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“Open your eyes,” he whispered.
Forget my imaginings. The real thing was so much better, because it was all mine.
We both came hard—screaming and grunting and flopping on the sheets.
I sunk in a boneless heap, becoming one with my damp, limp covers. Oh yeah, I was ten kinds of stupid for not doing that the first time he slipped into my bed.
“But now,” I said, draping his arms around me. “We get to make up for lost time.”
His tongue caressed up my neck, drawing out a shiver all the way to my ears. I squeaked a giggle as he nipped the shell, then kissed it sweet. Cato really liked biting. The surprise was that I did not mind being bitten.
I reached up to touch him and the emerald glinted in the light. The emerald... from the ring... that he definitely stole... and placed on my finger in the middle of the night.
I guess now I finally know why.
“Cato, what did you mean when you said you’re my fiancé?”
He nuzzled the back of my neck. Didn’t stop me hearing him clearly. “There’s only one thing to mean.”
“True, but I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding. Marrying Victor is the only way I can stay at Regalia U, and the only way to stop his parents from cutting him off. Our engagement isn’t over. We—”
Cato dropped kisses down my shoulder blades. “Again.”
“Yes, please. I’d love a round two, but first we should talk—”
“Can’t talk. It goes in your mouth.”
“Ca— Ahh!” I squealed as he pounced on me.
Talking could wait.
THE GUYS WERE IN THE kitchen when I came down. None of them were dressed for classes, and neither was I. We got an official notice that morning classes were canceled on account of losing another student in the space of a week. The email also said they were holding a memorial for Giovanni Natale on Wednesday. I was going back and forth on if I should attend.
“Morning.”
A chorus of greetings came back at me. I wandered over to the stove, busying myself with checking under pot lids and in the oven. I was partly delaying, and partly trying to get my hands on Rafael’s breakfast creation as fast as possible.
It was a shame Lucien insisted on drinking that red smoothie and Wilder didn’t touch anything made by other hands. This spinach eggs Benedict with a side of home fries couldn’t get in my stomach fast enough.
“This smells amazing, Rafael.” I carried my plate to the dining table—only blushing slightly when Cato claimed the seat next to me. Just his nearness did fuzzy things to my brain. “How do you have time to make these meals? When do you sleep?”
“I only need about six hours,” he said, passing me the salt and pepper. “Cooking gives me something to do so I don’t get up to mischief in the early hours.”
“What kind of mischief?”
He shot me a grin that clenched my sore middle. “You can find out.”
“I intend to,” I purred. “But before we ride this flirting train off-track, there’s something I need to talk to you guys about.”
The three of them paused in their chewing and drinking.
“What is it?” Wilder asked.
Straightening my spine, I cleared my throat. “I came to you guys for a reason. Your plan to make Ashton and the others pay was ten times better than mine, and it made sure I didn’t get caught. I needed your methodical reasoning to balance my scorching rage.”
Rafael set down his fork. “Why do I sense a but coming?”
“But,” I stressed, “things are different now. There was too much I didn’t know before we started this. I didn’t know Winter was holding on to a secret that she refused to reveal even while her class made her miserable. I didn’t know Ashton, Giovanni, Levi, Owen, and Wesley were chess pieces in someone else’s game. I didn’t know Saylor Burkhardt knew why all this was happening, but sat back in the name of protecting the stupid Royal caste system.”
“But now we do know,” Wilder said. “We know and we’ve got a plan.”
“We’ve got the same plan. Keep pushing Winter’s biggest tormentors until they crack. One of them gives up who rewarded them for torturing Winter, and then what? There’re still three guys on my list of who won’t make it to graduation, and that hasn’t changed.” I clenched around my fork. “Winter was just another Dreg to them. They didn’t care about trading money, status, or whatever it was to beat, assault, or nearly kill her. They gave her rapist an alibi and got her thrown out of school like she wasn’t even a person to them.
“They will die, but you know what? Even if they and the Phantom do, what will it change if the T.O.D. Club is still going? What will it matter if that network of secrets, deals, trades, lies, and marriages lets the Royals stay on top, free to continue pressing the boot on someone’s throat to give themselves a leg up?”
