Page 10 of Lock Up the Darkness

I had to gain an accurate read on him for what was to come.

On them all.

A rumble of a laugh sounded from him.

Everyone stilled for a moment, before joining in.

“Nah, no problem, Miss Blackthorn. None at all.”

He took a sip of his coffee and I caught sight of his lips twisting behind the cup.

Yeah, he was pissed.

But he was hiding it well. Well enough that it made it creepy as shit.

He told his fans, “Go on ahead, grab us some seats. Let me welcome the new girl.”

They obeyed like the submissive things he’d unfortunately turned them into, each of them shooting daggers my way for taking his attention away from them.

As they took off into the main building, he eyed Liza. “You too, babe.”

To her credit, she hesitated.

But then he reached out and grasped her chin gently with his thumb and forefinger. “I’ll make sure she gets to class, I promise.”

She beamed up at him and I swear to fuck it was like some form of weird hypnosis that had her nodding so easily, then rushing off the way we’d been heading before he’d crossed our path.

And then it was just him and me.

“Did your new friend tell you who I am?”

“She didn’t need to. Anyone who sets foot in this town for longer than five minutes picks that up. You’re a member of the Infidels.”

“I see. You were well aware.”

He took another sip from his coffee cup, his eyes darkening as he glared at me over the rim.

And then he tossed it away, making a smooth slam dunk in a garbage can several feet away.

In the next beat, he snatched my wrist and dragged me into an alcove out of sight, using his hold to slam me up against the wall.

I clenched my fists down by my sides, struggling to resist the urge to respond, to react with well-learned moves I knew would not only liberate me from my current predicament, but would deliver some real pain and punishment too.

It wasn’t time for that yet.

“Did you really think it would be a good idea to challenge me?” he demanded, slapping his hands down either side of my head, crowding me against the rough stone wall.

His minty cologne infused my senses as he pushed all that hard muscle of his into me.

Well, he certainly had an allure about him, that was for damn sure.

“Tell me, Aurora, are you fucking stupid or just a whore for danger?”

Wow. So these were his true colors. It was jarring up against the golden boy façade he held up in front of his adoring public.

“You’re trapped, huh?”

“What?” he demanded, his eyes narrowing at the smirk on my face.

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