Page 74 of Claiming Pretty

Her pussy sated from my attention.

The voice inside my head was almost feral.Mine.

Ava was making me crazy, turning me into a gentlemansavage.

Ciaran seemed oblivious, his attention back on the screen as he clicked through files.

“Look what I found,” he said, his tone triumphant.

For now, I shoved aside my wild thoughts.

Ava leaned forward, her interest piqued. “You found the owners of Hallowstone?”

“Not quite, but something else…” He pulled up a document on the screen, the bold header reading Donation Receipt.

The string of zeroes in the donation figure was staggering.

He clicked through to another receipt and then another. Each was nearly identical. Each bore the same donor name.

“The Darkmoor Alumni Association,” I read.

Ava gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Ebony has a photo of the board on her study desk.”

Her gaze darted between Ciaran and me, realization dawning in her wide eyes. Her voice wavered as she whispered, “Cormac’s father, the dean, the police chief…”

Ciaran pulled up the alumni association’s website. On the About page was a black-and-white photograph of the Board of Directors that matched Ava’s memory.

There they were next to Ava’s adopted mother, the three men in crisp suits, their smiles too knowing, too polished.

Cormac Foley Senior. Dean McCarthy. Commissioner O’Neill.

“One of them must be working for the Sochai,” Ciaran said, his voice tight with certainty.

“Or,” I said, as my stomach dropped into a pit, “allof them.”

AVA

The moment I closed the front door of our dorm apartment, I felt a fleeting sense of triumph. Maybe—just maybe—I’d managed to sneak out without them noticing. That hope lasted all of five seconds.

When I started down the stairs, there they were, leaning casually against the wall on the landing below, arms crossed like they’d been waiting for me for hours.

Ty and Ciaran. My shadow and my warden. Matching smirks tugged at the corners of their lips, and for the first time in years, they looked exactly like twins.

“I told you she’d try to pull this,” Ty said, his gaze raking over my outfit—an off-the-shoulder white top paired with a pink-and-gray plaid skirt. His eyes gleamed almost playfully. Almost.

“You would know,” I muttered, clutching my books tighter and attempting to shoulder past him. But, of course, that didn’t work.

Ciaran snagged my books from my hands with infuriatingease, holding them high above his head like we were kids again.

“Off to class so early, rabbit?” he teased, his voice laced with mock surprise.

“It’s eight thirty,” I grumbled, glaring up at him. “You’re a night owl. Why are you even awake?”

Ciaran grinned lazily. “I’mupwhenever you’re around.”

I rolled my eyes, but the smirk tugging at my lips betrayed me. With an elbow jab to his ribs, I snatched my books back.

His exaggerated wince made me hesitate, my irritation ebbing for just a second.

---