Family: A Reform School Romance (Academy of Misfits Book 3) Read online

  Contents

  Blurb

  Bea Paige’s Books

  About Bea Paige

  Academy of Misfits Playlist

  Prologue

  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

  Epilogue

  Coming soon

  Beyond the Horizon excerpt

  Author Note

  Copyright ©: Kelly Stock writing as Bea Paige

  First Published: 19th January 2019

  Publisher: Kelly Stock

  Cover by: Everly Yours Cover Designs

  Kelly Stock writing as Bea Paige to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Blurb

  You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family...

  But that’s crap.

  I can choose my family.

  I choose Eastern. I choose Ford. I choose Sonny. I choose Camden.

  Four boys.

  Four boys with broken, jagged edges.

  Four fierce boys who have chosen me.

  And now together we face my flesh and blood.

  My brother, the biggest bully at Oceanside. My father, the most notorious criminal in the country. Both intent on hurting the people I love.

  But they’ve underestimated me.

  I’m Asia. I’m a fighter.

  I carry the storm within me.

  And with my boys by my side, we’ll face them head on.

  Because we are the delinquents, we are the rejects, but most of all we are family, and family sticks together.

  Always.

  ** Family is the final book of this new gritty, contemporary reverse harem academy trilogy for 17+ readers and deals with adult themes and some subjects you may find upsetting. Contains foul language and sexual scenes**

  Bea Paige’s Books

  Academy of Misfits (academy reverse harem romance)

  #1 Delinquent https://books2read.com/AcademyMisfits1

  #2 Reject https://books2read.com/AcademyMisfits2

  #3 Family https://books2read.com/AcademyMisfits3

  Finding Their Muse (dark contemporary romance / reverse harem)

  #1 Steps https://books2read.com/Steps

  #2 Strokes https://books2read.com/Strokes

  #3 Strings https://books2read.com/StringsFTM

  #4 Symphony https://books2read.com/FTM4

  #5 Finding Their Muse boxset https://books2read.com/FTMBoxset

  The Brothers Freed Series (contemporary romance / reverse harem)

  #1 Avalanche of Desire https://books2read.com/AvalancheOfDesire

  #2 Storm of Seduction https://books2read.com/StormSeduction

  #3 Dawn of Love https://books2read.com/DawnOfLove

  #4 Brothers Freed Boxset https://books2read.com/BrothersFreed

  Contemporary Standalones

  RH Fairy tale retelling

  Cabin of Axes https://books2read.com/CabinOfAxes

  Age gap romance

  Beyond the Horizon https://books2read.com/Beyond-the-horizon

  The Sisters of Hex series (paranormal romance / reverse harem)

  Prequel to The Sisters of Hex series:

  Five Gold Rings: https://books2read.com/FiveGoldRings

  Sisters of Hex: Accacia

  #1 Accacia’s Curse https://books2read.com/AccaciasCurse

  #2 Accacia’s Blood https://books2read.com/AccaciasBlood

  #3 Accacia’s Bite https://books2read.com/AccaciasBite

  #4 Accacia’s Trilogy https://books2read.com/AccaciasTrilogy

  Sisters of Hex: Fern

  #1 Fern’s Decision https://books2read.com/FernsDecision

  #2 Fern’s Wings https://books2read.com/FernsWings

  #3 Fern’s Flight https://books2read.com/FernsFlight

  #4 Fern’s Trilogy https://books2read.com/FernsTrilogy

  The Infernal Descent trilogy (co-written with Skye MacKinnon)

  #1 Hell’s Calling https://books2read.com/HellsCalling

  #2 Hell’s Weeping https://books2read.com/HellsWeeping

  #3 Hell’s Burning https://books2read.com/HellsBurning

  #4 Infernal Descent boxset https://books2read.com/InfernalDescent

  About Bea Paige

  Bea Paige lives a very secretive life in London… she likes red wine and Haribo sweets (preferably together) and occasionally swings around poles when the mood takes her.

  Bea loves to write about love and all the different facets of such a powerful emotion. When she’s not writing about love and passion, you’ll find her reading about it and ugly crying.

  Bea is always writing, and new ideas seem to appear at the most unlikely time, like in the shower or on driving her car.

  She has lots more books planned, so be sure to subscribe to her newsletter:

  beapaige.co.uk/newsletter-sign-up

  Academy of Misfits Playlist

  It is no secret that I listen to music whilst I write. Some authors like to write in utter silence, I’m not one of them. Music is my muse. I have been known to write, listen to music and sing all at the same time! Oftentimes music will inspire an idea and it’s no different for this series. Delinquent (book one of Academy of Misfits) was inspired by Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy. This playlist has grown somewhat since Delinquent and Reject, so why not check it out!

  Listen to the full playlist on Spotify HERE

  This book is dedicated to my family. You know who you are.

  Bea xx

  “To do a great right, you may do a little wrong; and you may take any means which the end to be attained will justify.”

  ― Charles Dickens

  Prologue

  Family.

  A word that means so much to so many.

  A word, that for a long time, I never really understood.

  I had a mum, yes. A junkie mum who gave birth to me. She was my flesh and blood, and I’d loved her. We’d loved her, my brothers and me.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  She tried to be who we needed, but in the end
she gave us up because life was just too hard, and she was too weak to fight.

  She left us alone.

  She cast us adrift with no anchor to keep us safe, with no notion of what it means to be part of a family filled with warmth, love and security. And just like the last stuttering beat of her heart, that dream of family was snuffed out entirely when my baby brothers were taken from my arms, screaming for their mum, and for me.

  I mourned the loss of my family that day. I mourned the loss for weeks, months, years after her death. I never really got over it. Instead, I became secretly infatuated with the man whose blood runs through my veins. The man my mum had loved. The man that had caused my mum’s addiction, who broke her heart.

  The man I now know to be the King.

  The same man who bore a son as evil and as hateful as him.

  The same man who uses kids to do his dirty work, to sell drugs and to inflict fear.

  The same man who traffics girls for sex.

  The same man who ordered the kidnapping of my friend.

  The same man who kills.

  He’s my father and Monk is my brother, but neither are my family.

  We might share the same genes but that means nothing to me. That doesn’t make them family and it never will.

  When my mum died and my brothers were taken from me, I never believed I’d find a family to call my own. But I did. Tracy became my surrogate mum. Bray another little brother. Eastern remained my best friend but then became so much more.

  Then later, I found more family in the most unlikely of places and now I understand what the word truly means. Family is about the people you choose to open your heart to, the people you can count on to have your back, to be by your side when shit gets tough. Family are the people who support you when you can’t hold yourself upright. Family are the actions of people who will do anything to prove you mean as much to them as they mean to you. Family are the ones who laugh with you, who fight for you, who fucking cry with you. Family are the people who break down your barriers, who embrace your scars and aren’t disgusted by them. Family are the ones who anchor you whilst the storm fucking rages, whilst the world around you crumbles to dust. They’re the ones who stitch together your battered and broken heart, making it beat again. They’re the ones who make you strong.

  And now that I have a family, I will fight tooth and nail to keep them safe even if that means going up against my father and his son.

  He might be the King. He might own a lot of people. But he’ll never own me and he sure as fuck won’t destroy what I’ve fought so hard to keep.

  “Asia, you ready?” Ford asks me, drawing me back into the moment.

  I grit my teeth and nod my head, ignoring the bead of sweat that falls down my spine, reminding me of the fear and danger we’re all in. “I’m ready.”

  He glances at the rest of the guys, a determined set to his jaw. “We finish this tonight. No one fucks with our family and gets away with it.”

  Stepping forward, he holds his arm out, his hand fisted. Eastern doesn’t hesitate, he places his palm over Ford’s closed fist and grips it tightly, a fierce look passes between them. So much has changed these past few months since I joined Oceanside and despite the dangerous situation we’re in, my heart swells with admiration, with joy at the loyalty they share now.

  Next to place his hand into the circle is Camden. His split knuckles are still weeping, and beneath the swelling of his face I catch the darkness in his gaze and the need for revenge.

  “You up for this, Cam?” Ford asks, concerned. The last few months have brought us closer, bound us together in an unbreakable unit. Camden gives Ford a look that cuts his question dead.

  “No motherfucker is going to stop me, and if I should die tonight I will spend all of eternity making sure that cunt wished he’d never been born.”

  Ford nods, grimacing. We exchange looks. Both of us fearful for him. If we survive tonight, it’ll take Camden a long time to recover. Perhaps he never will. Either way, we’ll be right there by his side ready to catch him when he breaks, and he will break. We all will eventually.

  Sonny flicks his gaze to mine and for a moment I can’t breathe. He says so much without saying anything at all.

  “Sonny?” I question. Being here is hard for him, not because he doesn’t want to fight, but because he’s afraid of what will happen if he does.

  “I’m here. I’ve got your back. Let’s do this,” Sonny says just as fiercely, placing his own hand over the others. I hope he survives this. I need him to.

  “Asia?” Eastern prompts, his gold-flecked brown eyes more tumultuous than I’ve ever seen before. I know he wishes I wasn’t here. I know he wishes I’d stayed behind. That I was safe. They all do. But this is my family too. This is my fight as much as theirs, more so perhaps.

  “This is where I belong. I’m ready,” I repeat, cupping their hands between mine and pushing away the pain I feel inside. I grip their hands tightly. “It’s time for payback. It’s time for retribution.”

  Around us the air crackles with tension and the humming need for vengeance.

  The King might be my father, Monk my brother, but they’re not my family.

  These boys are. No, correction, these men are.

  And we’re here to fight.

  1

  One month earlier.

  “What is it, Asia?” Camden asks, gently grasping hold of the paper. I let it slide from between my fingers unable to react.

  It can’t be true.

  It can’t.

  I stumble a little, my knees sagging. Eastern hauls me upright, pulling me into his side as we all listen to Camden read the note out loud. Every word slashes against my skin, widening the cuts they’ve already made, scarring me deeper than a knife ever could.

  “You’re his daughter?” Camden accuses, his hand dropping, the note fluttering to the floor. In my peripheral vision I see Sonny crouch down, reaching for the piece of paper, but my attention is fixed on Camden.

  “I…”

  “This is bullshit, of course she isn’t. There’s no fucking way!” Eastern snaps, hauling me closer, crushing me against him as if that alone can protect me from the truth. I can barely stand upright, let alone form any words to protest as vehemently.

  He’s my father.

  Monk’s my brother.

  They have Pink.

  “We don’t know anything for certain,” Hudson says, but I can tell he doesn’t believe his words any more than I do.

  He gives me a sorrowful look and there’s something about that which makes this so much worse. If it’s true and I am the King’s daughter, then his blood runs in my veins.

  “Him…?”

  My voice trails off as I try to wrap my head around the news. The room seems to expand then shrink and I feel strange in my skin all of a sudden, like I don’t belong. A dull pain begins to thud in my head, a feeling that has become familiar lately. I reach for my temple trying to rub away the oncoming migraine and the weird feeling inside.

  “This is bullshit,” Eastern repeats as my mind races with questions.

  Do I look like him? I know I’ve got my mother’s olive skin and dark hair, but my nose is a completely different shape to hers and my lips are fuller. And what about Monk? He’s my half-brother. Did he know I was his sister when I started Oceanside Academy? Had he known when he’d hunted me down with his wolves? When I hit him, intent on hurting him as much as he hurt me. When I beat him in the fight, did he know who I was then? Or was it after? Is that why he accepted me into the HH crew? Is that why he took Pink because he knows what she means to me and he wants revenge? All these thoughts flit like angry ravens trapped inside my head, their claws and beaks tearing at my flesh and bones, reaching inside for my DNA, searching for the truth.

  I want answers, I want to understand.

  But there’s not one person in this room who can tell me. The only man who can give me what I need is the arsehole who’d rather kidnap my friend and use her against m
e to get what he wants, than to actually act like a father should. Well, fuck him and fuck his shitty son too. Fuck them both…

  “Fuck…They’ve got Pink.” I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the feeling that somehow I’m responsible for all this.

  “None of this makes any sense. How could Monk walk out of Oceanside with Pink? Tell me how the fuck that happened!” Eastern snaps, his anger drawing everything back into sharp reality. He’s glaring at Frank who clears his throat with a loud cough, sending my scattered thoughts into chaos. I shake my head trying to focus on what he’s saying.

  “…One of the kids set a fire in the rec room in the main building. Both Buddy and I went to deal with it… Monk must’ve made his escape with Pink whilst we were distracted.”

  “So you were tricked by a bunch of fucking teenagers? Is that what you’re saying?” Ford asks, his voice is cold, deadly in its calmness as he approaches us. “I thought you were an ex-marine or something? Aren’t you supposed to be the best of the fucking best?” He barks out a laugh. “No match for a bunch of street kids, eh?”