Page 25 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

Then he hits the locks.

The only sound is his tense, angry breathing. I keep my eyes focused on my hands in my lap.

Just breathe, Haley,I tell myself.Just breathe.

But I can sense the shift in the air when Caleb turns his eyes on me.

“What the fuck was that?” he asks.

“What was what?”

He snatches my wrist out of my lap and squeezes hard. “Don’t play stupid. I warned you to stay away from me and my friends. What the fuck were you doing talking to J.C.?”

I start to protest, “He talked to me—” but Caleb shakes my wrist hard.

“Don’t fucking lie to me,” he snarls.

“I wasn’t!”

His eyes searches mine, clear and furious. When he sees I’m telling the truth, he relaxes ever so slightly.

“I wasn’t lying,” I repeat. “That bitch Penny came up to me. She wanted to pick a fight. J.C. stepped in. I didn’t ask him to.”

He grits his teeth and shakes his head. “You made a big mistake coming here, Cochran.”

I laugh bitterly. “Don’t I know it.”

Outside the truck, the rest of the students are filtering out to their cars and heading back home. But the windows are tinted. No one can see what’s happening in here.

I’m fully at Caleb’s mercy.

“I ought to punish you for disregarding my threat. I told you to stay away. And I told you I wouldn’t repeat myself.”

I bite my lip and stay silent. What does he want me to say? All I can think about is how violent he is in the ring.

I’ve seen him break noses, smash teeth, make grown men cry.

And now he’s turned his sights on me.

“You don’t need to do that,” I whisper quietly. “Please.”

“No? Glad to know you think that,” he drawls sarcastically.

He’s still angry, but now there’s an arrogant kind of amusement in his eyes. That’s worse somehow.

I’ve seen that in the ring, too. When he knows his opponent is weak and helpless… that’s when Caleb Wilson shines.

He taunts. Teases. Like a predator playing with his food.

Now I’m learning what it’s like to be his prey.

“But it’s a tempting idea,” he muses, stroking his chin. “Send you back home naked, maybe.”

I blanch in horror. “You wouldn’t.”

That makes him laugh. “After everything you’ve done, it’s the least you deserve.”

“I told you, I’m sorry about—”

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