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“He owes your father.” He didn’t bother to look back at me as he strode towards the school. “Can’t repay whatever debt it is if you aren’t returned to him safe and sound.”
My nostrils flared at his words. “I’m not a commodity.”
“Sure, you are. Daddy said jump, and you said how high.” His tone was condescending, but it stopped me short. Eli was good at manipulating people. I realized that the night of the dinner. Whenever he didn’t like a topic, he steered the group to something else. He sat in his seat like a puppet master, pulling the strings until he got the reaction he desired.
Too bad for him, I wasn’t as malleable as everyone else in his life seemed to be.
“You’re one to talk,” I snapped.
He didn’t react. He never seemed to react. Eli’s frigid exterior made me want to burn him alive with my anger. I couldn’t shut my anger off and watching him go through the world so emotionless pissed me off.
“Meaning?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. Eli wasn’t the only one who’d been watching and observing. “Meaning it’s clear that you don’t want me here.”
“I don’t care if you are here or not. I just don’t want my family to be affected by whatever you bring to us.”
“What makes you think that I am bringing something to your family?” I asked. What did Marco and Ivy tell Eli and Matteo? Hell, I didn’t even know what exactly my father said to them. He’d been so distant from me since what happened at the compound that it felt like there was a gulf between us.
“We both know that families like ours don’t just take in strays.”
I rolled my eyes. “You must not have a lot of faith in your family if you believe that I could bring any sort of harm to them. After all, I’m just a teenage girl.”
Eli snorted, but he said nothing. I released a heavy sigh. “You are one to make cracks about daddy.”
“Meaning?”
I gifted Eli with my most saccharine smile. “It’s clear that you can’t stand me, and yet”—I gestured towards him—“here you are.”
“I’m walking you to school. No one else could do it.”
This made me laugh. Eli really had underestimated me. Boy, was he about to find out that I wasn’t some weak-willed daisy who would shrivel under his withering gaze. “Yeah, right,” I chuckled. “Despite what you might think, I’m not a moron. My daddy”—calling my father that felt gross—“might have sent me here, but yours put you in charge of tailing me.”
There was the slightest flicker in Eli’s eyes, and I knew that I was right.Fuck,I thought. I hadn’t expected Marco to put one of his sons on my tail. Having Eli up my ass was going to ruin my plans.
“You aren’t wrong,” Eli said, recovering quickly. “And that tells me that he doesn’t trust you.” He took a step towards me, and I swallowed heavily. He wouldn’t hurt me. Probably.
These days I couldn’t afford to be as trusting as I once was. Because no matter who was right, someone had killed my family, and that person was still walking and breathing.
“Let me make something clear.” Eli’s voice was low, and he was just inches from my face. I could smell the clean scent of his aftershave. The warm pine scent of it made my head swim. “You aren’t going to cause any trouble for my family. If you do…” He reached up and cupped the side of my neck.
The actions kicked my mind into high gear, and I pushed his hand away with all my might. “Don’t fucking touch me,” I growled.
Shaking, I pressed my fingers to my throat. The last time someone touched me they’d nearly strangled the life out of me. Since then, I couldn’t stand to be touched. Whenever I was, I recalled how those hands had squeezed the life out of me, and how those hands killed my family.
“I’m going to class.”
Whirling around, I stormed away, not entirely sure where I was going but knowing that I wanted to be far from Eli Blanchi.
He could screw all the way off. I didn’t care that his father decided that he needed to watch me. Eli was going to have to find another job to do, because I did not want him anywhere near me.
* * *
The school was harder to find than I thought it would be. In L.A. I’d attended one of the most prestigious schools on the west coast. My classmates were the children of celebrities and tech giants and our campus depicted that.
Warrenton Academy was different. Nestled in the heart of the city, the campus was a row of converted old buildings that were made to look as nondescript as possible.
I wouldn’t have known it was even there if not for the map on my phone.
