Page 26 of Broken Princess

The slip of the towel was so quick. How could he have seen it?

“I asked you a question.” He stands, moving towards me. “Is that a tattoo?”

The Arabic quote is on my left rib cage. The ink saysI suffered, I learned, I changed. I got it and a nose piercing, when I was on the island with Kassidy, to remind me I am bigger and stronger than the things that have happened. Who is he to question what I do with my body? Squaring my shoulders, I answer his question with one of my own. “So, what if it is?”

“Let me see.”

“You expect me to take my towel off?” I suck my teeth, and with an exaggerated eye roll, say, “That’s never gonna happen.”

“You can show me, by peeling off that towel like a stripper, or I can come over there and reveal it myself. Either way, I’m not leaving until I see it.”

The ends of the towel come together on the side. When he reaches for it, I fist both ends in one hand, holding it closed. If he pulls it open, my thigh and half of my ass cheek will be exposed. Putting a permanent reminder close to my heart, seemed fitting. But it’s for me, and I’m not cowering to his demand.

“I told you to get out of my room.”

“That sounds like a threat. Get out. Or what?”

“Or I’ll be the narc you and your gang already accuse me of being. How do you think the dean will react if I say you’re harassing me? I know you got a slap on the wrist, but I don’t imagine the two of you are on good terms. If I file a complaint, will daddy be able to pay your way out of this?”

“Careful what you’re threatening, Jordanna,” he says stepping closer.

“It’s not a threat. It’s a promise. Hear me when I say this, Logan, you won’t find it so easy to toy with me again. I’m not your puppet, I don’t come when you call, I don’t dance when you say, and I’ll be damned if I give you access to my body just because you tell me to.”

It takes everything in me to stay rooted in place. The hairs on my arm stand on end. I feel the anger radiating off of him. He wants to push me. To demand I comply. But my words struck gold. Whether I’ve seen them or not, therewereconsequences to his actions. Knowing that emboldens me to turn my back on him and walk over to my bedroom door. Yanking it open, I tell him, “Last time I’m saying this. Get. The. Fuck. Out.”

He steps into the living room, crossing over to the front door. “Don’t think for one-second that this is over, Jordy. You’re gonna show me that ink.”

“Never gonna happen.”

“Wanna bet?”

The question sends chills down my body. I lock the door behind him, sinking against it. I survived this standoff, but what fresh hell did I unleash upon myself?

I hurry to my bed, pulling my phone from under the pile of pictures, stabbing the contact number for my benefactor. “Pepper. It’s Jordanna. Are you up for a visit sometime this week?”

I asked for this visit and now that I’m here, I’m not sure how to bring up the subject I want to discuss. Pepper doesn’t push me to talk. She’s filling the air with stories about her weekend and the number of fundraisers she’s scheduled to attend this month. When she tells me about the list of gentlemen she’s considering as her escorts, my lips tip up.

“You find it amusing that I have so many suitors?”

Pepper Dane is sharped tongued, clear-headed and observant. Some days she dresses like a queen, others she’s wearing smoking jackets with cigars tucked on the side of her mouth. I’m never sure if I’m getting a grande dame or a mob boss, and I love every minute of it.

“I’m sure your dance card is full, I just don’t know how you manage it all. I’m struggling with just making new friends.”

“Because you don’t trust them. Jordanna, I’ll let you in on a little secret. I don’t trust the people I interact with either, but I don’t let that stop me from going out. You shouldn’t either.”

“I’ve gone to a few of their parties, but I’m not sure how to act. Logan and his friends still think I’m trash and most of the other students listen to them.”

“My child, they’re going to keep listening to that rubbish until you give them a new song to dance to. Don’t play the victim at the party, be the villain.”

I consider her words. “Villain? You mean get in their faces?”

“No. I mean, in the way villains always seem to have the most fun. Doing what they want. Saying what they mean. Letting others stress themselves out about motivations. You smile, and dance and laugh, and hold your head up and it will draw them to you.”

“No fear, huh?”

“Audentes Fortuna Iuvat.”

“Fortune favors the bold.”

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