Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 62569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62569 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 313(@200wpm)___ 250(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
"Hey.” Ivan waltzed in wearing jeans and a black peacoat. “I’m taking you to campus. Ace decided to go early to make sure that everything was up to his very anal and annoying specifications. I wouldn’t be surprised if NASA had a satellite trained on your ass at this point.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I wasn’t the target.”
“Sure, because we have the technology of heat seeking bullets now.” He rolled his eyes. “I already have some tea for your stomach along with a muffin in the car, stopped by your favorite coffee shop on the way here. Oh, and your dad and mom had to run up to Seattle for the next thirty-six hours so you’re stuck with Ace riding your ass, Phoenix checking on you on a daily basis, and me trying to keep you safe without making you feel like you’re being suffocated.”
I grinned. “Did I mention you’re my favorite cousin?”
“Did I mention I heard you say that to Serena last night?” He winked. “Let’s go. You have your first class at ten, and you’ll want to get settled in the townhome.”
The idea of living with Ace made my stomach clench even more. Couldn’t they have just let me still live in the dorms? They had some of the best security in the world.
But no, I had to live in a townhome meant for married couples on campus, making me feel even more insecure.
I was alone.
But I had a good-looking guy who’d rejected me in the past just…lurking around every corner reminding me that I was alone—that I had nobody, that I fit in nowhere.
That Louis was gone.
My stomach rumbled. I touched it briefly. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”
My first class was Operations Management. Hah, if they only knew the I was well versed in how to operate many a business—were they legal? No. Were they lucrative? Yes. Besides, I was convinced that any business that excited always had a dark side.
Humans were still humans.
More and more I was starting to believe that nobody was what they said they were, or who, and that it was just a matter of time before they revealed their true colors. And yet I still held out hope for every single individual I met.
Louis was the only one who never let me down other than my dad, but even some of my cousins had me questioning the sanity of a lot of our family members.
I got it—blood over everything.
The five families protected their own at all costs. I could be ruthless—the point with my own moral compass? I refused to show that side of me unless I was pushed past my limit, and then all I saw was red.
Maybe that meant I had patience?
Or maybe that meant I was more unhinged because there was no holding me back once someone betrayed me.
There was only blood.
And I could guarantee it wouldn’t be mine.
I made my way over to Ivan’s waiting black Escalade. He’d bought it the minute he found out Bella was pregnant—it was bullet proof; the guy didn’t want to take any chances, and yet it was always on the tip of my tongue to remind him he did in fact shoot her last year.
My body felt heavy as I climbed into the front seat, put on my seatbelt, and reached for my tea.
Ivan didn’t say anything when he started the engine. He put on his sunglasses and seemed to pretend like it was a normal Monday, driving toward campus, dropping me off like someone didn’t just die.
I swallowed the lump in my throat as we passed familiar streets, trees, one of my favorite parks where I kicked Louis’ ass at pickleball.
"Lame!” I yelled. “You have your own paddle and you still can’t win!”
"My shoulder’s sprained from sparring with Ivan, you ass!” Louis laughed. “One more time, please?”
His blond hair was tousled from running his hands through it in frustration. Beads of sweat streaked down his cheeks. He was beautiful in a boy next door sort of way that within a nanosecond could turn into something else.
Deadly.
Terrifying.
His beauty unarmed a person.
It was his greatest weapon. You were too busy smiling back, thinking wow what a nice guy—only to notice too late the knife sticking out of your stomach.
I liked that people never took him seriously because I knew I was always safe.
Until the very end, at least.
I swiped under my eye with my free hand and took a sip of hot tea. The silence wasn’t awkward at all; I liked that Ivan let me have my peace. He knew if I wanted to talk I would.
The black iron rod gates of Eagle Elite didn’t look like a prison—they simply felt like one—or maybe just a sign to me and everyone else in the family that this was just the beginning and there would never be freedom once we graduated, we’d just graduate right on into a fortress masquerading as a home, with smiles to distract people from the blood dripping down our fingertips.