Page 14 of Vicious Intentions

“Don’t kid yourself. The Elite have more power in this country than you understand. When you graduate, get the hell away from here. At least I’ll live in the lap of luxury.”

I didn’t take her warning lightly. She was all over the place about the Elite and the crazy requirements. “Then why bring me here?”

“Because… because I need someone by my side tonight who I can trust. The other girls are bitches. They hate me because I’m well liked.”

Sighing, I glanced at the window at the house. Why did the shadows suddenly seem malevolent? “Okay, I’m here. We’re leaving together. Period. In and out. A drink or two, then we leave. Deal?”

Kelly finally turned her head in my direction. “Okay. Just be careful. If they lure you in, then you’ll belong to them.”

Saying I wasn’t a prude was correct, yet I’d only had sex once and that hadn’t been the best experience. However, that didn’t mean I wasn’t a red-blooded female with desires and fantasies. Very little bothered me.

Or so I hoped.

Besides, it was apparent everyone underestimated me. I had no intentions of surrendering to any man under any circumstances, no matter what appeared in my journal.

Then why are you quivering?

I wasn’t entirely certain. My thoughts returned to my belief that someone had riffled through my things.

“And leave your phone here.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I doubt you want your phone confiscated. They don’t want any possibility of pictures being taken and seen on social media.”

“Jesus Christ. What are they afraid of?”

“As I’ve told you, they’re very private. They handle business that they don’t want anyone to know about.”

“They’re fucking college students.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be naïve, Sage. They are already millionaires from the various businesses they rule. Take the President of the club, Cain Cross. He’s following in his father’s footsteps and has been for a while.”

Rule, not run. Her word usage was getting stranger. “Which is?”

Her nervousness was even more evident. “Mafia.”

I’d heard kids of mafia families were enrolled in the school. It really hadn’t bothered me until hearing the way she mentioned the single world. “So they really are dangerous.”

“Oh, you bet. There are rumors they’ve handled business out of the house.”

“Why are you just telling me this now?” I wanted to strangle her for the push and pull.

She took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to get caught in the system.”

“Don’t worry about me. I have my entire life planned out. Why go to post-grad at all? Why not follow in daddy’s footsteps and be done with it?”

“Because it’s required. Come on. These parties are rare. That’s one reason I asked you to come with me.” She plastered a smile on her face, and I started questioning more than just my reason for being invited.

After tossing her purse in the back, she didn’t wait for my response, exiting the vehicle in a hurry.

I thought about what she was saying, sliding my small clutch under the seat. The weirdness surrounding the Elite was becoming more disturbing. My thoughts drifted to my mother’s phone call and the fact that someone had been in our suite. There was no way the events could be a coincidence.

As Kelly led us toward the front door, I noticed at least four security guards manning the front of the estate, two more burly guys at the door. For some reason, the sight of them bothered me more than it should. Were they hiding something I shouldn’t be allowed to see? The stories about the Damned were the thing legends were made of. Debauchery and violence. I knew better than to believe fifty percent of what I’d heard. Still, my mother’s words weighed on my mind. Yes, there were some very bad people in this world.

“Oh, you’re going to be frisked,” she said in passing.

“What for? Are they worried about weapons?”

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