Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“Good luck.” I turned back to the remains of my breakfast.
“That’s something, at least,” Zara said. “They don’t care about the vote and they’re not here to start that Crow/Bedlam Boy rivalry all over again. No more attacks. No more Riot Royales. We can just chill this semester.”
“No, we can’t,” I replied, tone mild. “Everything that came out of his mouth is pure bullshit. Tuition for Columbia University is eye-wateringly expensive, and he just said he’s not one of the rich boys. I bet Daddy Ellis’s money would go a long way toward that student loan debt.” I chanced a peek over my shoulder. Adriel was still watching. “This guy is much smarter than Jeremy Ellis. What he does next, we won’t see coming.”
Amy shuddered. “Yikes, that’s ominous. You’ve gotten super intense lately, Rainey. Is everything cool with you? Are you fighting with your boyfriends?”
Bringing up the Bedlam Boys got my mind off Adriel and the Crows quick. Things had been weird between us in the weeks since we counted down the start of the new semester. Roan made a full recovery, but walked out of the hospital with some scars he was immensely proud of.
Jeremy and his Crows were radio silent the entire time. With Zoey officially declared missing, maybe Jeremy thought she was lying low before she struck the Bedlam Boys their final blow. Or maybe he thought she was missing because the Bedlam Boys got rid of her.
Either way, he and his brother holed up in their Hunter’s Crest mansion dealing with their legal problems, and the ankle monitors made sure of it.
The six of us moved back into our house on campus, and things had been chilly to say the least. Cairo only spoke to me to pick me clean about any and everything I remembered about Cavendish, Zoey, and the others. Otherwise, I didn’t exist and I certainly wasn’t allowed in his bed.
Jacques ended his morning sessions with me. No matter how much I provoked him, and I was getting outrageous with my attempts, he brushed me off without uttering a number. It wasn’t surprising that a genius knew when he was being baited, but he was in for a surprise if he thought I didn’t know why he held back.
I felt in my heart that Jacques didn’t blame me for losing Rainey, but he lost her all the same. He opened himself up to her on accident, then she was gone. After that, how could he open himself up to me on purpose?
No, my time with Jacques was limited to short conversations in the morning while we made breakfast side by side. The rest of the time, he closed himself in his room doing homework or helping Roan narrow down the list of Cavendish’s recruits.
That left only Roan’s and Arsenio’s beds open to me. Both of my guys were recovering and very interested in the healing power of my pussy—as Roan put it. It was like nothing changed between the three of us— No, it was like things were even better between me and Arsenio, and me and Roan.
Arsenio said a lot of things to me that still didn’t make sense. That he’d been trying to find me for weeks, and he rewarded my loyalty with more orgasms than I could stand. Whereas Roan said it all in the hospital. I was still the same person to him, but now even more delectable because I’d finally bared my pain to him. Knowing all the ways I was fucked up was an aphrodisiac going by the way that man was always on my ass.
Not that I was complaining. If I was in Roan’s bed, Legend wasn’t. There’d been no threesomes. No lessons from Roan on how to please him. No waking up sandwiched between my favorite couple.
My love and sex life had taken a serious hit, and having Arsenio and Roan by my side was the thing keeping me sane.
“No, we’re not fighting,” I said, plastering on a smile. I did that so much easier when I thought I was Rainey. No wonder my friends thought I was too intense lately. None of my smiles reached my eyes. “Everything’s good between us, which is why I can’t stand the idea that those guys are going to restart the war. His frat brothers attacked Paris, blew up Arsenio’s car, poisoned Jacques’s mother, and beat Roan half to death.
“I just want the people I love to be safe. After everything I’ve lost...” I dropped my gaze. “I just want you guys safe.”
“Oh, Rainey.” Amy threw her arms around me. “Of course you do. Ugh, I’ve been such an insensitive idiot. Who wouldn’t be stressed after all you’ve been through? I’d hate anyone with a damn crow tattoo too.”
Paris hugged me from the other side. “I am safe, Rainey. I swear. Whatever those guys are planning, they will not catch me off guard again. We know how they operate and what they’re after. They won’t get Bedlam, and if they try, my brother and your boyfriends know how to get the garbage to blow back out of town.”