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I snort out a laugh, shaking my head. “Pretend? Funny, I didn’t hear that word earlier when we were telling Emilia the plan.”
Hawk glowers at me, and while his ire might terrify some people, it has literally no effect on me. I have seen far scarier things than Hawk Davenport when someone calls him on his shit.
“Look,” I try to reason. “I know you want to stay close to her, but you don’t have the same training I do. I know it, and you know it.”
The muscle at the back of his jaw tightens, yet the fact that he doesn’t immediately snap back at me implies that he knows I have a point.
“Fine, I’ll agree with you on that, but how are the two of you going to make a fake relationship look believable to this psycho?”
“All I have to do is put my arm around her in public, smile at her, maybe even give the odd brief kiss. I can do what needs to be done.” I’ve had to do far worse than smile and pay attention to a beautiful woman to complete jobs. This should be no hardship, especially since I’ve grown rather fond of Emilia.Too fond, a voice in the back of my head pipes up, but I squash it down.
Hawk scoffs, clearly not believing me. “Didn’t you say this stalker only intervened with Richard when he was about to propose?”
I cock a brow. “Yes.”
“So, until then, he didn’t think Richard was a true threat. Since Richard was clearly all in when it came to Emilia, that means whoever it wasknewEmilia didn’t feel the same. That means it’s not onlyyouracting skills that will be tested, but hers as well. The two of you will have to look pretty damn believable if you’re going to pull it off, and youhaveto pull it off, because we won’t get a second shot at this.”
“I can do it.” Upon hearing her voice, we both spin toward the kitchen doorway. She’s changed into a pair of shorts and an oversized tee, her dark hair scraped back into a ponytail, but it’s her flushed cheeks and bright eyes that draw my attention.
Is that where Wilder disappeared to? To get his latest fix of tormenting Emilia?Can that idiot not see that now is hardly the time for him to be riling her up and denying her, although I must confess, the afterglow is doing inappropriate things to me.
Flicking my gaze to Hawk, I notice the way he’s scrutinizing her, too, his eyes zeroed in on the aftereffects Emilia hasn’t been able to hide.
When she steps into the room, my focus switches back to her, noting the determined set of her jaw. “I can do it,” she repeats. She looks nervous as she licks her lips, her eyes jumping between Hawk and me. “If this is the plan, then I’m in.”
Settling her attention on me, she pauses as though expecting me to have a sudden change of heart. Still, if I’d had any reservations before—which I didn’t—at seeing the scared look in her eyes and the way she’s holding herself like a wounded animal, then I’m all in now.
“Okay, take a seat. I’ll grab us a bottle of scotch—and wine for you—and we’ll get you up to speed.”
“I’ll, uh, take a scotch, too.” My eyebrows lift in surprise, remembering one of our first conversations here when she told me she was more of a wine girl, and she explains, “I’m guessing I’m going to need it for this plan of yours.”
* * *
A week later,I stroll across Ridgeway’s campus with my hands in my pockets, like I don’t have a care in the world. It’s incredible how much can change in a week. We’ve now got a state-of-the-art security system installed at the house—something we probably should have had before, except there had never been a need for Hawk and Wilder to have one before Emilia arrived. Sure, I’d installed small, undetectable cameras around the outside of the house and in each of the rooms, but there was no alarm system. If we’d installed one back then, it would have looked suspicious. Not that it would have mattered, now that we know her stalker has known her location the entire time she’s been here, but still.
Thanks to one of the junior English teachers getting pregnant over the summer break, the English department was in need of a substitute for the rest of the year. We were able to pull a few strings, fudge a few documents, and get Emilia into the position. It’s not the high-flying career she pictured for herself before she was abruptly uprooted from her old life, though I can tell she enjoys it—or, at the very least, she’s enjoyingnotbeing stuck inside the house all day.
Every day, I drop her off and pick her up, and she eats lunch with Hawk, Wilder, and Hadley and her guys. Since her stalker knows she’s here, there’s no point in her hiding any longer. She may as well live her life as best she can, and that includes being seen in public with other people. The more she can do to aggravate this psycho, the better. If he sees her enjoying herself, spending time with others—aka people who aren’t him—laughing and having fun, then it can only serve to piss him off further. However, Emilia is watched at all times. She is never truly alone, even when it appears as though she is. We even have plants in her classes—men and women from Nocturnal Enterprises, who are undercover as college students there to protect Emilia and look out for anything suspicious.
Reaching her classroom, I peer through the windowpane, watching as she talks away to a long blonde-haired woman—one of the ones we’ve planted. They’ve all been instructed to stay behind, pretending to ask a question or whatever, if they are in her last class of the day until I arrive. Some days I come before the class is out to throw off any suspicion, but on a couple of days, I’ve deliberately shown up a few minutes late.
I rap my knuckles gently against the door before pushing down on the handle and opening the door.
“Thank you so much, Ms. Harrison. That’s really cleared things up.”
“You’re welcome, Fiona,” Emilia says, practicing our rehearsed speech. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
With a nod in my direction, Fiona steps past me and out the door.
“Hey, babe,” I greet. “How were your classes?”
Emilia smiles, and it’s warm and genuine. I’m constantly surprised at how easily she’s adapted to her role. She makes it look so effortless, not that fake dating her is difficult, by any means. “Good. The students are so engaging. They actually want to be here and learn.”
I laugh, and as is the way around her, I never have to fake it. Our relationship may be fake, but our interactions aren’t. “Isn’t that how college works? They are paying a fortune to be here, after all.”
“You’d think so, but I know at Halston and the same at Pac, the ones from the rich families never really gave a shit. It was the scholarship students who were hungry for knowledge. Everyone else was too focused on parties or getting laid or the latest handbag that had just been announced.” She chews on her lip for a second. “I guess I’m just surprised to be on the other end of it and rather enjoying it.”
I take the stack of books from her arms, tucking them under one of mine, and when she’s no longer laden down, she pushes onto her toes to press a kiss to the corner of my lips. The two of us share an easy moment, staring at one another as though we genuinely are in love, before I wrap my arm around her shoulder. “Come on, let’s get out of here. We have a date night to get ready for.”
