Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 913(@200wpm)___ 731(@250wpm)___ 609(@300wpm)
As we pull up to the campus, it’s like a fucking ghost town outside.
All the students are already inside, seated in the gym, just waiting for their queens and future chancellor to make their entrance, and I’ve changed the security measures for the estate.
There are no less than two dozen men scattered all around at all times, but you should never see them unless they’re the ones at the entrance gate. Other than that, they’re to be shadows—always there but never found. If they can’t manage, they are cut loose.
Rocklin isn’t aware, but I’ve also replaced several staff members with men Enzo vouched for. The man has proven to be more useful than I expected.
We climb out as a group, and I don’t look behind me. I’ll never get used to the gang of suits that follow my footsteps, but it comes with being the boss.
And I am the fucking boss.
The top dog.
The “go-to guy” took on another meaning and I ain’t mad about it.
Rocklin squeezes my arm and I watch as she and the girls file inside, going ahead of us to make their entrance.
Buttoning the final button on my suit jacket, I slick my hands through my hair and look left. Hayze nods his chin.
I look right, and Kylo nods his.
I look up to where Dom and the other guys stand at the edge of the first step, doing the same. They part for me, and I lift my chin, making my way through the halls of Greyson Elite Academy, this time in a very different role. The last time I was an outsider who weaseled his way inside.
This time, I’m the guest of fucking honor. The man they’re dying to meet ’cause they’ve all heard Rayo Revenaw has “stepped down,” and his successor isn’t who they expected it to be.
I step inside, following the path my girl just took to the double doors that lead to the gym. The doors are open, the floor deep down below a solid fifty steps or more, the bleachers lined along the wall where I’m standing, but they can’t see me. They won’t until I step inside.
Kylo and Hayze step up beside me, and the other guys slide by, heading down the steps, garnering the attention of several students.
They reach the podium in the center of the room, placing themselves a few feet back from the girls as they take turns on the mic, giving the new arrivals a quick rundown of expectations and more.
And then Rocklin removes the mic, stepping around the wooden box until she stands before the school.
“As you and your families were all informed, there is a new face that represents the Revenaw name, but I want you all to know he has one of his own as well.” She pauses, her eyes connecting with a few in the front row. “Bastian Bishop. That’s his name. He’s rough, rugged, and utterly unpredictable. He’s not cautious or contemplative. He’s a volcano. Silent and steady one second, and a fucking nightmare in the next …”
The entire room falls silent, and it takes effort not to laugh. She looks to Bronx, from what I can tell, then quickly looks behind her before standing tall once more.
It’s adorable, her little warning speech, and honestly, really fucking effective when her eyes find mine and she lifts her chin high … no one dares to turn.
I start down the steps, my boys at my back.
Heads stay pointed forward, but eye after eye finds its way to me and it’s not until I’m four steps from the floor that she spins.
I’m not talking a subtle little spin.
Nah, my girl fucking whirls like she did that first day, skirt twirling around her and flashes every fucking person in this room who’s watching her bare ass.
She flashes my branding on her ass, and I don’t even fucking care.
Her boys might chuckle under their breath in good fun, her brother might grumble a little about not being warned to look away, but they saw it, and that was the fucking point, her little peep show stunt, her way of showing me she’s ready for the world to know who she—who we—belong to even though most are already aware.
There’s no doubt now.
As I step onto the floor, I turn to face the crowd, but I say nothing.
They needed to put a face to the name and now they have one.
Fear comes from the unknown, so if they ever hear the sound of my voice, it won’t be in a crowded room in front of many. It’ll be a warning whispered in their ear if they deserve a second chance at all.
Rocklin says something else, but I’m busy meeting the eye of some and scanning the face of every person in this place from top to fucking bottom.
It’s not until I get to the last row that I hear her say, “And I’d like you to meet someone else. He should be treated as any person of power would, if not better.”