Page 17 of Cruel Riches

“Why? What’s wrong with Redstone Hall?”

“I meant you shouldn’t be here at all,” he said, eyes narrowing. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get the fuck off this island and never come back.”

Okay, I was wrong. He did hate me.

I sighed and took another step backward, forehead creasing in a frown. “Look, Nate, I get why you don’t like me, okay? Really. I did something wrong, and you caught me,” I said. “But remember, it was your idea to arrange that dinner date, and it was your idea to give back the only piece of evidence you had that actually connected me to what I did that night.”

He arched a brow. “And?”

“I’m just saying, if you really had that much of a problem with me, then you should’ve just called the police and turned me in,” I said, lifting my chin higher.

Before I could even take my next breath, Nate grabbed my shoulders and roughly pushed me up against the nearest brick wall, making me drop my bags in shock.

He lowered his mouth to my left ear. “I’ve got much bigger plans for you than that, Alexis,” he said. His voice was soft yet cruel and menacing. “You should try to remember that.”

I gulped as my mind whirled with a mixture of fear and confusion. Nate’s hot breath on my skin was making my core clench like a fist, and I knew I wasn’t imagining the electric charge between us; the same intrinsic pull I felt the first time we saw each other in that elegant study. At the same time, I felt rage radiating off him like heat from a furnace. I honestly couldn’t tell if he wanted to fuck me or fight me.

“What do you mean?” I asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another student walk around the corner with a box in his arms. He threw a wary glance in our direction, as if he were worried that Nate was attacking me but unsure if he should intervene.

Nate noticed too, and he drew back and smiled, gaze raking over my face. “I’ll see you later,” he said, sounding friendly now. His eyes remained cold, letting me know that his pleasant expression and tone were only for the benefit of the guy walking past us.

I sucked down a deep breath as he turned and strode away. For a moment I was stuck in place, like his hand was some kind of freeze-ray that had sucked all the warmth out of my body, leaving me helpless and immobile.

When he was out of sight, I crouched and picked up my bags, heart hammering.

“Asshole,” I muttered. Nate had every right to dislike me, but he didn’t have to shove me up against walls and try to intimidate me into leaving the island. He could just ignore me.

I tried my best to ignore the dark and twisted feelings that the incident had stirred up deep inside me. I always reacted that way around big, strong men with low voices and intense, angry stares. It made my knees go weak as coldness slithered down my spine; a wildly intoxicating blend of fear and arousal that made me want the guy to grab me and pin me against a wall. Own me and control me. Maybe even hurt me a little. It was like all sense of reason floated right out of my body when it happened, leaving behind nothing but primal desire.

No. Fuck Nate Lockwood,I told myself. I didn’t want him. It was just a physical reaction mixed up with a dark fantasy that would lie dormant until the end of time.

On shaky legs, I headed down the hall to find a dorm marked 3C. There was something sitting on the floor right in front of it.

I dropped my bags and knelt to get a better look. On the doormat was an enormous box of chocolates with a folded note taped onto the front. A few inches away from that, there was a domed glass container packed with crimson roses. A matching crimson bow had been wrapped around the container, just below the gorgeous blooms, and a little card had been propped up in front of it.

I looked at the card first. It was a note from the florist who’d arranged the roses, letting me know that they were a special kind called Everlasting Roses. They’d been treated with chemicals that would ensure they would never wilt and die, as long as I left them in the protective glass dome.

With furrowed brows, I opened the handwritten note on the front of the chocolate box. It was from my mother.

Alexis,

Just wanted to send you a little something to let you know how proud I am of you. Study hard, but remember to have some fun as well! Also, please remember to keep yourself safe.

Love,

Mom

PS: Please don’t call and thank me for this. I already feel a little soppy and silly for sending something so over the top, so you’ll only embarrass me or make me blubber like a baby. Haha :) Enjoy the chocolates! Xoxo

I smiled at the postscript. The gifts really were quite over the top. The box contained at least two hundred decadent liqueur-filled chocolates in several different flavors, and the huge bouquet of Everlasting Roses must’ve cost at least a thousand dollars.

Footsteps alerted me to a nearby presence, and I looked up to see a girl arriving at the dorm next to mine. She had short brown hair and pretty hazel eyes.

“Hi,” she said, flashing me a smile. Her eyes skated over the gifts. “Are all of those for you?”

I nodded and rose to my feet. “Yeah, it’s all from my mom. She’s gone a bit overboard.”

---