Page 67 of Heartless Legacy

I check out the server again. Is he new here? I don’t remember seeing him before, and he might not get seen again ifhe’s giving extra special deserts to my girl. He says, “I’ll see you next time, T.”

“Thanks, G.”

His gaze flick to me and he smiles. Fucking smiles. Which is the last thing he should do when I’m plotting his murder.

“You’re friendly with the staff.”

“The staff?” Looking back at the serving line, she asks, “You mean G?”

“Oh, isG,his name?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. That’s what I call him.”

“And he calls you T. How cute. Is he the new life you’re trying to lead?”

She narrows her eyes at me. “If he is, that would be none of your business.”

“I think we’ve already established that everything you do is my business, even when you don’t want it to be.”

I can feel Pax staring at me as we make our way to Thea’s table, but I ignore him for now.Thisis what Thea needs. She doesn’t want to be around him and Eloise. Actually, she never wanted to sit at the legacy table to begin with. She only did it to make things easier for Pax.

Fuck giving the school the wrong impression. She’s making a statement. Showing she’s not just okay with what everyone and the three blind mice would see as a betrayal. Sitting beside her where she’s most comfortable, it’s the least I can do to show I’m still here for her. Still want her.

My phone buzzes with a text from Holden. Perceptive as always, he wants to know if I need him to come over here, too. I send back a reply.

Finn

No man, stay over there. After the shit Thea said in the classroom, I won’t be able to eat if I have to look at Pax and Eloise.

Holden

You think I can?

We can’t both abandon Pax. Even if he is an idiot for hooking up with Eloise.

Fine. But the next meal you get to suffer over here and I get to be with Thea.

We’ll see about that. Thea ignores me the entire time we’re eating. I know what she’s doing. Leaning in so no one hears, I say,. “It’s not gonna happen, Pet. Getting rid of me. It’snevergonna happen. You take time to yourself, but I’m not going away.”

She doesn’t respond, but I can tell she’s listening. The height of her shoulders lower as she interacts with her friends. I comment if asked a direction question, but other than that, I let her pretend I’m not here. When she’s finished, she stands to leave and I walk her to the door, holding it open for her.

Thea shoots me a look I can’t decipher, slips through it, and hurries down the path that leads to the athletic building. While I wait for Pax and Holden, I think of other ways I can give Thea space while I’m spending time with her.

Chapter 42

Deacon

“Another set of ten.” I say to the girl in front of me, performing a pushup with her ass too high in the air, and she doesn’t drop low enough to bend her elbows. My thoughts drift to another time I had a feminine body pushing out a hundred pushups, and calling mesir.

It’s torture. Not the thought of Thea, but of her being back here. There’s no other way to describe how much I hurt for her. I’ve already watched her claw her way back from one trauma. It’s fucked up that she has to do it again.

Based on what Thea’s told us, it’s clear Malcom’s got a vendetta against the Laurent girls, but the reasons we’ve come up with don’t make a whole helluva lot of sense. Whatever the reason is, he’s a danger to her. As a mid-level councilman, and a top ranked legacy family, the only way Thea will ever be safe is to strip him of that power. That means finding evidence about his behavior that’s damning enough to make The League of the Daggered Raven turn their backs on him. That sounds fine. Digging up dirt on Malcom Cox might even be fun, but it won’t be easy.

Moreau has agents around town to protect Thea, but she’ll be on her own when dealing with The League. My heart fracturedfor her when she called me and told me about the tribunal’s decision. Our plan for them to overturn her status as a deserter worked, but most of the points she accumulated no longer count. She’s basically starting from scratch.

The student yells out fifty, then sinks to her knees, and I say, “Of the fifty, you counted, thirty were shit.” She pouts up at me, and I ignore the hurt look on her face. “Do a set of twenty-five every day. Use a mirror to help you perfect the form and motion.”

Dropping down to demonstrate, I say, “Keep your glutes tight, your core firm, and you want to bend your elbows at least ninety degrees. Don’t let your chest or hips hit the floor or your ass poke up in the air.”

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