Page 8 of Weaponized

“I’m not sure,” I tell him, stopping in my tracks as we’re almost to the door. “I mean, it sounds like I should go find Liam McGuiness if your sources are to be trusted.” I arch an eyebrow, deciding that I can’t just ignore his earlier comment.

I can tell this surprises him. “So my sources are wrong?”

“Oh, Matteo,” I coo at him, “Your sources shouldn’t worry about little ol’ me.” I walk through the door. “Thanks for the coffee.”

“No problem,” he says as he approaches his brother, and I begin to veer off in the opposite direction. “Plain black. I’ll remember that.”

“Like my soul,” I mutter under my breath.

Luca

I’m sitting in the lecture hall, the events of the past few days running through my head. Gianni is nursing a broken rib and has two cracked teeth from whoever assaulted him. He missed the first day of class to be at the dentist. I spent last night walking the same path, going back over his story, and digging up information on the girl who is making the accusations.

Emily Shepherd doesn’t have a boyfriend. She’s not a known slut, and she hasn’t made accusations like this before. We have hidden security cameras all over our yard, and I could only find a single instance when she talked to Gianni at our party. It looked like she turned him down flat, and that alone makes me uneasy. What if she’s telling the truth? I can tolerate a lot of things, but not attacking some innocent girl.

But her story of a vigilante? Some hero in all black? That also makes absolutely no sense. The cameras show no one in all black at our house, and it was too hot to be out strolling around in such a getup. Unless the guy wasn’t strolling but was surveilling. I don’t like to ponder that thought. There are no cameras where everything went down, so no help there. I’ve scanned all the available video over and over.If this guy exists, he avoided all surveillance.

“Rumor is you’ve moved all this way to become my bride,” I hear Liam McGuiness croon. “Come on, sweetheart, sit by me.”

I don’t want to look up because I know what I’ll see. Two rows in front of me, Gráinne O’Toole stands in the aisleway, head cocked to the side, studying McGuiness in his seat. She hesitates for a second. Two. I shift in this too small, uncomfortable chair.

“I’m not here for you.” Her voice is soft. Smoke. Drifting over us.

She climbs the aisle and—Jesus Christ—she slides into the seat next to mine. What the hell? Is she looking for protection? From McFuckface? Why would she come to me? Although, he’s completely turned around watching her with his mouth hanging open. Yeah, maybe she was right to come to me because I want to smash his skull in. With my bare hands. Just squeeze his head until it pops. Although, maybe she’s looking to make him jealous. As if he’d think a girl like that would go out with me.Sorry, Angel, I don’t think anyone would buy the Beauty and the Beast storyline in real life. Too many plot holes.

“I swear,” she huffs, “everyone here thinks they know me. My future.Geez.”

Is she talking to me? Muttering to herself? She glances over, and my whole body tenses at her proximity. I whip around to face the front of the room. She sighs.

God. I’d give anything to hear her laugh again. It was such an unexpected, melodic sound when my brother teased her about how small our college is. Then, the bastard had the audacity to speak Italian to her,tell her she’s beautiful. I know he saw my expression because fucking with me became his mission. I must have looked like a lovesick fool.

Taking her to coffee. Making her smile.Touchingher. It was too much and I told him so.

“Stay the fuck away from her. It’s not funny,” I growled.

“I like this side of you, Luke. You need this,” he said, matter-of-fact.

“I’m serious, Matt. Don’t touch her again.”

“I’m serious too, Luca. Do something about it.”

He was in my face, and that’s not something that happens between the two of us. I walked away. I let him go back to his whiskey while I sulked in our home gym, pushing my muscles to exhaustion.

Now, I’m sitting by her side, breathing her in. She smells like honey. I can’t concentrate for shit as a result. I spend the entire class focusing on my breathing. In. Two. Three. Out. Two. Three. My fist clenches on my thigh. I’m struggling to sit still when all I want to do is put my nose in the crook of her neck to take a deep inhale of sweetness. I don’t understand why she has this effect on me.

I mean, there are a lot of good-looking girls at our school. Lots of rich chicks who obviously can afford to take care of themselves. I’d be blind not to see them, but I haven’t looked twice. I know I’m a monster, and I know I’d scare them shitless if we were ever alone. I manage not to even notice them anymore. But, this girl. I can’tnotsee her. She glows. She’s a beacon that calls to something inside me. I don’t like it, this foreign feeling. It’s clawing at me. Scratching under the surface. Making me restless. Agitated.

When class ends, I move deliberately to pack my bag so that I don’t accidentally brush against her. These seats weren’t made for guys my size, so not infringing on her space is hard. I’m hunched inward as far as humanly possible. But, I stop abruptly when I notice that McGuiness is blocking the way out of our row. He’s grinning at Gráinne like he knows a big secret, and I want to punch that ever-present smirk off of his face.

“Not here for me, huh?” He has a wide smile.

“Nope.” She pops thePas she responds, but I can’t make out her face because she’s angled away from me in order to talk to that douchebag. I’m still leaning away from her in an attempt not to make contact. The position is awkward and uncomfortable.

“It’s a shame you believe that, sweetheart.”

His tone is friendly enough, almost joking, but I grind my molars all the same.She’s not your sweetheart, jackass.I’m back to clenching and unclenching my fist. I remain silent, waiting for her response. She doesn’t address his remark.

“Can you please move, so Luca and I can get by?”

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