Page 59 of Kings of Violence

“You know,I have an apartment near campus,” I say to Nikolai as I get out of the car. “No need for us to commute thirty to forty minutes every day.”

He shuts the door behind me, rolling his eyes. “You think Kotya is going to let you live away from us?” He shakes his head. “No. We’ll use the time to bond.” He flashes me a wolfish grin. “Maybe with your face in my lap.”

I make a face at him. “Okay, for one, no. And for two, also no.” I sigh, glancing at my new class schedule. It’s my final semester here, so I know where all the buildings are, but I haven’t memorized where I’m supposed to be at when yet. “You can’t sit in on my classes,” I warn.

“I’ll stand outside,” Nikolai says.

“You really, really don’t have to do that. You can sit in the caf or the library and enrich yourself or something,” I tell him. The last thing I want is him looming everywhere I go.

“It’ll be fun,” he says. “I can watch people and glare at them when they get too close.”

He sounds entirely too cheerful at the prospect, but I have to assume he’ll get bored and tired of standing there for over threehours a day. I hope so, anyway, because I want the freedom to come and go.

I lead us to the comp-sci building. I thought for sure Nikolai would stand out, but nobody even gives him a second glance. He’s young enough to be a student, maybe.

When I get to the classroom, I glare at him again. “No bothering me while I’m in class,” I say.

He gives me an innocent look as other people pass by — one I don’t buy for a second. “I would never.” I notice that his accent is a little thicker when he speaks, but I don’t comment on it.

“Go away now,” I tell him, then disappear into the classroom. I breathe a sigh of relief as I go sit at one of the computers near the front of the lab. I’m not alone entirely, but I can at least pretend to have some semblance of my normal life.

I pause for a moment, then pull up a messaging app.

“I’m fine,”I text Silvano. I don’t know why I don’t text Kyran. It would make sense for me to approach my brother, but he’s too hotheaded, and maybe I want to hurt him a little like he’s hurt me.

It only takes a few minutes to get a response.

“We’re glad. How are classes?”

We. I suppose I knew he would immediately share the information with Kyran. Funny that he didn’t ask whether I was in class or not.

“Fine.”Anyone should know that when someone says everything is “fine,” they don’t mean it, but whatever.“First day and all. I have a shadow. Assuming I always will. But I need that phone.”

Having Sean’s little codebook helped, but there are still a lot of gaps, and it didn’t get me into Pa’s laptop. I’ll have to figure out how to keep the phone hidden once I do get it. I don’t particularly want the Voronkovs to know all of my family’s secrets.

“Working on it.Just bide your time.”

I roll my eyes, but the professor enters the room. I quickly exit out of the app, not wanting to draw attention to myself by starting to type before she even begins to talk.

Ms. Maples goes into a speech about her expectations for the course, which are reasonable enough. It’s going to be a difficultcourse, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. This will help me; it’s one of the last courses I have to take before I graduate.

She only keeps us for half the class period before dismissing us, and I sigh. I was hoping for a little more of a break from Nikolai, but I guess I can’t get that lucky.

Of course, as I head to the back of the room, someone even worse than Nikolai steps directly into my path.

I nearly bounce right into James, who smiles at me. “Hey, Sierra,” he greets me. “I’ve been trying to text you.”

I sigh, searching his features for something that explains why I was ever into him, but there’s nothing that draws me in, nothing unique. He’s taller than I am by a little, he’s got brown hair that’s soft to the touch, and his chocolate brown eyes used to make me melt.

Not anymore.

I don’t tell him I’ve been too busy fuckingthreemen when I’d barely even put out for him. It hadn’t helped that he’d been absolutely rotten in bed with his baby carrot dick.

Maybe I’ve gotten… spoiled? Ugh.

“Lost my phone and haven’t replaced it,” I tell him.

“You?” He barks out a laugh. “You could just say you don’t want to talk to me.”

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