Page 39 of The Professor's Possession (Crystal River Billionaire Brothers)

And I find the only article written about him: something done years ago about his admission to Harvard. A fawning article praising his genius. He didn’t agree to the interview for the newspaper, but they are practicallydroolingover his intellect and achievements. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t agreed to do any interviews in his entire life.

He’s so damn secretive.

I shut down the newspaper files and opt to scour the web for information on the family. I browse through the available images of the brothers. They all have a striking physical resemblance to each other – all handsome with perfect jawlines and sculptured bodies. There is a scarcity of photos featuring Damon or Spencer. Victor's Hollywood presence dominates anything online about the Penmaynes, but that's to be expected considering he's a star in the making.

Interestingly, it turns out that Spencer doesn't have any form of social media - a rarity among people I know who are under sixty. He's never been on any platform at all. He's akin to a phantom, which only fuels my curiosity further.

Maybe it was a wrong idea to look up this man. It’s all backfired on me. Now I’m even more intrigued.

What is he hiding? What is his past? Why did he move back here? Who the hell is he?

He’s clearly intelligent and highly educated, that’s for sure.

So what is a man like Spencer Penmayne wanting to do with a new college girl like me? Am I just an easy target for him? A quick, simple fuck?

Or is there something more to all this?

19

OLIVIA

I’m walking backto campus from the library when I feel a hand clamp down on my shoulder from behind.

What the hell?

I spin around on the sidewalk.

It’s Luke.

“Olivia.”

“Don’t scare me like that,” I rebuke him, brushing his hand from my shoulder.

He stands near me, his broad shoulders practically blocking out the sunlight. “It’s funny,” he says, expecting me to laugh at his prank.

“No, it’s not.”

“I think it is,” he replies with a smirk. “You should laugh, Olivia. You’re fun to piss off. I like your little face when you’re angry.”

“What do you want, Luke?” I ask him squarely. I don’t care about his silly games with me.

The former quarterback stands up straight, asserting his height and physical dominance over me like some kind of monkey.

“You disappointed my friend, Olivia,” he says.

“What?”

“The other night at the party,” he explains.

I scrunch up my face. “You mean Michael? The boy who cornered me outside the restroom?”

“Yeah,” he replies. “You disappointed him. Why did you reject him? He’sverysad about it.”

I shrug. “I’m not interested, Luke. I’m not looking to date anyone, especially one of your friends.”

The man sighs and takes a step forward. The gaudyUSAon his shirt is about to rub against my nose. He’s in my close space now. Very intimidating. I refuse to back down or step back, though.

“You clearly don’t like me, do you?” he asks me quietly and with a whole load of menace in his voice. “Why don’t you just say it out loud? Why don’t you just be honest for once, Olivia? Why don’t you just say that you don’t like me?”

---