Total pages in book: 9
Estimated words: 7999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 40(@200wpm)___ 32(@250wpm)___ 27(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 7999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 40(@200wpm)___ 32(@250wpm)___ 27(@300wpm)
He walks back to his desk. “How much money did that laptop cost?”
“Um … five hundred? I can’t remem—”
“You will give Miss. Pearce a thousand.”
“What?!” Johnny gets up.
“Sit down,” Mr. Rivera growls, and his guards swiftly place their hands on his shoulders, forcing him to sit. “Either you pay up now, or I will send a letter to your family informing them no member of the Brown family may ever enter Spine Ridge University grounds again.”
“That has to be illegal,” Johnny mumbles.
Mr. Rivera looks at him from over his shoulder, the darkness in his eyes something to behold. “This is my university.”
Johnny gulps, and subsequently pulls out a checkbook. “Do you have a pen?”
One of the guards plucks a pencil out of his pockets and Johnny snatches it from his hand, then swiftly scribbles onto the paper and tears it off. “Here.” He chucks it my way, but it lands on the floor.
Mr. Rivera grunts with frustration. “Pick. It. Up.”
Johnny narrows his eyes at me, bending over to pick it up, which forces him to practically bow to me. He holds out the paper to me, and I take it before he decides he’s no longer going to play this game.
“You can grab your things from your dorm and leave,” Mr. Rivera says.
“I gave her the money,” Johnny answers.
“Was I not clear enough when I said you were expelled?” Mr. Rivera’s eyes twitch. “I don’t say things I don’t mean. Get. Out.”
Johnny gets up from his seat, the look on his face filled with rage as he marches past the guards, shoving one of them aside before he opens the door and slams it so harshly behind him the whole room shakes.
Mr. Rivera clears his throat. “Leave us.”
I get up.
“Kayla. Stay.”
Kayla? He knows my first name?
His guards exit the room, leaving nothing but silence. A deafening, heart-throbbing silence.
When he turns around, light pouring in from the window behind him scatters around his frame, and I can barely look at him without squinting. He’s quite tall and handsome with those sharp features of his and those killer eyes that are half-mast, but something about his facial expression gives way for melancholy. Like there is an invisible scar that runs deeper than skin.
“I’m sorry you had to witness that.” He swallows, and I don’t know why I focus on his Adam’s apple moving the way it does, or his tongue as it briefly swipes his lips.
“He’s been quite a nuisance to you, hasn’t he?”
I nod. “He’s been trying to get in my pants for months now. With no luck, or I wouldn’t be sitting here.”
“I know.”
My eyes narrow. “How, exactly?”
An unhinged lopsided smile forms on his face, and he points at the camera in the corner of the room.
Well, that makes sense. “Oh.”
“My guards and I keep an eye on everything that goes around here on campus. For the safety of the students, of course.”
“Right. A lot of shady shit happens at this campus. Yet you find time to watch me be harassed and personally come to my help.”
He leans back against the desk. “Penelope … is my son’s girlfriend. I’m keeping an eye out on her friends, for her sake.”
Interesting. I wonder why. “Is Penelope in trouble?”
“No. Let’s just say I’m making sure everyone is safe. That includes Penelope’s friends, like you.”
I take a deep breath and nod. “Thank you.”
He approaches me and places a hand on my shoulder. “If that guy bothers you again, tell me.”
He’s close. Too close for comfort, because I can feel every inch of every one of his fingers connecting with my skin. “Promise me you will, Kayla.”
I can barely collect my thoughts as I inhale a sharp breath. “I promise.”
He’s not even looking at me and yet this one simple hand on my shoulders has my knees quaking. “Good girl.”
Chapter 2
Kayla
I adjust my watch and start the timer before I continue my evening jog across campus during the evening. There aren’t a lot of people outside anymore, except for those attending a party at the Tartarus house. Luckily, that’s far away from where I’m running.
I like having the peace and quiet around me while I jog, because it helps me focus on the audiobook I’m listening to, and it makes it much easier to keep going.
When I spot a bunch of drunk students headed my way, I veer off-track and go into the direction of the main gates. It wouldn’t hurt to jog up and down the mountain road a bit. I won’t go all the way down, but it’ll have a nice view.
I pause after I’ve passed the gates to take a breath for a moment and admire my surroundings. Priory Forest is so freaking haunting at night with all those animal sounds, and the leaves rustling in the wind almost makes it look like the trees themselves could come to life at any moment.