Page 13 of Brutal King

“He’s transferring me to Stanford against my will. Refuses to listen to what I want. I’m just trying to teach him a lesson.”

“Ah,” he says in understanding. “The older brother being a parent thing.”

“Exactly. You must have one too.”

“Actually,I’mthe older one.”

“Oh. Yikes.” I make a face of mock dismay. “Are you as awful as mine?”

“Worse. In fact, I’ve been described as brutal.”

“In that case, I’m glad I’m not your sister.”

“Agreed.” He chuckles as he makes a right onto a residential street. He slows and pulls into a spot in front of a pretty two story house.

“Don’t get me wrong. I love Luca. Deep down, I know everything he does is to protect me. It’s just that at times all this protecting makes me feel like a caged bird.”

“And the little bird wants to fly.”

I nod and turn to look at the house we’re parked in front of.

“Is this it?” I take in the cozy place with the inviting porch.

“Not exactly. But I needed to pull over a moment.”

“What fo…” I trail off as, through the ghostly reflection cast on the window, I spy Gideon’s eyes locked on me. Only, they’re not the same as before. It takes me a mere second to recognize the predatory gleam in them. But it’s too late.

I spin toward Gideon, a scream lodged in my throat. Then it all goes black.

3

SOFIA

Iwake long before my eyes open. It’s not by choice. Not some smart move on my part to determine the possible danger around me before giving away that I’m conscious. It’s that my lids are practically fused together by the dryness. Even if I managed to pry them open, I’m sure the light filtering through the window would blind me. As it is, it’s making my headache worse by the second.

I’m hungover as fuck, and though I’ve snuck enough alcohol into my dorm room to know the symptoms, I don’t recall how I got this one.

What the hell did I get into last night? Did I get into Jenn’s secret brownie stash? No. That wasn’t it.

I ran. I met a man.

Mr. GQ.

Gideon.

My eyes scrape open as I bolt upright from the bed I’m in. Everything’s hazy, my vision cloudy. Which makes it all the more terrifying because the little I can make out is completely unfamiliar.

It takes a lot of blinking to clear it up, but all it does is confirm my worst fear. Last night wasn’t a dream and neither is this.

Do not scream. Do not panic. Assess your situation. Bide your time. Make a plan. Execute.

That’s what my father told me to do if the unthinkable ever happened. One of his greatest fears was that they’d use his princess against him. I never believed I’d be important enough. Anyone that wanted to truly hurt Nico Sinacore would aim for Tony. He was his pride and joy. Luca was the black sheep, but he’d still be a better target than me. No one could get close enough anyway, not with the amount of guards that surrounded me.

I was obviously wrong.

Okay, I can check the first thing off my list. I didn’t scream. Not that I do usually, I’m more of a gasper.

Second, assess my situation. What’s the last thing I remember? The pretty house with the inviting porch. Then, Gideon’s eyes reflected in the window. They’d changed, their sexy twinkle replaced by something dark and terrifying.

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