Page 67 of Theirs to Ruin

“It wasn’t that bad,” Alex offered, obviously trying to make me feel better. “The hardest part was the intro and you aced that by sitting on my lap.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, giving him a tight smile. I appreciated how he was trying to cheer me up, but it wasn’t working.

There was no way I was going to pass this class.

Chapter 29

Camille

It didn’t take long for my Seduction 102 failure to make the rounds.

I stared at the crude caricature taped to the door of my apartment, a hideous image of me with exaggerated features, captioned: "Camille, the school's personal tragedy.” Another drawing—I had to admit, this artist had skill—showed me trying to kiss Alex and him running away from me with the words “Sad-duction102.”

My cheeks flamed as I ripped the drawings down and stalked inside, slamming my door closed behind me.

I sat in front of my TV, a depressed shell of the person I once was. I knew I couldn’t take much more. How could I be so wrong about everything? First Ava. Then Ty. Hell, even Alex had shown himself to be more than what I’d thought he was capable of. It made me worry about my ability to read people.

Suddenly, I was desperate for answers about the girl I had once called a friend.

That’s when I got a crazy idea.

If I was careful enough, I could break into our old apartment to see if I could find any clues. Of course, I had no idea if Ava’s room had been cleared out by now, but it was worth a try. Bianca told me the crime scene unit had already been through, so I wouldn’t be messing up their investigation. Maybe they’d missed something. Maybe her diary or her laptop were still there. I knew it was a long shot, but I couldn’t sit around and do nothing.

After changing into some dark clothes and grabbing my phone, I walked across the campus to my old dorm building, then entered through the back. When the coast was clear, I headed up to our old apartment. Even if the cops had locked up Ava’s bedroom, picking locks was one of the few skills my father had taught me himself. I used my key to unlock the front door, but before pushing it open, I hesitated.

Suddenly, I was second guessing myself.

If I got caught, sneaking in would just make me look guilty. Not only that, the idea of going through Ava’s things felt weird, almost like I’d be ransacking her dead body.

The memory of her cruel taunts came flooding back to me. The way she’d shouted out to Kage. Kage telling her to back off. Me telling Dante that I hated her and wished her dead. The way she’d been so bitchy to me when I showed up at our apartment and how she had inferred she knew some big secret. The soft expression she’d given me before heading out to the party…the last time I saw her alive.

The lifeless way her body dragged in the river as I tried to save her from drowning.

I stood there at the door, frozen. I couldn’t do it.

I was about to lock the door and leave when a hard hand suddenly gripped my shoulder, and I was shoved face first into the wall.

“Don’t say a fucking word,” a low, gravelly voice hissed in my ear.

Kage.

The shock of his sudden appearance spiked my adrenalin, rendering me breathless, but I also felt a tiny thread of relief that it was Kage and not someone else.

Quickly, he flipped me around to face him, his hands gripping my shoulders hard. His eyes blazed with fire, the set of his expression cruel. Fear replaced my relief as my instincts kicked in. I tried to twist out of his grasp and slip around him. He was quicker than me. He caught me around the waist and pulled me back against him.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he ground out.

I fought him hard, but panic made my punches and kicks ineffective. He blocked my hits, and though he could easily overpower me, hurt me if he wanted to, he held back. Finally, he subdued me, pinning me against the wall, my arms behind my back, his face close to mine, and his hard erection pressing against me. Fighting me turned him on and just knowing that made my entire body vibrate. My pussy grew wet even as I tried wriggling away one last time before giving up.

“Are you done?”

Common sense should say I was done; Kage’s body was poured over me like concrete. But I was tired of giving in, rolling over.

“Not even close,” I snapped.

I ground my hips into his erection, which caught him by surprise. His hold on me loosened just enough for me to throw my head forward. I caught his chin and managed to rip my hands from his grip, but I wasn’t quick enough. He caught my wrists and held them over my head as he snarled at me, flames smoldering in his eyes.

“Try again,” he hissed.

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