Page 15 of A University of Betrayal

Turning around, I looked in the mirror again, where my eyes were still glowing, matching the color of the dress, even if this one wasn’t bright. It looked somehow... beautiful on me, even though I was far from being the dress girl.

You can do it, Larissa. The next chance you get, you’ll get out of here and stay away from those crazy people.

With that encouraging thought, I opened the door to find Bastien standing by a large window. He turned to me and adjusted the watch on his right hand.

“A very good choice, even if I would have saved it for dinner with Nicolaj if I were you.”

How could anyone be as formal as this man? The way he spoke flattered his personality, even if he was one of my captors.

“How old is this Nicolaj, if I may ask?” I tried to cover up my unusual uncertainty.

Bastien had to smile. “Ask him that, and you’ll get the keys to Adrian’s car.”

I raised an eyebrow, puzzled, because I didn’t quite understand what was so funny about it. I just wanted to make sure that their drug boss wasn’t a pedophile pervert. But the offer of the car gave me new hope of escaping, even though I knew he could never be serious. Adrian’s car. A Ferrari.Never.It must have been as expensive as...

I realized that I had no knowledge of expensive things, except for motorbikes. How could I, when I’d lived on the streets for half my life?

Bastien held his arm out to me in invitation, and I hesitantly took it. I wasn’t afraid of him, but of what awaited me down there, which was why I tried to cover up all these negative feelings with questions.

“How much do you actually earn as a bodyguard for the... DeLoughreys?”

He smirked again.

“What?”

“I’m part of the family as well as of the brother- and sisterhood. We are part of an underground organization and all equal members. But I can’t tell you any more than that until you sign the agreement.”

I was speechless. It almost sounded like I’d ended up in the mafia and was about to be forced into something I didn’t want. Something you couldn’t get out of once it was too late.

But what could they possibly want fromme?I had nothing to offer.

Memories of the past came up, but I pushed them aside.Not here.

Bastien seemed friendly, though cool and reserved. Maybe he was my only chance to get out of here, so I paused.

“Bastien, I don’t mean to be rude, but I think there’s been ahugemisunderstanding. I just want to go home, and I feel very uncomfortable here. I’m sure my friend misses me, and the university…”

“There’s no need to worry. Believe me, you’re in good hands here. As far as I know, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to continue your studies at Vanderwood soon.”

We walked on through a corridor with a black carpet rolled out in the middle, magnificent chandeliers above us, golden decorations on the walls, fine candlesticks, and old paintings from Europe, but I was too distracted to look at everything more closely.

My mind was literally racing. More and more questions kept popping up. Questions that I couldn’t answer.

Why was I here if they planned to release me? Weren’t they afraid that I would go to the police?

“Why me?” I whispered before we entered the middle floor of a huge foyer, lit by a giant crystal chandelier hanging from the painted ceiling. A painting from antiquity with naked golden angels turned in a circle around the holder in the ceiling. A mixture of ceiling fresco and ornamentation. The walls were adorned with Gothic statues, the window frames decorated with carved patterns, benches covered in velvet in front of them, all in shades of black and gold, just like the curtains. Two staircases led down to another level and finally merged into one large staircase that led even further down.

I felt like a princess in a fairytale castle, and the fact that Bastien led me further down in this dress didn’t make it any better.

“We can’t choose our fate,” was all I got in reply.

Great. Thank you, Bastien.

That really helped me now. The last thing I needed at the moment was a hot bodyguard who was actually part of the mafia and spoke to me in riddles.

When we arrived downstairs in the foyer, I realized that we were in a huge ballroom.

I would have loved to take photos of this mansion, which I had wanted to find on my own just a few days ago. Now I was here, and I wanted nothing more than to leave.

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