Page 11 of Savage Ambition

I used the distraction to steal a glance at Dante. His blue eyes were already fixed on me.

“Tell him, Shaw!” Jace yelled.

“Huh? Tell who what?”

Dante’s low chuckle cut through the noise. “Why do you always have something to say, asshole?” Jace demanded.

“Why do you always care so much about what I think?” Dante countered, his voice carrying the same edge I’d heard when he’d ordered me onto the bed.

“Come on, guys. Knock it off,” I pleaded.

“No!” Jace’s face flushed. “I’m tired of this arrogant prick walking around like he owns the world. Besides, you wouldn’t be acting so high-and-mighty if everyone knew the truth.”

“That’s enough,” I snapped. If he said the wrong thing or pushed too far, there was no telling what Dante might do to Jace.

Jace’s eyes narrowed. “Are you defending him?”

“As if I need to be defended,” Dante scoffed. “Especially against someone like you.”

The contempt in his voice carried years of antagonism, but beneath it lurked the casual dismissal of someone who knew exactly how easily he could destroy his opponent. Jace was completely blind to the threat.

“So, did I mention that redhead has a twin sister? If you change your personality, you might have a shot with her,” Trent interjected.

Jace whirled on his friend, momentarily forgetting Dante. “Yeah, right. There’s no way you have enough game to pick up someone hot.”

I shot Dante a warning look, but his barely concealed amusement proved he didn’t care.

Our professor’s arrival cut through the tension, but throughout class, Dante’s gaze tracked me. Every shift in my seat was observed and cataloged. I couldn’t stop thinking about the scars on his body, and which ones had been inflicted by clients or his own family.

As much as I dreaded our inevitable conversation on the way to our next class, I craved the chance to be alone with him, away from Jace’s suspicious eyes.

CHAPTER FOUR

DANTE

When class ended, Jace stormed out of the room. His rage meant nothing to me. My focus remained fixed on Shaw, who had consumed my thoughts every waking moment since he left my room the night before.

I waited by the door as he packed his bag. He fell into step beside me as we walked to our next class. Those few moments alone with him were worth more than the thousands of dollars clients paid to rent my body.

“Did you think you were being subtle earlier?” I asked.

“Oh, shut up. You don’t help the situation any.” His irritation only made me want to push harder.

“I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to be helping,” I replied with feigned innocence, the same tone I used when Salvatore asked if I knew anything about something I needed to keep secret.

“You know what I mean.” He tightened his grip on his bag strap.

Riling him up was too easy. “Besides, how much help do you need with someone too dense to make the connection between me and Dragon?”

His jaw dropped at my careless mention of my other life. He scanned our surroundings, confirming no one lurked close enough to overhear. “What makes you think he didn’t?”

“If he had, you wouldn’t be on speaking terms with him, and he most likely would have made an unwise attempt at punching me.” His scowl made me feel victorious. “That tells me you either talked him out of figuring it out, or he really is too stupid to figure it out on his own, despite the very obvious connection to my last name.”

“Stop insulting him.”

I grabbed his wrist and yanked him into an empty classroom, where I pinned him against the wall. My body caged his smaller frame.

He stared up at me with conflicting want and anger that made my cock stiffen. I wanted him until neither of us remembered where Dante ended and Dragon began. Instead, I savored the battle.