Page 10 of Savage Surrender

“What did you say?” I asked again, stern and without any nonsense in my tone.

She sat up, lifting her chin higher. “I remarked about your misuse of contractions on your slide.”

I turned, glancing at the slide on the screen that showed what I was reading and summarizing with a hefty dose of bullshitting my way through it all.

“You’re, as in you are, not your, the possessive,” she explained.

I wanted to parrot her immature gesture of rolling my eyes. I didn’t make this material. I recycled it from whoever taught this class before. But I refrained.

“I applaud you for paying close attention,” I told her without emotion, keeping up this boring professor act, “but I wouldsuggest you devote more of it toward the substance of the lessons than the delivery of the slides provided by other faculty members.”

No one liked a grammar nerd, but I refused to let her try to look like she was schoolingme.

Challenge accepted, sweetheart.

“Then perhaps you could consider the suggestion that you review the material you copy and paste before sharing it,” she replied.

Several students smiled and laughed lightly, appreciating this criticism and that she talked back.

While I didn’t think she was doing this for attention or to be a class clown, I recognized that she might want to act out as a way of rebelling.

That’s even better.I looked forward to a chance to tame her.

“I’ll be keeping a close eye on you,” I warned, still not letting any emotions leak into my reply.

She didn’t react, only staring at me coolly.

Mark my words.I really would be keeping a close eye on her. Even though she had the presence of Petrov guards nearby—the pair of older men I’d spotted in my peripheral when they glanced in through the open doors at the back of the hall—I would keep Irina Petrov close in my mind and sight.

Now that I could look forward to the thrill of a challenge with getting closer to her, I let myself enjoy a dash of excitement about my reassignment here.

All in the name of getting intel for the Boss, of course.

Nothing more, no matter how sexy of a challenge she might be.

6

IRINA

How washea professor?

The question stuck with me long after I left that lecture. Spotting such a sexy man at the podium had thrown me off. It wasn’t just that he was so hot, so attractive that he’d literally stolen my breath. More than anything, my uneasiness and lack of mental equilibrium was due to how he’d put me on the spot, callingmeout, only me, among the hundred-plus students in that lecture hall.

I’d tried my damnedest not to look at him, certainly not when he could notice. I was a pro at masking my emotions, dammit. I was no amateur at hiding my feelings and making sure no one could ever claim that they could read me.

I had to. Developing this skill was critical when I had to live with Igor Petrov and constantly be his spy. This wasn’t a hobby or pastime. I’d furthered this ability to look blank and unaffected because it was the only way I could get through the life I was stuck with.

“Not again,” I grumbled as I headed out of the women’s locker room at the biggest and best gym on campus.

Not freaking again.

There he was. Professor Remi. He just had to come to this gym, at this hour. I’d never believed in coincidences, but if this wasn’t one, fate was throwing me a hell of a curveball to ensure I would encounter the sexy professor every which way I turned and looked!

It’d be easier to avoid him if he didn’t happen to be everywhere I went. It would be a manageable feat to prevent making eye contact if he didn’t show up on campus.

I saw him in the hallways in the building where English and theology classes were taught. Passing him by left me with a lingering sensation of a burn after his glare on me.

I saw him eating at my favorite café on campus. Trying to ignore his presence might have been possible if he hadn’t chosen the table directly across from me.

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