Page 48 of Broken Princess

“That still doesn’t explain why you care what I think about your little skuz. You never did before.”

Looking around the table, I ask, “Did anyone notice the uptick of reporters on campus?” They all shake their heads. “VDU generally sticks to reporters who write puff pieces about the campus but with Penn Waldorf’s trial coming up, we have to play our roles.”

“This is exactly why we need to get her out of here. We don’t need the scandal.”

Tabitha closes out whatever she was reading on her phone. “We don’t know why they’re here, so we don’t need to do anything that might draw attention to us.” Simple and logical. That’s Tabby when she’s not trying to give her parents a stroke.

“Or.” Bella turns to smile at me. “Youcan ask her if they’re here about Penn or because she’s under investigation for blackmailing and defrauding the school.”

“What part of playing it cool don’t you get? Whenever I get around Jordanna, I usually wind up with my hands at her throat.” Or between her legs. I shift in my seat, semi-hard just thinking about it. “Giving her ammunition for filing an assault or harassment charge against me won’t help us.”

“She was stupid in love with you, can’t you use that?” Hal asks.

“That was last semester. Today she hates my guts.” And she was quick to remind me of that after sucking my soul out of my body with her pussy.

Bella walks her fingers up my chest and across my shoulder. “What’s that thing they say?” She asks, crawling into my lap and tugging my hair to expose my neck, before licking the side of my face. “It’s a thin line between love and hate. You’ve already jumped in defending her honor. How much harder is it for you to go a little farther?”

Bella’s putting on a show for Jordanna. I’ve been putting on a show of my own pretending like I’m bored with all this talk about her. “I thought you wanted me to destroy her. Now you want me to backtrack and seduce her again?”

“I still wanna annihilate the insufferable bitch, but we need to know why she’s still here after the mockery she made of our school, and whether or not it has anything to do with those reporters you saw hanging around.” Bella’s playing the innocent bystander as always.Wemade a mockery of this institution, Jordanna was the scapegoat.

Patrick, who’s been quiet up until now, snorts, nodding his agreement. He’s still mad about last semester.

Bella’s aggravated I won’t take the bait. “Look, Logan. We don’t care if you tell her she’s pretty or choke her to within an inch of her life as long as we get answers.”

My eyes snap to hers. I dig my hand into her hip until she winces, then grip even harder, until my hold is no longer an annoyance. Now, it’s just the right side of pain. “That sounds an awful lot like an order. Are you ordering me around, Isabelle?”

The chatter around us quiets. I hold her gaze, waiting for an answer. “She wasn’t-”

“I wasn’t fucking asking you, Hal” I snap. They’ve all gotten a little too comfortable questioning my decisions. I ghost my hand up to her neck, pressing my thumb just under her trachea. “I asked you a question.” My voice is deadly soft and quiet. Almost sweet. Her eyes widen and the color drains from her face because she knows quiet and sweet are never good things coming from me.

“I know we all have a lot to lose, but Jordanna isn’t stupid. I can’t just say I changed my mind and let’s date. She doesn’t trust me. In fact, she hates me. So maybe you need to stay in your place and give me a chance to come up with a plan.”

I shove her out of my lap, my skin crawling from having let her sit on me for as long as I did. It’s all bullshit. I don’t need a plan because I already have one. Bella’s got one thing right, it is a thin line between love and hate. Or lust and hate, which are the emotions Jordanna’s struggling to control. With her working at the paper, that gives me more time to tap into the attraction that’s lingering underneath the surface.

Across the cafeteria, Jordanna throws her head back, laughing at whatever Sterling’s just said. When she rights herself, her eyes sweep across the room, landing on me, and her smile slips. Noel turns his head to see what she’s staring at and taps Sterling on the shoulder. Their entire table grows quiet. The only person over there who’s not shooting daggers our way is Kassidy. But, I know I haven’t earned any good will back with her yet.

Sterling says something else. This time the entire table laughs, and Jordanna goes back to eating her meal, ignoring us. Ignoringme.

I turn my attention back to the pit viper next to me. “Bella, the only scandals we have are the ones we make and we’re careful not to let anyone outside of school know about them. Reporters on campus are an inconvenience, but I can handle it, so you have nothing to worry about.”

I send off a text

While you’re eating with your friends, and pretending I don’t exist, don’t forget how well you knew me in that hotel room when you were bouncing on my cock

Jordanna’s hand goes to the back of her neck before snatching her water from the table and taking a long gulp. Last time I had to win her head and heart. This time I’m going straight for her body. I don’t give a shit what she’s saying about the hotel being a one-off. Jordanna still wants me.

“And if there’s a chance?” Bella asks, bringing me back to the conversation.

“I’m the editor of the paper, McKay Media’s heir, with access to every damn paper in the tri-state area before it goes to print. No one’s publishing anything without me knowing.”

That seems to appease her. “Good, because we count on you as the king of VDU and Davis McKay’s heir to protect our interests, Logan.”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing.” And somehow I have to figure out a way to protect Jordanna too.

Nineteen

Jordanna

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