Page 81 of Dare To Take

Don’t let anyone say I won’t live up to people’s expectations.

It’s a role I’ve been playing for years. It fits like a glove. She thinks she knows what it’s like to be the focus of my attention. She’s about to learn that, so far, I’ve just been toying with her.

Now though… Now I’m really going to show her what the Monster of Churchill Bradley is capable of.

My strides take me back to the dorm building and up to the floor which houses the senior girls’ rooms. Tina and Lacy are coming out of a room a few doors down from Arabella’s when I walk out of the stairwell.

“Eli! What are you doing up here?” Lacy asks.

“Are you looking for me?” Tina flutters her eyelashes.

I frown at them both. “Which room is Arabella’s?”

Their eyes widen at the ice in my voice.

“3B.” Lacy points to a door mid-way down the hallway.

I hold out my hand. “Key.”

“We don’t have a key to each other’s rooms.”

My hand doesn’t move. I stare at Lacy. Her tongue snakes out to wet her lips.

“Are you going to make me take it from you?”

She blows out a breath. “Fine!” She pulls a key from her pocket. “I’m supposed to give it back to reception.”

I flash her a smile. “Allow me to do it for you.” I pluck the key from her fingers. “Now fuck off and find somewhere else to be.”

“What are you going to do?” Tina whispers.

“None of your fucking business. Get out.” I walk along the hallway and stop outside Arabella’s door, before turning to look back at the two girls.

Kellan steps forward, presses his palms to both the girls’ backs and ushers them toward the stairwell. “Come along, ladies. Nothing to see here.”

I wait until he’s escorted them through the door and out of sight before shoving the key in the lock and twisting. There’s a soft click as it unlocks. I push down on the handle, open the door and step inside.

The room is neat and tidy, and I take a slow walk around. There are photographs and postcards stuck to the wall. The photographs are of Arabella and another girl. I assume it’s her old friend. The one who barely speaks to her now. The postcards are of various places around the world—Paris, Milan, Rome, London.

Turning away from those, I walk over to the closet and throw it open. Dresses, skirts, and long-sleeved tops adorn the hangers, and I flick through them, then crouch to pull out the suitcases. They’re all empty. The dresser is my next target. I go through each drawer. Underwear—mostly black instead of the white she’d had when she first joined Churchill Bradley, and lacy instead of cotton—fills one drawer. The second is jeans and sweatpants. T-shirts are neatly folded in the third.

I smile when I open the bottom one. Her diary is there, tucked safely inside the box I’d given her. I could take it, and read it, but I won’t. Not yet. Not unless she forces me to. Beside it is a little pink taser. I pick that up and pocket it. Further digging reveals a screwdriver tucked at the back, black paint coating the tip.

Bingo.

I take that as well and walk back to the door. Kellan straightens when I pull it open. I hand him both items.

“Take these to our room.”

“What are you going to do?”

My smile is tight. “I’m going to remind Churchill Bradley’s Whore the reality of her position at this school.”

Chapter 52

Arabella

Has he seen the car yet? Has someone told him what I’ve done?

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