Page 21 of Cruel Games

“Where is it?” I asked.

“Follow me.”

I turned around to where Gideon sat on the bed. “Popping out for a bit.”

“I can wait,” he said without raising his head from the waistcoat I’d tailored. He was probably examining its stitching and comparing it to the designer outfits his parents bought him with all that oil money.

The administrator led me out of the tower, through the hallways, past the dining room and to the other side of the building. “Wait for him inside. I’ll tell him you’re here.”

Mr. Burgh’s office was a large space that overlooked both the pond and the manicured gardens. He kept his windows open, bathing the room in the scent of roses. I stepped inside and lowered myself into one of the leather armchairs in front of his desk.

The old man entered a moment after, dressed in a tweed three-piece suit and clutching two mugs of steaming tea.

He placed one on his desk in front of me. “Milk, no sugar?”

“Thanks.” He must have remembered how I took my tea from the flight.

Mr. Burgh walked around the desk and sat. “I’ve heard some disturbing rumors about your conduct with Mr. Nevis and the Deloraine twins.”

“They’re not true,” I said.

“You deny entering a broom cupboard with Orlando Nevis and Maxwell Deloraine?”

“What part of it’s not true don’t you understand?” I snapped.

His lips thinned, and he let out a long breath through his nostrils. “Miss Reddy from Social Services kindly sent up some information about you.” He picked up a manilla file and leafed through its contents. “According to her records, you left foster care to cohabit with a man ten years your senior at the age of fourteen.”

My teeth ground together. On the surface, it looked terrible, but the alternative of returning to a dingy high-rise apartment to be groped by a gorilla of a foster father was infinitely worse.

“I was nearly fifteen.”

Mr. Burgh closed his eyes. “Delilah.”

“It’s Lilah.” My nostrils flared. What the hell was his problem? There was a vast difference between having a boyfriend at a young age and getting into a cupboard to wank off three strangers.

He sighed. “I know your upbringing wasn’t ideal, and I’m aware of the complaints you’ve made to social services about abusive foster parents.”

“So?”

“Please don’t feel that you need to buy affection with sexual favors.”

I shot out of my seat. “Why aren’t you listening to anything I’m saying? It’s like you’ve made up your mind about me and won’t hear anything else.”

“Lilah, listen—”

“No, you listen.” My voice shook. Templar Academy was such a massive opportunity for me. Even if the students were idiots, the staff actually cared about what they taught. “If you thought I was such a whore, why did you go all the way to London to bring me here?”

He lowered his head. “It’s complicated, Lilah.”

“And you keep calling me by my first name. Are you coming onto me? Is that what this is?”

His head snapped up, and his entire face went white. “Of course not.”

“Because it sounds like you’re pissed off because I didn’t go into the cupboard with you.”

Annoyance twisted his features. “Now, look here—”

“No!” I turned around and headed for the door. “If I’m expelled, tell me. Otherwise, I’m going back to my room.”