact that senior year is about to start, and all the extra activities I’ve signed up for start in just two short weeks, but that would be a lie.

  My eyes open, burning as the steam rises from the water, just in time to see the source of my nerves stepping into the hot tub.

  “Hey, Quinn,” Mason says, taking a seat across from me.

  I gather my nerves, responding with a nonchalant hello. How can he be so casual knowing what’s about to happen?

  After dating for a year, I’ve finally agreed to take our relationship to the next stage—all the way, to be exact. And now he’s sitting here like we are buddies. Well, he did have weeks to evaluate (or forget) everything while he was away at football camp. It might be for the best if he has forgotten because I’d like to do the same right now since I feel nothing but panic. I try to sort through all the thoughts, but nerves have taken over command of my brain. What if everything changes between us? We’ve been happy and content for a year. What if he’s disappointed after waiting all this time? Sex shouldn’t be the focus of our relationship, but it has been a main topic for the last few months. But now, it looks like he is taking the lead and not making a big deal about it.

  Only—it is a big deal.

  He was mostly understanding when I’d told him I wanted to wait. After the devastation from my previous relationship, I hadn’t wanted to rush into anything serious again. That stretched into waiting for a year.

  He’s rambling on about camp as I relax against the cold tile, the music drowning out his words until I hear him whisper my name.

  Looking up, I see him focused on me. He slowly moves forward until he’s kneeling in front of me.

  “So, did you miss me?” A sexy smirk appears on his face.

  “Maybe,” I reply, attempting to come off as unbothered by the realization that he hasn’t forgotten but failing.

  “‘Maybe’?” his deep voice asks as he leans in, his mouth almost touching mine. “I missed you.”

  A smile spreads across my lips as I press against his, wrapping my arms around his shoulder. His strong hands grips my sides, pulling me closer.

  “Quinn!” Haley yells, snapping me out of the lustful haze. “There’s cops at your house.”

  I step out of the hot tub, feeling a little wobbly as my brain tries to catch up with what is happening.

  Wrapping a towel securely under my armpits, I’m grateful for the moment to cover up the powder-blue string bikini that usually makes me feel confident. Right now, though, I’m feeling more vulnerable as gravity tugs me out of the mental fog. I hurry through the side gate, jogging across the lawn towards my front door where two officers are knocking.

  “Can I help you?” I ask from several feet away before they turn to see me approach.

  The female officer steps forward. “Is this your residence?”

  “Yes,” I hesitantly reply.

  “Is your mom home?”

  “No, it’s just me and my dad. I can give him a call.”

  “Stanley Caine?” the officer asks, moving cautiously in my direction.

  Nodding my head, I hold my breath.

  She stops just in front of me. Her demeanor and stance exude authority, but her eyes communicate sadness. “Is there another family member who lives close by that you can call?”

  “No, why? What’s wrong?”

  The male officer moves to stand next to his partner, both pairs of eyes stare at me as I wait for them to tell me nothing is wrong. They just need to speak to him about some silly parking ticket. The female officer gives me a look of remorse as she begins to speak. “I’m so sorry, but your dad was in an accident.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Miss Caine, are you sure there isn’t someone you can call?”

  “Where’s my dad?”

  “His car went over Devil’s Summit.”

  Devil’s Summit? She can’t be talking about my dad. That’s hours away from here.

  There must be a mistake. It wasn’t him. This is just a nightmare I’ll wake up from any moment. My dad would never leave me. He’s the only person in the world that I have. He can’t be gone, right? The words seep into my mind, an unseen force tightens around my chest, squeezing the air from my lungs as blackness overcomes me. No one could survive the drop off Devil’s Summit.

  2

  My eyes fall from the two detectives sitting across the dining room table. I rub my fingers over the smooth wood of the table. It’s not even my table. I’m at Haley’s house since her mom insisted that I stay with them. I didn’t even try to refuse. Going to my empty house seemed unbearable. How will I ever be able to go back into that house without my dad? Words from the people surrounding me buzz in my ears, but nothing registers. Nothing has made sense since I found out it wasn’t a bad dream.

  My dad is dead.

  I don’t realize the voices around me have gone silent until my name strikes home. One of the detectives clears his throat as I try to recall the face of the officer at my house last night. The onl
y thing I remember is the look in her eyes and feeling pain before her words brought my world crashing down.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m sorry. I know you are overwhelmed and have a lot you are dealing with right now, but we need to ask you a few questions about your dad,” Detective Taylor says with remorse in his voice, though I look over at his partner, Detective Davis, who has a sneer on his face. Detective Taylor is definitely the good cop, and Davis has the bad cop act down pat.

  I solemnly nod. There’s nothing I can give them because it doesn’t make sense to me. None of it.

  “Did your dad mention where he was headed last night?” Taylor asks, to which I shake my head.

  His hand rubs across his face as I brace myself of what’s coming next because it’s not going to be good.

  “Quinn, none of this is going to be easy to hear, but I need to explain so we can get to the bottom of everything. Did your dad seem to be under extra stress lately? Maybe with finances or work?”

  I shake my head as he pauses, waiting for me to say something before continuing.

  “It appears your dad came into money trouble within the last year. A large sum of money was stolen from his company, and they have reason to believe your dad was responsible.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. My dad doesn’t have money problems. He’s good with finances and always has been.”

  Detective Davis leans forward, his movements intense and exasperated. “We suspect someone tipped your dad off that he was going to be arrested today.”

  “No.” My eyes squeeze shut as I erratically shake my head. “No, that’s not possible. My dad wouldn’t steal from anyone.”

  “The evidence says otherwise, and all our leads indicate he was fleeing town at the time of his death or might have intentionally drove off Devil’s Summit.”

  “He wouldn’t leave me.” The words come out barely above a whisper as I ask myself the same questions that’s been going through my head the last few days. Why was my dad out on that highway, hours away? He never traveled without at least giving me a heads up that he would be away. So why hadn’t he mentioned he was leaving town last night?

  Detective Taylor gives Davis an unapproving look before turning his concern to me. “People do things out of character when they are desperate, and it appears that was the case, here. Your dad was about to lose everything—his home, his job, his freedom, and maybe even his daughter.”

  “You’re lying.” My nails dig into the palm of my hand as I refuse to accept his words. I know my dad, and that is not the man who raised me. “You said yourself he wasn’t found inside his car. Maybe … he didn’t go over the cliff. Or maybe he managed to escape the car. He’s a climber—one of the best. He could scale that mountain without thinking twice.”

  “He didn’t make it out of the car alive.” Detective Dick chimes in as I try to hold on to a shred of hope.

  Detective Taylor speaks softly as he tells me more information I don’t want to know. “The car was found on the riverbank. There’s a sufficient amount of damage, and blood inside the vehicle indicates your dad was ejected, possibly swept away by the current.”

  I press my hands over my ears. I don’t want to hear any more, which is evident to Detective Taylor who finally stops citing evidence that contradicts my wishful thinking that Dad is alive.

  Detective Taylor remains silent as I remove my hands, pressing them on the table before he continues. “We’ve already been in contact with your mom since she’s your next of kin.”

  Jumping out of the chair, it hurls back as I lean over the table. “I don’t have a mom. I’m going home so you can inform her you made a mistake when she arrives.” My heart hammers against my chest as I glare at Detective Taylor, the detective I thought was a decent guy. No decent person would drag that woman back into anyone’s life.

  Detective Taylor calmly looks me in the eye as he tells me the second-worst news of my life. “Quinn, you can’t go home.”

  3

  Two weeks later

  The sound of metal scratching against the ceramic plate is the only sound filling the kitchen. Normally the sound would make me cringe, now it brings relief. Anything that was unpleasant before lessens the deepest pain I’ve ever felt.

  “Quinn, you really should eat before you head to school,” Candace says.

  Raising the fork over the plate, I drop it in the middle with a thud as egg splatters on the marble table while glaring at the despicable woman across the table, the table that she values so much along with all her other material possessions.

  Her lips form a thin line, a sign that she is already fed up with me, which only makes me want to shove even harder.

  “Quinn, you don’t have to go to school today. The principal said you could take a few more days if you need some time to adjust.”

  “I’m going. It’s better than being here.”

  It has to be. I’m so tired of looking at a woman I should feel something about. Actually, I do feel something—disgust and disconnect. I can’t recognize any part of her that I remember from my childhood. She seems taller now, but in reality, Candace is the same height as she was then and is now equivalent to my present-day five-foot-five stature, which just reminds me how young I was when she abandoned me. I tuck my golden-brown hair behind my ear, remembering hers used to be the same. Now she bleaches it a platinum blonde, but I guess it fits her perfect, along with her fake nails. Her eyes are the same dark-brown color as mine, but nothing about them feels familiar.

  “I know it’s an adjustment, but if you just give it ti—”

  “Time? Is time going to bring back my dad? Because that’s the only way things will get better here or anywhere else.” I fight back the tears welling in my eyes. I don’t want to cry in front of her. She doesn’t deserve anything but my anger. “Fuck time.”

  “Watch your language,” Candace says through clenched teeth.

  “She’s right. Fuck time. I hate when people say time heals all.” Nathan enters the room just in time to see our stare down at the table while he pours a cup of coffee from the extravagant coffee pot that the housekeeper, Francis, made. Candace is so useless she can’t even press a simple button for herself.

  Candace’s glare shifts in her husband’s direction as he shrugs his shoulders. “Really, Nathan?”

  “Yep.” He takes a seat at the table, looking in my direction. “Time won’t make the pain go away, but eventually you’ll be able to breathe without feeling like the air is being choked out of your lungs.”

  He’s right. I haven’t been able to take a deep breath since I heard the words that my dad was gone. Nothing has been right in the world since. Sitting at this table is the perfect example of how screwed up my life is without my dad.

  Candace removes her disapproving glare from her husband and focuses it in my direction. “I know your dad would want you to be happy.”

  A callous laugh sails through the air as I shake my head. “You don’t know shit about what my dad wanted, and you definitely didn’t give a shit about what he wanted when you walked out on us.” I should stop but I can’t. The anger is still raw, and the woman across the table doesn’t deserve my mercy. She deserves to feel every ounce of the misery she caused me and my dad, plus all the anguish coursing through me now as I question how well I knew my dad. With each passing day, more details emerge that completely go against the man I knew, the man who’d raised me.

  “Play the part all you want, but as far as I’m concerned, I lost my only parent two weeks ago.”

  “Quinn, if you just give me a chance to—”

  “There’s no explanation for a selfish mother turning her back on her family.”

  Memories of the horrible day surface in my mind. All the nights my dad knelt next to my bed, telling me everything was going to be okay as I cried myself to sleep, seeps into my mind. Fighting the tears back, I go in for one last jab to ease the pain of missing my dad.

  “You’ve been dead to me since
the day I screamed your name as you walked away from us without so much as a backward glance, so I guess that makes me an orphan now.” I keep a stony look on my face as I stare at the woman who should’ve been across the kitchen table from me for the last eleven years.

  “On that note,” Nathan clears his throat as he rises from the table. “Come on, Quinn. I’ll drop you off at school since it’s on my way to the office.”

  Candace pipes up. “I was going to take her before I drop Tanner off at school.”

  “Sounds good, Nathan.” It’s all I can do to be in the mini castle with her. The thought of being trapped in a vehicle with her is too much.

  Grabbing the starched maroon blazer off the chair, I glance at the gold emblem before sliding my arms into the stiff material. You’d think as much as these people pay the ridiculous school, you’d be able to wear whatever you damn well wanted to. It figures, serving as just another reminder that my life isn’t mine anymore.

  It’s my senior year, and here I am, off to a completely different school where I won’t know anyone. There’s no shimmer of hope that Candace will give in and let me go live with Haley now. I’ll have to wait until I’m eighteen, which thankfully is really close … but not close enough. At least then I can finish out my senior year with my friends, but I know it still wouldn’t be the same without Dad.