Page 17 of Vengeful Princess

Several hulking men stood around Eden, watching her lasciviously when I caught up. She was too busy yelling with excitement to notice, and I rolled my eyes. When they saw me, they stepped back. It may have been the murderous expression on my face, or more likely the wickedly sharp blade in my hand. Either way, once they’d moved a respectable distance away, I sidled in next to her.

“Look, it’s that Russian guy from college!” she whisper-yelled.

I looked up to see Landon’s friend in the ring in a pair of silky black shorts, his broad chest covered in tattoos. His fists were taped and he wore a mouth guard. Judging from the way he circled his opponent, like a hungry apex predator, this was going to be a quick fight.

The other guy was less bulky and a couple of inches shorter. The ref blew his whistle and the shorter guy lunged, probably hoping to get a few hits in before he got knocked out.

I watched with fascination as Landon’s friend moved with brutal precision, toying with the smaller guy while landing hit after hit. The fight finally ended when he took him down with a roundhouse to the legs before choking him unconscious.

Nobody seemed all that surprised at the result, but there were a few grumbles here and there.

“Ooh, he’s really good,” Eden said. I had to agree. I’d seen a lot of fights in my time, and Landon’s friend was a strong fighter. It made me wonder how he’d fare against a more equally matched opponent. Or one that liked to fight dirty. I had a sneaking suspicion nothing would faze him.

“What are you doing here?” A shrill, nasal voice cut through the ambient noise. When we turned around, a tall blond stood staring at us venomously. “You don’t belong here.”

I took in her bandage dress, Louboutins, and Chanel bag, and rolled my eyes. “And you do?”

She ignored me and turned to Eden. “How did you hear about this place?”

“From you, Olivia,” Eden replied innocently. “You were talking it up, so I figured we’d check it out. Was it invitation only?”

“We’re with Cassian, so of course we got invited. You, on the other hand, are not welcome.”

“Nobody stopped us from entering,” I pointed out. “So that suggests you’re full of shit.”

Olivia’s friend sucked in a sharp breath like she couldn’t believe I was being so disrespectful.

Eden clapped her hand over her mouth in a feeble attempt to rein in her laughter while Olivia seethed. “I can have you thrown out, you know!” She folded her arms across her skinny chest and glared at me. I’m sure she thought she looked threatening, but I’d faced down people a lot scarier than her.

“Don’t let me stop you.” I half hoped she’d try. It was as good a time as any to meet Cassian, assuming he was here. So far, the only one I had seen was Landon’s friend, the fighter.

“Fine! You better fuck off right now before Cassian hears about this!” She flounced off in a huff with her friend trailing after her.

“We should probably leave,” Eden admitted. “I don’t want a run-in with Cassian Forsyth. He’s a real asshole.”

“Oh?”

“Have you not heard of him?”

I shook my head, figuring it was better to pretend ignorance.

“Yeah, his father’s super important in political circles, as well as being obnoxiously rich. So Cassian acts like he’s better than everyone else. Girls literally queue up to fuck him. Honestly, it’s pathetic.”

From the way Eden pursed her lips, it sounded as if she was a teeny-weeny bit jealous.

“Got a crush on him?” I teased, as we followed some thickset guys heading toward the exit.

“God, no,” she said, before smirking. “Well, he is hot, so I guess it would be fun to find out if all the rumors are true.”

“Rumors?” Now my curiosity was well and truly piqued.

Eden leaned in and whispered, “I’ve overheard a few girls talking about him. They say he has a massive cock!”

I rolled my eyes, pretending like I knew why it mattered. If a guy was that big, it sounded painful rather than fun, but I wasn’t about to admit I had no clue. Eden acted like she thought I was cool. If she found out I was clueless about sex, she’d probably ghost me.

Not that it mattered. Or so I kept reminding myself.

We passed a bathroom just as my bladder reminded me it hadn’t been emptied in a while, and it was a good 45-minute drive back to college.

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