Page 14 of Vengeful Princess

Thanks to that fucker, not to mention the enormous death duties when my grandfather died, we were no longer as rich as the Duke of Westminster.

Not that we were poor by any stretch of the imagination. Far from it. But Cassian’s family had acquired a significant fortune after his father made some extremely savvy business deals, both legalandillegal.

“She’s pretty,” I admitted. She was far more than pretty, but I wasn’t about to tell Kyril that.

He watched me for a few more seconds before pushing away from the counter.

“Don’t get in too deep, Lan. We got enough shit going on this year.”

“Message received and understood, El Capitan.” I saluted him, knowing it would piss him off, and sure enough, he growled in response.

“Go fuck some other bitch if you want to get your rocks off. You know nothing about that girl. She could be some plant sent to find out shit about Cassian. You know how reporters love to dig.”

He made a good point. Only last term we found out a temp in the admin department was a reporter for a red-top newspaper. She’d wheedled her way into one of our parties and snapped some incriminating photos of Cassian getting a blowjob from some blue-blood ho. His father was furious, and the girl’s parents immediately pulled her from the college.

Coming as it did on top of the scandal that forced Cassian to come here rather than Cambridge, things were tense for a while. Luckily, some shit related to a prominent MP hit the news not long after, and Cassian’s heavily pixelated BJ photo soon got brushed under the proverbial rug.

“She’s not press. I’ll donate my right nut to medical science if she is.”

He snorted. “Pretty sure medical science wouldn’t want your ball given how overused it is.”

“Rude!”

“But true. You’re a whore, Lan.”

The truth hurt like a rusty razorblade slicing through my eyelids, but I forced a smile. “Guilty as charged.” We clinked our respective bottles of booze together.

“Now go get laid while I make sure that insanecyka, Olivia, hasn’t crawled into Cassian’s bed again.”

8

Thea

The sun filtered through the clouds, casting a golden glow over the mountains towering above the college. Despite how much I wanted to hate this place, it was growing on me. My room was comfortable, and best of all, private. The food was good, and even though my classes bored me into a coma most days, I could see the appeal of embracing the college experience.

Freshers’ week had been low key so far. I’d not attended any of the events organized by the student council but had witnessed - and heard - some of the revelry. None of the events came close to the debauchery of Landon’s party, but it was obvious most of the students here had more money than sense.

More than a few of them looked ill as they hung around the cafeteria this morning. I smirked to myself as I sipped a cappuccino with 50 sugars and pretended to read my textbook. In reality, I was making mental notes of how I could gain access to Cassian’s apartment again without getting caught.

The party had been a bust. Aside from witnessing Landon take down the meathead known as Dirk, which had been entertaining, I had only spotted Cassian Forsyth in passing.Whenever he appeared surrounded by fawning sycophants, he barely gave me a second glance, and approaching him in front of his hangers-on seemed like a terrible idea.

And besides, Landon had followed me around with puppy dog eyes, refusing to take no for an answer. He seemed to be under the illusion I wanted to fuck him. I mean, I did, but no matter how attractive he might be, I couldn’t afford to get close to him.

Cassian was my target. Once I got what Dad needed, I was out of here. There was little point in muddying the waters with an ill-advised dalliance. Even if Landon was the prettiest guy I’d ever met.

I just had to keep reminding myself he was a fuckboy. Pure and simple.

“Mind if I sit here?” I looked up in surprise. While I’d zoned out, the surrounding tables had filled up with students enjoying the late summer sunshine. The quad area was now packed. It was almost lunchtime, and I guessed people were choosing to eat outdoors while it was still warm enough.

A pretty girl with sparkling blue eyes and pink hair stared down at me, a sandwich and drink in one hand and a book in the other.

“I can go somewhere else if you don’t want company?” she added when I didn’t reply.

My brain rebooted, and I tried to smile like a normal person. “Sorry. I was miles away.” I gestured at the chair across from me and looked down again at my textbook. God, she probably thought I was a total weirdo.

“Thanks! I was late leaving class and by the time I bought some food, there were no outdoor tables left. No way am I sitting on the grass. It’s much too damp.”

I looked up, not sure why she was talking to me. Was I giving off a vibe that suggested I wanted a friend?

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