Page 44 of King of Sinners

I suppress a wild giggle, half born of fear and half relief that Mason smacked my professor like an errant child.

Burke goes crashing to the side and just like that, I’m free. I stand spinning, my breath gasping from my lungs, but Mason has not stopped in front of me.

Instead, he’s standing over Professor Burke. Grabbing him by the arm, he picks him up like he’s a rag doll, even though Professor Burke is a full-grown man and a somewhat heavy one at that.

For Professor Burke’s part, the fear that had surely lit my eyes a few moments ago now fills his…

My hands clasp over my mouth, as I watch the turn of events unfold. It’s almost odd that my professor, who dominated me just moments ago, is now at Mason’s mercy.

Mason drops his face to Professor Burkes, his voice deadly calm. “Do you want to explain to me why you had your hands on my wife?”

The word wife slices through me. And apparently it does Professor Burke too. “Wife? I didn’t know. I thought…”

“You thought she was alone and that you could take advantage.” Mason shakes him with every word, and I swear I hear Burke’s teeth rattle. “Jackson,” Mason calls. “Did you see what happened?”

“I saw it all,” Jackson replies from the doorway, but I don’t look at him. I’m completely focused on Mason.

His lip curls. “That’s a shame for you, professor. Witnesses are messy for naughty teachers who could lose their positions.”

Burke goes completely pale.

“Obviously, my wife is going to pass your class.”

“Y-y-yes,” Burke answers as quickly as he can get the word out.

“The question is…” Mason’s voice has taken on that tone I remember from years ago. The same one I’d gotten that first night in the conference room. Cold. Deadly. “Which form of punishment do you prefer?”

“Punishment…” Burke croaks.

“We can go through the proper channels,” Mason’s voice has dropped just above a whisper. “Where I have you fired, stripped of your position, and banned from teaching anywhere ever again. Or…” Mason’s face is only an inch from Burke’s. “You can take your beating like a man.”

The smell of urine fills the office and I know Professor Burke has pissed himself. My nose wrinkles.

“Wait out in the hall, sweetheart,” Mason says to me, speaking to me for the first time since he barged into the room. “Better yet, take her to my car, Jackson.”

I don’t argue as I leave the office, allowing Jackson to escort me down the hall. But even through the closed door, I hear a crack followed by the sound of a grown man crying.

A moment’s satisfaction pulses through me, until I realize…I’m not without guilt today either.

Mason is surely going to punish me too.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Mason

Smacking around the professor has done little to calm the hectic feeling inside me that settled in my chest the moment I opened that door.

The sight of another man touching Charlotte like that…I want to rip something apart. Tear it to pieces and then light it on fire.

No one gets to touch her like that. Not even me. I don’t mean playful hair pulling or a good romp doggy style. That fucking asshole meant to hurt and humiliate her.

Of course, I paid that back in spades. And if Burke steps a toe out of line, I’ll burn that motherfucker to the ground.

But now I have to deal with my errant woman, and I am not happy.

I’d called her wife in there. I’d meant it to further worry Burke. Men understand this universal rule…you do not mess with a woman who’s been fully claimed by another. The strange part was that the word had tasted good on my tongue. Right.

I reach the parking lot and yank open the limo door to find Charlotte sitting quietly to one side, her hands folded, her gaze on her lap.

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