Page 31 of Made in Malice

“I’m sure the new Porsche doesn’t hurt either. What did you have to do to get that out of old man Rory so quickly?” The insinuation is enough to make me gag, but I don’t give him the satisfaction.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I taunt instead.

“Maybe I’ll have to find out for myself.” His glowing blue eyes seem to darken with his words, and I don’t miss the way his gaze travels over me in a way that shows signs of interest, but it feels tainted.

“Doubtful,” I counter because I don’t want him looking at me like I’m a thing he can have if he deems me worthy.

“I showed you mine.” His tone is harsher, but still suggestive. I don’t think Prince Morningstar likes to be denied, even if this is all a game to him.

“I’m honest enough to admit opportunity is part of why I’m here, but I’m not looking to take over some old family rivalry. I don’t know what your beef is with the Umbras, and I don’t really care either.” Lie. “So how about you forget whom I’m related to and just ignore me like you do everyone else at this place?”

A muscle ticks in his cheek. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned that I noticed how he barely acknowledges anyone else’s existence.

“Why do you think I’m here?” I ask, deflecting from the fact that I just admitted to paying attention to him.

“It doesn’t matter. You being here at all is a problem.”

“Why?”

“Because there are only two kinds of people, Charity.” He leans forward so his elbows are on his knees and his tattooed hands are hanging between his spread legs. “The ones under me, and the ones against me, and I haven’t figured out which one you are yet.”

I shrug with what I hope is indifference before pulling my eyes from his intense gaze. “Maybe that’s because I’m neither. I am not your enemy, and I’m not your subject.” The utterance it muttered in a hushed tone as I realize there are people around watching us, and they are not even trying to be discreet. I feel like I’m being judged from every direction.

I lean forward to shut and snag my laptop off the table between us. I’ll have to step into his space to get my bag, but I’m hesitant. Something in my gut is telling me not to let Lucian Morningstar anywhere near me.

“I need to get to my next class,” I tell him as I stand, hoping he will get up and leave so I can get my bag and get the heck out of here.

“I’m not stopping you,” he says innocently.

Even though warning bells are going off that something isn’t right, I still bend forward and reach for my bag, which means I’m leaning over him when he loudly says, “I know you’re used to fucking as a form of payment, but I’m not interested. Don’t touch me again.”

My entire body freezes except my eyes, which go straight to his. The icy blue gaze that meets mine is flat, even as heat and humiliation crawl up my neck to flush my cheeks. I’ve actually been stunned into silence. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t touch him and wasn’t even planning on it. All that matters is what he said and the harsh whispers and snickers I hear filling the space.

When I can move again, I make a point of jerking my bag up from the floor, but I don’t run from the Union like he wanted me to. I put my back to him, which is probably a mistake, and then I walk away with my chin tipped up and my eyes focused only on the long hallway in front of me.

LUCIAN

I catch myself checking out the Umbra bitch as she sits in front of me with balls of steel, giving almost as good as she’s getting. Something close to regret niggles at me when I think about how different things would be if I met her anywhere else but here.

We would have been strangers, and I would have fucked her against a grimy wall in a club. Her thick hips would have been draped around my waist as she panted and pleaded against my neck before I shoved her down to her knees and fucked her mouth. Thinking about her fat lips wrapped around me while she gazed up at me with those defiant doe eyes makes my dick harder than the last time I got off.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she sneers, but I can see she’s uncomfortable. She may not think she’s easy to read, but she’s fucking transparent.

“Maybe I’ll have to find out for myself.” Some night, when you’re fast asleep, thinking you’re tucked safely into bed and nothing could hurt you, I will.

“Doubtful,” she boasts. Evidently, she has no clue what I’m capable of.

“I showed you mine,” I taunt her.

Surprising me, she admits she’s here because it’s better than where she came from. I’m still waiting on those details, but my source has been slow to reveal any information. At first, I thought he was holding out on me because he was worried the Umbras would suspect he was the leak, but now I’m not so sure.

When she asks me to forget about her and treat her like everyone else, I have to clench my teeth to keep from reacting. If only it were that fucking easy, but she had to show up here looking like sweet innocence wrapped in sin and buck against every-fucking-thing I’ve laid out. I hate everything about her almost as much as I hate her fucking family.

“Why do you think I’m here?” she asks.

“It doesn’t matter. You being here at all is a problem.”

“Why?” Her head tilts to the side with curiosity. Why is she so frustrating?

---