Page 39 of Theirs to Rule

“Right. Well, let's try this again. Any update on your little love triangle? Or is it a square now, given that Italian housemate of yours was part of the trio that saved you from Silas. What's his name, Mateo?”

Shit. She was pinning me in place with her blue eyes, the suspicion in them overflowing. I cleared my throat. "Actually...he goes by Ty and he's the guy I met in Italy."

Her eyes widened. "Holy shit. That's what I was afraid of." She shook her head then reached out and took my hand in hers. "Babe, you must have shit bricks when you saw him, let alone found out you were going to be housemates. I'm so sorry."

I let out a sound that was part laugh and part sob. Her hand in mine, the caring expression on her face, it made me feel ashamed for not telling her the truth to begin with. Maybe if I had, she wouldn't have gone to California in the first place. "Shitting bricks is an understatement. He was the one that pulled me and Ava out of the water. He saved me, B, but I was so out of it when I woke up, I thought maybe I'd hallucinated him.Then...well, I was just struggling to process it all—Ava, Ty, Kage, Dante."

"I get it," she said. "I’ve learned Mateo has quite the scandalous past. And Ty is a first-class dick. Yet he helped save you."

I gave a watery laugh again. "Yeah. He's complicated like that."

"Seems we like them hot and psychotic.

When I said nothing to that, hating that she would even dare compare Ty to Silas, she sighed. "So, you and Ty..."

I sighed. "We're nothing. The guy hates my guts.”

"I'll repeat—he saved your life.”

“I’m sure for his own purposes, even if just to keep me around so he can find ways to make me even more miserable than I am.”

“Kage and Dante allow that?Youallow it?”

"I'm planning on moving out soon. Dante's been wonderful but Kage is engaged, Bianca. He says it's just a business arrangement but..."

Bianca winced and squeezed my hand again before letting go and sitting back. "But it doesn't make a difference. Not to my closet romanticist sister who still believes in monogamy and true love."

"Don't you?" I said. "A part of you, at least?"

Bianca looked away before clearing her throat. "No. I really don't, Cami. Listen, about what I told you that night at the hospital. About me meeting a guy?—"

A group of male students walked into the coffee shop and passed us on the way to the counter. They made a show of snickering and glancing our way. I did my best to ignore it—I was used to people talking about me. Only this time, it wasn’t me who was their focus. It was Bianca.

“I heard she fucked the husband of the woman she was interning for and that’s why she got demoted to Tier Three,” one guy said loud enough for us to hear. He wanted us to hear it—a power move to push Bianca even further down the social scale.

“Eww, shriveled up old man dick,” his friend replied with a cringe. “I heard she ran off with him, then he had a heart attack and died while she was fucking him.”

“Guess murdering people runs in the family,” the first guy piped up. “I’m surprised all they did to her was drop her to Tier Three. I’d have expelled her ass.”

I put my hand out, urging Bianca to let it go, but she shook me off and stalked over to the group.

“Hey,” she snarled at them and the first one to talk about her shot her a dismissive look. She reached out and grabbed his hair, yanking him around to face her, eyes blazing with fury. Damn, I’d forgotten how scary she could be when you got on her wrong side.

“If you’re going to shit talk me, at least have the balls to do it to my face,” Bianca hissed. Then she slapped him hard.

The guy’s face flushed red right before he swung at her, but Bianca was too quick. She ducked out of the way, grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back and flipped him onto the ground. He landed with a hard thud, yelping in pain when she put her heel to his throat. The coffee shop had grown silent, all eyes on her, but Bianca was utterly focused.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” the guy gasped, struggling to breathe. “Please don’t hurt me, I won’t say anything about you ever again.”

“You better not,” Bianca growled, her dark eyes flashing. “Don’t talk shit about me, my sister or my family.”

The guy hastily nodded. “I-I got it, I promise.”

"Let this be a lesson to you," Bianca said, her voice low but audible enough for the crowd to hear. "I don't go down withouta fight, and I certainly don't let little snakes like you get the best of me. Andold man dickis better than anything you or your fucking cronies could hope to give a girl. Say it.”

When the guy didn’t do as she said, she stepped on him harder. He squealed then said, “Old man dick is better than what I or we could give a girl.”

“Good boy.” She yanked him to his feet then with a push, she released the guy, who stumbled forward, rubbing his arm and looking around at the gathered students, his bravado shattered. Bianca straightened her jacket, her demeanor as composed as if she'd just finished a casual stroll rather than a confrontation.

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