Page 43 of King of Sinners

“You don’t have to come inside with me,” I start, but he doesn’t even look up.

Instead, he keeps typing. “I definitely do. Mason would have my hide if I let you out of my sight.”

I wince, wondering once again if this is a mistake. Maybe I should have spoken with Mason first. But I’m here now and I’m going to use my newfound confidence to try and solve this problem myself.

Making my way inside, the cool halls have that familiar smell that calms my nerves. I loved this place until this semester. It’s been my home and I draw some strength from that.

I round the corner for Professor Burke’s office, the door is closed. I can just hear voices coming from inside. He’s likely meeting with another student.

I wait for nearly ten minutes, fidgeting as Jackson stands stoically next to me, periodically checking his phone. A woman my age finally exits the small room, her eyes welling with tears. Am I not the only one Burke is manipulating?

I give her a sympathetic look before I turn toward the open door, drawing a deep breath, and knocking. “Professor Burke?”

His gaze lifts to mine. It’s obvious that Burke used to be a handsome man. He still has nice eyes, a warm smile. But his hair is thinning as his waistline has expanded. It’s not a big deal, everyone gets older but the fact that he’s still trying to sleep with women in their early twenties is just creepy.

“Close the door, Charlotte.”

I do as he commands, drawing in a deep breath through my nose to calm my nerves before I turn back to him.

He looks me up and down, his lip curling with a bit of disdain. “Glammed up, I see.”

I touch my hair, that feeling that I’ve made a mistake hitting me in the chest again. I look like Mason’s fiancé today, not like my college student self. I should have put my hair in a scrubby ponytail, worn my old clothes.

Burke has noticed the change and alarm bells are already pinging in my head. If Mason were confronting someone, he would have considered every detail. I’ve barely begun, and I already feel like a fool.

“I want to talk to you about my failing grade.”

“What about it?”

“I deserve to pass your class.”

He sneers at me, leaning over his desk. “That’s the thing about being the student, Charlotte. You don’t get to pick your grades.”

“I completed the assignments, meeting all criteria, and turned them in on time.”

“Says you.”

“You’re right. I do say. In fact, I have a lot of things to say,” I answer back, my voice dropping like Mason’s does when he’s mad. One of the many things that man does exceptionally well. He intimidates with his voice alone.

Burke stands and starts coming around his desk. “Like what?”

“I wonder what the department chair will think when I present the work and the dates,” I say, my fists clenching. I refuse to take a step back. “I wonder what she’ll think when she hears about your proposition—” But I don’t get any more words out before his hand wraps around my arm like a band of steel.

He’s going to leave bruises, I think, as he tugs me forward, pinning me between himself and the desk.

I cry out, turning my head to the side, as he leans close, his hot mouth comes to my cheek. “You know what, Charlotte. You’re right. I’ve been hasty. I’m going to pass you. But first…” And then he leans back, just long enough to spin me around so that my back is to his front. It only takes a second, and I’m disoriented, as he pins me to the desk again, the hard wood of his desktop pressing into the front of my legs.

I try to fight, but my hands lash out uselessly. I had maybe a second to escape, a moment that I missed, and now I’m trapped and weaker than him.

Grabbing the back of my head, he pushes my torso down on his desk. I finally grab his wrist and dig my nails in to loosen his grip, but he’s too strong.

He's yanking at my hair and I’m clawing and scratching, my cry surely alerting someone. Jackson is out there. If I could just…

That’s the moment the door bursts open. I try to lift my head, a chest comes into view but it doesn’t belong to Jackson.

Instead, Mason fills the opening. Burke startles, partially releasing me and I lift my chin to meet Mason’s gaze. He stares back, his cold rage written on every line of his face. I gasp to see him, my eyes wide.

With a snarl, he closes the distance between us. Then he rears his hand back to box Professor Burke across the ear.

---