Page 29 of Risk

It felt like battery acid coming from her lips. She knew she spoke a lie, even as she threw her entire self into it. She wasusuallyunconcerned with men, but Vincent had been different from the start. Jacey saw it. Talia saw it. And by the knowing expression that Jacey’s friend gave her, Kiera knew that an absolute stranger could recognize it for what it was.

A subject change became essential to her sanity.

“So, what are you two doing today?” Kiera asked, swiping her laptop from the table and pulling it to her chest as she stood.

“Penn State’s having this organic science decathlon-style event, and I’m in charge of selecting the competitors,” Jacey said, gesturing to Elaina. “Elaina is in charge of writing the questions for the event.”

Kiera looked at Elaina. “And you’re a biochemistry major, too? Or are you chemical engineering?” She asked, relaying her friend’s two majors.

Elaina smiled kindly and shook her head. “I’m in medical school. I know Jacey from the tutoring center on campus. She helpedmewith organic chem.”

Jacey shrugged. “It’s a tough subject.”

Kiera wanted to feel impressed but was entirely unsurprised that Jacey had been helping a graduate student—one who had likely taken dozens of more challenging classes than Jacey had. She shook her head and looked between them. “Well, have fun with that. I’m going to go to my room and paint.”

Jacey gave a small wave. “Try not to ruin the carpet.”

Kiera gave a vulgar gesture that she imagined would make Elaina blush as she shut herself in her room and made herway toward her paints. She’d expected that she’d need to paint to lessen the strain of her emotions. After the last time she’d declined her acceptance, she’d spent three days and nights painting her misery. Her pastel colors, blues, and purples needed restocking after that painting binge, and she expected the same need to arise in her now.

But it didn’t.

Instead, she thought about the small smiles that Vincent gave her and the way he became someone entirely different when around her. The feeling sent sparks of joy through her, and an entirely different motivation arose. She picked up her brush and began mixing paints until the color of her light skin tone spread across her palette.

The first thing that flashed in her mind as she placed her brush on the canvas was the moment she’d looked in the mirror after allowing him to fully ravish her for an entire night. She’d been flushed, but the happiness she recalled flowed into her reflection. The lack of clothes that she’d been wearing at the moment had made the curves of her hips and breasts more vivid to paint, and she lost herself in the self-portrait.

And she knew at once why she hadn’t been miserable when deciding to decline the art school once again.

The happiness she found in painting could be found elsewhere now. In Vincent.

18

Vincent escorted Kiera down the well-lit street bordering the central part of Philadelphia, and she clung to his arm. “You look stunning,” he told her, examining the simple black dress she wore. He then drifted his attention to her.

“My tits look stunning, you mean,” she elaborated, rolling her eyes.

The corners of his lips tugged up slightly. He’d never smiled as much in his life as with Kiera. “Your tits look fantastic as always. So does the rest of you.”

Vincent strolled down the sidewalk, the lit doorway coming into view through the night. Even with his attention partially focused on Kiera, he was fully aware of the people strolling the streets around him, knowing the potential danger that they faced. Krill Laker’s most deadly attack had been on a similar charity event, and everyone feared that his final stand would happen tonight.

Vincent wasn’t so sure.

He’d been smart, playing every move meticulously. Vincent knew he wouldn’t make his final stand at an event wheneveryone would be searching for him. He’d wait until nobody expected it.

But he’d be there.

Oh, Vincent knew his style. He’d attack, but likely not in the way everyone anticipated. Vincent had all of his backup prepared for the evening. James and Marco would stand guard while Luca would monitor the event digitally, watching all the places that the rest of them couldn’t.

Vincent came prepared, and Kiera served as the perfect distraction.

He’d debated with himself for days if he’d bring her to the event where an obvious danger would be waiting to attack, but if Vincent missed Krill tonight, she’d be in far worse danger. Krill would seek her and eventually find her, and if Vincent could make it happen tonight—when the entire building and the surrounding streets had ample backup—she’d be much safer than being caught alone.

He made sure to tell her about the potential danger. She carried a small blade tucked against her thigh just in case.

“Are you planning to tell me what this charity event is before we go inside?” she pushed as he turned them toward an entranceway into a cement building. They approached through the back entrance rather than the main street for the sake of better security, so no signs or event posters labeled the entrance as he guided her up four cement steps.

“Would you like to take a moment and guess before we go inside?”

“I’d prefer if you told me,” she said.

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