Brock’s hand isn’t in the full cast anymore. No sign of Tate, which means he’s staying away like I suggested.
I’m more surprised to see Keegan. He’s mostly stayed away for the past few weeks. He’ll blame university for keeping him busy, but I suspect he’s been laying low to avoid disappearing like Zayden.
He’d been really, really pissed that I called him out during the stint in the gym with Pandora. He must be getting complacent now.
“Blaze,” Holden says, his voice quivering. “We need to talk.”
I tilt my head at them. “Here?” I look around the business building’s lounge. The few other people who had been in here earlier have cleared out, scared off by this whole troop of frat brothers.
“Yeah, here.” Holden folds his arms over himself. “You’re supposed to be in charge of Kappa Alpha Omega Sigma.”
“Iamin charge,” I say as I sit up straighter. I’m regretting sitting in the armchair instead of taking a seat at one of the tables.
“You aren’t acting like it,” Brock says. The other frat brothers murmur in agreement. “You’re acting like some… some lovesick little bitch. Getting led around by your cock.”
I give them a large, brittle smile. “Who fed you those lines? You didn’t come up with them on your own.”
Internally, I’m screaming. They don’t get to talk about Pandora like that. She’s better than any of them, and choosing to help her isn’t me being ‘ordered around.’
It’s because I can see all the fraying edges of this fraternity, and all the ways my father’s empire will crumble.
“It’s obvious!” Declan says, stepping forward.
I smirk at him. “I’m impressed you can walk so well, after she took a chunk out of your leg.”
Declan’s face flushes red. “I knew something was wrong when you didn’t do anything about her even then. What happened tobrotherhood, Blaze? You kept harping on about it last year. It doesn’t work if it’s only in one direction.” He clenches his fists and straightens his shoulders. “Unless you want us to spillyoursecrets.”
Fuck all of this.
I stand up and edge into Declan’s personal space. “Yeah? Be careful, Declan. I can destroy you a lot easier than you can even touch me.”
Declan’s bravado drops, and I think this might be the end of it. But the rest of the frat is murmuring to themselves.
Somebody in the corner of the room starts clapping. I turn to glare at him.
It’s Ezio.
It really was too much to ask for him to have died in the entire commotion. Even the stab wound he received from Pandora doesn’t appear to have done lasting damage.
My stomach tightens, but I refuse to show any emotion.
“It’s easy to play the big man when you’ve got Daddy’s support,” Ezio says, smirking. “Or when you’ve got your girlfriend to protectyou. But where is she? Where’s Alvarado? Where’s Rivera?” He makes a show of looking around. “It’s just you here.”
“That’s funny, coming from you,” I say. “You’re still dependent on my father for everything. You’ve got nothing of your own,”
Ezio’s eyebrow twitches, but unlike the rest of my Kappa Alpha brothers, he doesn’t instantly react.
“We were talking about you!” Keegan growls. “You’re the one who’s hiding behind your psycho girlfriend.”
I clench my jaw. “Shut the fuck up, Keegan. You’re making yourself look stupider.”
Last year, I would have stood up for most of these guys.
This year—no, this month, after everything they did to Pandora—I can barely stand the sight of them.
Maybe it’s because I know, deep down, that it wasn’t only them. If I hadn’t been there to rile them up, if I had stopped them…
I can’t think about that. Pandora has forgiven me, probably, and I’ll have to live with my actions for the rest of my life.
