Page 28 of Rafe: Sins of the Father

My brow lifts. “His father is theGovernor?”

“Yep. Because of it, he thinks he’s bulletproof. No one can touch him.”

“I suggest you stay out of their way,” the brunette adds.

“I’ve tried. So far, it’s not working.”

The blonde slides over and extends her hand. “I’m Cynthia Abernathy. This is Felicity Carter. We’re sophomores.”

“I’m Tori. Tori Sawyer.”

Felicity scoots her tray closer and leans toward me, her voice hushed. “He’s a senior. Last year, a girl tried to bring charges against him.”

“What happened?” I ask, hoping he’s got a court date coming up.

Cynthia answers for her. “The DA wouldn’t bring the case to trial. We all figured his father put pressure on the man. Then she tried to sue him in court.”

“How’d that go?”

“She dropped the suit. We heard there was an out of court settlement.”

Felicity sips on a juice, then leans to my ear. “Rumor has it she got three million.”

My mouth drops open. “Oh my God.”

“I know, right?” Cynthia replies, stabbing at her salad, then glancing around. “It’s also a rumor that her father got some company from Silicon Valley to donate a huge amount of money to Huntington.”

“So, he’s got them in his pocket as well as the DA?” I murmur.

“Exactly,” she whispers. “So, like we said, avoid him at all costs.”

“The way he looks at me, I feel completely vulnerable.”

Cynthia squeezes my hand. “Get some pepper spray.”

I nod, thinking I may need more than pepper spray.

“You look terrified. Here, take mine.” Felicity reaches in her purse and puts it in my hand.

“Thank you.” My fingers close around the small can, and I shove it in my bag. “You’re kind to give it to me.”

“Just watch your back,” Cynthia adds.

An hour later, I’m late leaving the biology lab on the second floor of the science building. I have no interest in science, but it’s a prerequisite. I spent ten minutes talking with the professor about some questions I had, and now I’m late.

The halls are already empty when I step out of the lab. At the end of the hall is an elevator and a stairwell. There’s no way I’m getting caught in a stairwell alone, so I hit the elevator button, and it dings. The doors open, like it was waiting on this floor.

I step inside and hit the button for the first floor. The doors begin to close, and an arm jams between them, preventing them from closing.

Thenhesteps in, grinning.

Connor.

I try to push past him to dart from the enclosed space, but he pushes me back.

Then his two buddies are there, still holding the doors open. They reek of marijuana.

“Such a frightened little mouse,” Connor says. He’s intimidating, and his smile doesn’t reach his eyes, which drop to my chest. “You going braless today, little mouse? How brave.”

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