Page 160 of Vengeful Princess

I shoved the phone onto the floor. Knowing he was angry with me made me nervous about the potential repercussions, but as I reminded myself, I was safe here. For now, at least. Not even Torrance was stupid enough to storm onto campus during the day and kidnap me. It would cause too many problems.

My burner phone continued to ping with messages from Eden, Kyril, Milo and Landon, but I ignored them. The only person who gave me space was Cassian. And that was only because he’d probably forgotten I even existed.

I half-expected someone to start banging on my door, demanding entrance, but there was nothing. Gradually, the daylight faded and twilight fell over campus. When it grew darkoutside, I decided I’d had enough of moping in my room, letting my imagination run riot.

Nothing I said or did at this point made any difference. I’d openly defied my father by not planting drugs in Cassian’s hotel room. The fallout of that was looming over me like the sword of Damocles, but there was nothing I could do right now.

Mrs Gia still wasn’t answering her phone. I’d tried several times, praying there was a perfectly innocent explanation. Maybe she dropped her phone in the toilet. Or it had run out of charge and she hadn’t noticed.

Yeah, delusional was my middle name.

After lying on my bed for another 30 minutes, I dragged myself up and pulled on some running kit. It was mild outside for once. No snow or ice. Perfect weather for an evening run, and the exercise might help clear my head.

The track around the perimeter of the campus was muddy as hell. Weeks of rain, sleet, and snow had turned the ground into a quagmire, which made it horribly slippery underfoot.

I maintained a steady pace, my long hair swinging in a ponytail as I navigated the treacherous twists and turns. It was almost dark, but my eyes had grown accustomed to the low light and I could see well enough.

Sweat trickled down my back as I pounded along. There was nobody else out here. Most people were either eating in the cafeteria or back in their rooms. Classes had largely ended for the semester - the Christmas Ball was two days away and excitement was high.

I’d heard Olivia bragging about the dress she’d ordered, which reminded me Eden had said something about dress shopping before she chucked a grenade into the conversation.

I wouldn’t need a dress. It was doubtful I’d still be here in two days. My father wasn’t the forgiving type. Torrance was probably on his way right now, ready to drag me back home.

When I got back to my room, I’d message Eden and tell her I’d be leaving shortly. As my one and only friend, she deserved to know. She’d be upset and worried if I vanished into thin air, and I couldn’t do that to her. Besides, she might call Declan, and my father would lose his shit if Declan Kelly started sniffing around our business.

I powered on, gradually upping my pace until my legs burned with lactic acid and it became hard to catch a breath. Once I’d climbed the hill to the highest point of the trail and the campus stretched out below, lights winking through the trees, I slowed down and checked my watch.

It was getting late. If I headed back now, the cafeteria would be quiet, and I could grab some food without attracting too much attention. In theory, at least. With that plan in mind, I picked up my pace again and ran steadily back down the slope, being careful not to slip and fall.

The sound of footsteps behind me caught my attention. I’d assumed I was the only person nuts enough to run at this time of day, but maybe not.

I sped up, hoping to outrun whoever it was, but they kept up with me.

Irritation burned away the fatigue, and I half-hoped whoever this dickhead was, he made the fatal mistake of jumping me. I looked forward to showing him why underestimating me was a mistake.

The footsteps faded when I took a left turn toward the gym. The other runner must have continued on the loop.

Now that I wasn’t being followed, I slowed down and let my heart rate recover. The temperature had dropped since I came out, but I barely noticed.

Just as the trees thinned out, Dario appeared, blocking my path. I slammed the brakes on and slipped on some wet leaves. He smirked like an asshole as I fell and ended up covered in mud down one side.

“Oops,” he mocked.

“Fuck you.” He laughed at the sorry state of me, but I ignored him.

Once I was back on my feet, I went to push past him, but his fingers closed around my wrist tight enough to hurt. An unwelcome buzz of electricity shot through me, a reminder of all the other times we’d been this close. And how pleasurable it had been.

“Not so fast,cagna.”

“What is wrong with you?” I snarled, done with his bullshit. Since he wasn’t letting me go, I pressed closer, forcing him back. From the way his eyes widened a fraction, he hadn’t expected that.

“What’s wrong with me,cagna, is that you fucking lied to me!”

“I never lied to you!” I yelled, low-key irritation turning into anger.

“Yes, you did!” It felt like we were going around in circles. He accused me of lying and I had no idea what about.

“What exactly did I lie about, Dar? We agreed to meet, and then you stood me up.” I had to crane my neck to look up at him - the asshole had grown a few inches since the last time we were this close.

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