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I climbed to my feet, exchanging greetings. Prof. Donnelly drifted away to talk with the receptionist, and I picked up my backpack, tucking the folder inside. As soon as we left the foyer, Katy tucked her arm through mine and began chattering away while William told me to call him Will and began pointing out the various parts of the school as we passed them. I learned that the school had a mix of day and boarding pupils, although the boarding pupils far outnumbered the day pupils, and both of them lived on-site during term time.
After ascending a set of wide stone stairs, our footsteps echoing through the stairwell, we reached the common room of the house I’d been placed in.
Before I could enter, Katy tugged me to a stop. She covered her mouth with her hand, speaking in a low voice. “You need to know something before you go in there. This school is ruled by the elite…and there are three guys who are top of their hierarchy. Or, as some people refer to them, the three gods.” She rolled her eyes. “Just because they all have influential families, and they’re supposedly the best-looking guys at Hatherley Hall, they’ve been named as gods for the past few summer balls. They wish they were gods. First up, we have our head boy, Tristan Smith-Chamberlain, and then there are his two friends, Roman Cavendish and Knox Ashcroft. They’re all in Epi—that’s our nickname for Epicurus house. Did I mention the houses?” When I shook my head, she glanced up at the sign above the doorway, and I followed her gaze to see “Epicurus” etched into the stone in large letters.
“Oh, yeah. Epicurus, though? What does that mean?”
She gave me a small smile. “We have four houses here, all named after ancient Greek philosophers.” Holding up her hand, she began to tick them off one by one, using her fingers. “Aristotle, Democritus, Socrates, and Epicurus—otherwise known as Aris, Demo, Soc, and Epi.” Before I could reply, she continued. “Tristan’s the head of our house as well as head boy. He’s okay on his own…occasionally, but when you put him with Roman and Knox, they turn into typical rich, obnoxious, spoiled boys. Knox is probably the worst of the three, but honestly, I’d avoid all of them if you can. I’m just warning you now because you seem nice, too nice to be corrupted by them. My advice is—stay under their radar.”
I sighed. “That’s going to be difficult, because I’m living in Knox’s house.”
Both Katy and Will stared at me, open-mouthed, so I elaborated. “My mum is the new nanny for Knox’s little sister. It’s a live-in position.”
They gaped at me for a little while longer before Will nudged Katy. She cleared her throat, shooting me a sympathetic look. “Wow. That sucks.”
Yeah, it did, but I’d put up with it as long as necessary for my mum’s sake. “I know, but there’s not a lot I can do about it. Knox has already made it clear what he thinks of me, so don’t worry, I intend to stay as far away from him as possible.”
Katy gave me a reassuring smile. “I’ll be right here with you. I don’t like to be on their radar either, believe me. Anyway, Knox is boarding here now, so at least you don’t have to see him outside of school.”
“Um. His parents kind of made him move home for a bit so he could take me to and from school and help me settle in.”
Eventually, after throwing some sideways glances at Will, Katy shook her head. “I hate to say it, but you’re the F-word. Um…fucked. That’s not going to go down well with Knox.”
“Believe me, I know. He’s made it clear how much he dislikes our current arrangement. But I’m not going to let him ruin things for me.” I straightened my shoulders. “Let’s do this.”
The moment I entered the Epi common room, I saw them.
The three members of the elite were sprawled over the sofas, surrounded by their loyal subjects. Girls were draped across them, and one was even fellating a banana right in Knox’s face in a desperate bid for his attention.
I studied the so-called “gods.” Knox was seated to the left, but my gaze passed over him to his two friends. Tristan appeared to be the tallest of the three, from what I could tell, with golden-blond, tousled hair and electric blue eyes fringed with golden-brown lashes. Then there was Roman, with jet-black hair and deep blue eyes. Objectively, all three of them were beautiful, and yes, almost godlike, as much as I hated to say so—each with stunning, chiselled features, tall, muscled bodies, and sun-kissed skin. It was easy to see why they were so popular, based on their exterior beauty. But if Tristan and Roman were anything like Knox, their interior didn’t match with their exterior.
When a hush stole over the room as people began to notice the new face in their midst, heads raised. Three heads, to be precise, with identical, cold expressions as they caught my perusal.
But I ignored Roman and Tristan, meeting Knox’s icy gaze. His eyes dared me to start something so he could justifiably take me down in front of everyone.
Too bad for him, I knew how to bide my time.
My lips curved into a mocking smile.
Knox Ashcroft might think he was a god, but once I was through with him, he’d be worth less than nothing.
3
KNOX
That fucking smile. This girl needed to learn her place, and fast. I’d thought I’d made it crystal clear to her this morning before school, but it appeared not.
When she did nothing but continue to smile, I relaxed incrementally, my gaze sweeping over her. When I’d seen her this morning, she’d taken me by surprise, not that I’d shown it. She’d looked…like she could fit in here. But I’d seen her before my mother had worked her magic, and I knew what she really was. The daughter of one of the staff, who was happy to take whatever handouts my mother deemed worthy, someone else to take advantage of my family’s generosity.
Now, with the downpour having stripped away some of her veneer, she looked more like I’d remembered. Except…were her eyes always that fucking big? And were her lips that pouty before?
Whatever, who gave a shit? She was beneath my attention, despite the fact that I had to drive her to and from school. And speaking of…
I tugged my phone from my pocket, dislodging Freya from my thigh. She made a sound of protest, and I smirked, leaning forwards and taking a bite from the banana she’d been suggestively eating. The ways that some of the girls at this school threw themselves at me and my friends were getting old, and truthfully, I was over it. I was bored.
I’d tried setting my sights elsewhere lately, but so far, nothing. I hadn’t even managed to get anywhere with the waitress at the country club. She’d been more interested in hitting me up for information about my dad. Another social-climbing leech. She was wasting her time—my dad was completely committed to my mother.
Back to the task at hand. I opened up my messages and started up a new one. My mother had forced me to add Elena’s new contact number to my phone, and for the first time, I was actually glad because I could avoid speaking to her in person.
