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I gave him a rub between the ears, grabbed my phone, and headed for the elevator. She hadn’t responded to my last message…I smiled and slipped it into my pocket.
Classes…what a crock of shit. More like a diversion from the real game.The initiation.It was a dangerous game, filled with lies and deceit, but what other game did you give a bunch of rich andboredmotherfuckers to do?
The elevator doors opened and I lifted my gaze to Max and Pavlov. A nod was all that was needed before they fell in step and I strode toward the door.
I wasn’t fucking naive. They’d play their petty game any fucking way they could and try for their pound of Salvatore flesh. First, they’d try to dig up dirt on my name however they could, and when they found nothing, they’d come after me.
My thoughts shifted to Rossi. That vile piece of shit would be fucking ruthless. He’d already seen Anna at the party and that bastard was like a bloodhound hooked on her scent. I needed to make sure he stayed away, like the other side of the island away.
Fuck, Anna…why the hell did you have to come here?I rubbed the back of my neck. The answer to that would explain a lot to me.
My phone gave abeep.I snatched it from my pocket and glanced at the message:
Class 105: The Code and its creation - Part 1, Room 214. This class is compulsory.
“More fucking bullshit.” I shoved the phone back into my pocket. “How many fucking parts of the goddamn code do we need?”
I wanted to turn up on Rossi’s doorstep and unnerve the fucker, see what rattled his goddamn cage, not get caught up listening to a hundred-year-old recount of the first blood laws of the Mafia. The roar of the ocean pushed in, forcing me to turn my head toward the shimmering blue before I sighed and turned back. “Plans have changed, looks like I’m heading to class.”
“You want me to follow him?” Pavlov stopped and waited.
He would, too, the former Special Forces ex-sniper was menacing, brutal, and the stealthiest motherfucker I knew. I shook my head. “No. We have time. Let him come to us.”
Max was quiet as he fell in step, adjusting his jacket, his one goddamn tell.
“Speak, Max,” I muttered, and headed to building two's lecture hall.
“I don’t like this,” he answered. “I don’t like you being here, and I sure ashelldon’t like her being here.”
He knew how to cut it down the middle. “Neither do I.” I strode out, pulling away from my shadows. “Neither do I.”
The phone was a perfect example. I had bugged her new one. Her old one was still in my apartment, and every file had been checked, what ones we could access, anyway. She was smart, setting up an almost-impossible-to-hack file, the password changing every ten days when she changed it. I'd thought she was neurotic at first. Little anxious Anna. But it seemed like she’d gotten a few things past me, and that didn’t sit well at all.
The last call on her open phone log glared at me. She'd called her father as she ran from me. Like I was some goddamn stalker to her. LikeIwas the one she wanted to avoid.
What do you mean, someone like me?Her words rang in my head as I lengthened my stride. But it was my own response that really hit home.You know damn well. A goddamn virgin.
I shouldn’t have said what I did…It was that fucking simple.
I'd betrayed her and exposed my hand in front of every fucking family there.
I rubbed my damn neck as Building Two rose in front of me. I’d fucking spill my own blood just to take the words back.
“Salvatore!”the thick Irish accent cut through the air.
“Not now, Bruno,” I responded.
But the asshole didn’t listen. He never did, just took a drag of his cigarette before flicking it against the wall, and broke into a jog alongside me.
“The game,” he started. “Do you have a target?”
The game…the goddamngame. It was just fucking fun for them. “No.”
“‘Cause I was thinking…if you were willing, we could team up and join forces.”
I cut him a chilling glare and punched my fist against the damn door before striding through. “I don’t think so.”
“You haven’t heard the target.” He followed me in, threw his hands wide, and lowered his voice to a whisper. “My good old pal…Kilpatrick.”
