Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
“That’s her superpower,” Victor said, chuckling. “While Dad has perfected carrying on a conversation without listening to a word you’re saying. It’s almost frightening how well he maintains eye contact and nods in the right places. But in his head, he’s calculating stock prices and planning his next fishing trip. I’ve gotten him to agree to give me three cars, a ski trip to Aspen, and a wet bar in my room. The last one was an overreach and Mom lost her shit... in five words or less.”
I couldn’t stop that laugh. We went back and forth, trading funny parent stories until the clock reminded us we had class.
Adonis was where I expected to find him on a Wednesday morning, setting up the PowerPoint for that day’s lecture. I placed my paper in his tray with a smirk he noticed and raised a brow at.
“You seem confident, Miss Sinclair.”
“I am, Professor Anthony. I put a lot of thought into this paper.”
“I’m abuzz with excitement,” he said, rounding his desk and the obstruction between us. “Can’t wait to read it.”
“Even though you’re not grading these anymore, when you read mine, you’ll be forced to give me an A.”
A deep, rolling laugh emerged from his chest. “Is it a good idea to build it up so highly?”
“That’s how confident I am. You—”
An arm hooked me around my waist, carrying me off. “I’ll catch you after class, Don,” Victor called over his shoulder. “Honey pie.” Said in that tone, it couldn’t be mistaken for a term of endearment. “I thought we discussed you flirting with my brother.”
I gave him a crazy look. “That depends on if you define having a normal, human conversation with him as flirting.”
“You made him laugh. Don doesn’t get chuckly and chummy when he’s got his tie on, proving to the world he’s not too young and pampered to be taken seriously in his field.”
Despite his accusations, Victor plopped down next to my usual seat.
“I don’t know what to tell you. We were talking about the paper. That’s it,” I said. “Also, I have to remind you again that he’ll be my brother-in-law. We should be chummy.”
He grunted, making me roll my eyes.
Victor dropped it, so I did too. We listened and took notes for the rest of class, then packed up and headed for the next one. After biology, I had a nice gap until my calculus class. A gap where Lucien and I would move forward with my only mission—secret or otherwise: destroying Owen, Levi, Wesley, and Giovanni.
Our bio professor was usually among the last to arrive—flying inside minutes before the clock called time, and mumbling like he just left behind important work, and was continuing it in his head until he was done wasting time with a college freshman class.
Walking inside to find him seated at his desk with a stack of papers wasn’t good news. It meant he pulled himself out of the experiment or academic paper to plan something we weren’t going to like.
“Everyone get settled in,” Professor Rhinebeck called. “Today I’m assigning our first group project.”
I stifled a groan, trudging to my stool in the back with Victor. If the group was bigger than one and I couldn’t be paired with Victor, this project would be a disaster. My classmates had not warmed to me. The Royals kept coming on to my fiancé. The Dregs tried to get me expelled. Both groups used me for target practice. I didn’t want to think of the new ways they’d mess with me if I was forced to interact with them and they had my grade in their hands.
Setting my bag down, I hopped on my stool, already thinking of a way to make the project less of a disaster.
Eeeeeee
A crack sounded in my ear, and my seat pitched to the side. I screamed, scrabbling for the tabletop as the legs gave way—dropping me on a pile of splintered wood. Momentum tossed me feet over head, bouncing my skull off the tile. The world washed in pain, crowding in blinding, dizzying light to block it out. One sound brought me out of the haze: laughter.
“Luna? Luna!” Victor toppled off his chair, pushing my skirt and legs down, and helping me sit up.
Dazed, my senses delayed—leaving me limp in his arms as my classmates crowded in, laughing their asses off as people stuck cameras in my face.
“That’s enough! Back to your seats now.” This was the first I heard Professor Rhinebeck’s bellow. “Anyone who is not in their seat in five seconds receives a zero on this project!”
Victor was holding me, asking if I was okay and checking me for injury. I didn’t respond as he and Rhinebeck lifted me up and I saw the remains of my chair.
Clean cuts.
This was no accident. Someone sawed the legs so they would snap.