Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
His expression twists up, like he’s surprised by what I’m saying. “What path?”
“Stealing from friends. If you need money, there are other ways to get—”
His jaw drops, and he glares at me. Now I’m totally thrown. When I accused him of going through Gage’s bag, he seemed to know exactly what I was referring to.
“Why do people keep thinking I need money?” he asks, stepping toward me. “Because I’m just some poor kid to you?” He comes at me quickly, and though he’s a few inches shorter than me, between the athleticism I’ve seen on the field and the intensity he’s approaching me with, I imagine he’d put up a decent fight.
“What?” I ask as he gets in my face.
“You rich kids think that’s what’s on everyone else’s minds. The rest of us are so fucking desperate, we’ll do anything to get a piece of what you’ve got. For your fucking information, I happen to have some money my uncle left me after he passed. And I also run deliveries, as you know, so I don’t have to steal money from anyone. Understood?”
Not even a little. But given his expression, I must be totally wrong about what I saw earlier.
“I didn’t mean to suggest that, Alexei. You’ve just been acting off—”
“Off? You don’t even know me.”
“I didn’t put that right. You’ve seemed high-strung lately. And you were spacing out at the game today. And then I see you with Gage’s wallet. What am I supposed to think?”
His gaze wavers, and the tension in his expression eases up. He closes his eyes and takes a breath. “I thought I might have gotten away with it. Fuck.” He steps back, and I realize how tense I am as my body relaxes, my fists unclenching.
He turns away, starting toward his desk. He’s quiet when he reaches it, then spins back toward me, sticking his thumb between his teeth. We stand there in uncomfortable silence, but I don’t push again. Figure he’ll talk when he’s ready, and after what feels like five minutes but is maybe thirty seconds, he blurts, “I didn’t take money from Gage.”
“What did you take, then?”
He reaches into his back pocket and displays a key card with the Alpha Alpha Mu logo. Now I understand why he jumped down my throat when I accused him of taking cash, but at the same time, I’m that much more confused—why would he steal that key card?
“I’m lost.”
“I can imagine, and I don’t know how the fuck to explain it.”
“How about the truth?”
“The truth? You want the truth?” He sounds like he’s about to lay it on me, but then he presses his lips together. He searches around the room. “Trust me, you don’t want the truth. If I could go back, I’m not sure I’d want it either.”
What the hell is he on about?
“Alexei, why are you being so cryptic?”
His gaze meets mine again, his tongue pushing against the inside of his mouth.
What the fuck are you not telling me, Alexei?
3
ALEXEI
This is a fucking mess.
I’d been cautious about grabbing the key card, but it was impossible to manage the lock and rummage through his bag while also being fully aware of my surroundings. Now here I am, face-to-face with Matteo, struggling to come up with a way out of this predicament. Maybe it would have been smarter to cop to stealing cash—that wouldn’t bother the Saints as much as what I’m really trying to do.
I must be silent for too long because Matteo says, “Alexei, talk to me.”
He sounds so compassionate. Like the kind of guy I could tell about my brother and my arrangement with the Saints, but still… “Even if I told you the truth, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly what I said.”
Hell, I didn’t believe it until Preston demonstrated his power. But now if I tell Matteo without any evidence, knowing Preston and the Saints will just call me a liar—if not out of my mind—he’s not gonna think any differently than he did when he came here. Maybe he’ll think I took the key card to get to Gage’s belongings to sell them online. Whatever BS he thinks some poor scholarship kid like me needs to do.
I try to collect my thoughts, think of something I can say to get him off my case, but I’m blanking.
Matteo stares me down, waiting, and when I don’t come up with anything, he shrugs. “Fine. I guess I’m gonna have to tell Gage.”
He starts for the door, and I jump into action.
“No!” I step in front of the door. “You can’t do that.”
He squints, pulling his phone from his jacket pocket. “You realize I don’t actually need to leave this room to tell him, right?”
He keys away on his phone. He’s not giving me time to come up with a plausible lie, so I blurt, “Gage has a spare key card to Spencer’s room, so I knew I could take it and they likely wouldn’t realize it before I had a chance to sneak in.”