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My glare pins her to the spot. “Who are ‘The Four Cardinals’?”
She frowns as if having expected something else from me. “You mean you don’t know?”
“Cut the crap.” I lean in closer, and she shrinks back. “Who are they?”
Her words tumble out in a rush, her bravado from before completely evaporated. “It’s the guys you’re living with. How do you not know this? They run everything. People say they can make or break anyone here.”
“So if you know I’m living with them, why are you hounding me like a pack of wolves?” I snarl, quite enjoying this shift in power for a change. I will never stoop to her level, but I want answers; I wanther to know she can never come at me again with her bullshit.
She straightens up and fixes me with a glare. “We didn’t know you werelivingwith them, but duly noted. Thanks for the info.” Her smirk doesn’t reach her eyes as she flees, leaving me alone and shaking with the anxiety of the confrontation, but also this news.
My head hasn’t just been in a book all this time, it’s been up my ass. Am I the only one who doesn’t know this?
In a way, it makes sense. All the times the guys have come to my aid, people have backed off. But they keep coming, so clearly, they don’t think I’m involved with any of them, only a poor housemate getting into trouble with bullies and not worth their time.
Until now.
The way the girl saidlivingwith them has alarm bells ringing.
Picking up my books, I stride out of the bathroom and through campus, my mind a whirlwind of whispered rumours and uneasy glances, that have shifted exponentially. Now, it’s fear, not scorn.
The Four Cardinals.
Apparently, they wield power here that I can’t even begin to fathom.
I push open the door to the lecture hall, the murmur of students already deep in discussion. But as I slip into a seat, everything erupts into chaos.
“Cheating? That’s bullshit!” Nick Henderson’svoice booms across the room, heavy with anger and disbelief. Two campus security guards are flanking him, primed and ready for him to lose his shit. Which is close. Papers fly around him like a snowstorm as he flings the essay into the air. “I have never cheated. You’ve got this all wrong.”
Professor Noblett gives him a disgusted glare and waves his hand at the security guards, who escort Nick out of the lecture hall. My mouth agape, I glance around as all eyes land on me.
My eyes land on Ben, who gives me a slow, sexy as fuck smile and then goes back to reading the textbook in front of him.
Nick Henderson had my phone and taunted me with it a few days ago. And now this?
Done. Just like that. Fear coils in my stomach. Is this the work of the Four Cardinals? Are they really pulling strings behind the scenes?
As the lecture settles into work mode, my hands are shaking. Two students behind me are talking in hushed voices, and one of the girls is crying.
I look over, my pulse hammering, when I see it is a girl who was taunting me when Nick had my phone.
“Shit, man. They’re reviewing your scholarship?”
“Out of nowhere! They said there might be discrepancies with my financial information.”
“Discrepancies, my ass. You’re one of the top students!”
“Guess that doesn’t matter now.”
Slowly facing forward again, my mouth has gone dry.
What is this?
My mind is a battlefield suspicion warring with the trust I’ve placed in these guys. Living with the Four Cardinals isn’t just a matter of cohabitation; it’s a twisted game of chess where I’m unsure if I’m the queen or a pawn.
Leaving English Lit, for once not having a clue what happened, my heart hammers as I navigate the crowded pathways, feeling eyes on me, judging, assessing. It’s like walking through a minefield; one wrong step, and everything could blow up in my face. So I keep my head down, trying to be invisible.
Rushing, I don’t even see the girls in front of me before it’s too late. I slam into one of them, apologies on my lips, which dies off when I see who it is.
