Chapter 12
Present
MY EYES FOUND THE PICTURE from two years ago as I opened my pink Coach wallet to pay for my matcha. My arms around her; Maria smiling so wide, so… Full of life .
“Thank you,” I smiled at the barista, placing a ten-dollar bill in the tip jar, ignoring the burn in my eyes.
Stepping out of the café and onto Central Park North at 110th Street, I breathed in the fresh spring air. Flowers were starting to bloom again, and the sun pierced through the clouds more often.
I’d skipped a week of college.
Not great, but necessary.
I’d been a mess since my visit to the NYPD, and all I managed to do for the last week was cry, pray, eat and watch TV.
Dad and Ines didn’t judge me; they understood I was grieving even if I wasn’t ready to admit it was what I’d been doing. They even offered to hold a memorial service for Maria, but I… reacted badly, to say the least.
It was true. I was sad. But I wasn’t giving up.
I still spent my weekends putting up her missing flyers, knocking on doors and asking people to keep a lookout for her. I visited our favorite spots frequently, feeling like I was about to run into her at any moment.
Since the last NYPD update, I still managed to drag myself out of bed every day and search for Maria in South Beach, along with the whole of Staten Island.
But… Nothing.
The roar of an engine made me glance at the road.
A black sports car had slowed down, moving at the same pace I was walking. The passenger tinted window rolled down, and there he was, leaning over from the driver’s side, and looking straight at me.
Ferocity amid elegance.
“Get in.”
“Are you insane?” I hissed, my pink heels clicking faster as I made no effort to slow down.
“Get in,” Trevor insisted. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“No.” I was only a couple of minutes from campus. I didn’t need this.
“If you don’t get in, I’ll find that wimp you were with the other week and beat the shit out of him.”
I halted; so did the car. The guy from Communications? Seriously?
I slowly turned to him. “You wouldn’t.”
“Wanna find out?”
Just then, the sun came from behind me, when I switched my weight from one pink stiletto to another, a ray shining right on the Glock in his waistband and making it sparkle.
That didn’t scare me.
What did, was knowing he wouldn’t even need it to hurt someone.
He reached over and pushed open the door for me. I glanced in both directions of the 110th sidewalk; across the street. Cars drove by on the street; people with their dogs walked past, heading into Central Park.
Defeated, I got in.
The moment Trevor pulled off the curb and the window rolled up, I regretted my decision the way I knew I would. The car was soundproofed from the outside world, making me uncomfortably aware of my breathing. I was sure he could even hear my fast heartbeat.
To occupy myself, I pulled my seatbelt on, my eyes landing on the logo of the wheel under Trevor’s hand; Ferrari.
The atmosphere was tense before we hit slight traffic.
“You’re back.”
“What?” I’d been distracted taking in the clean interior of the car.
Trevor turned to look at me, his head leaning against the seat’s headrest. His eyes cause a type of intensity to hum between us, matching that of the car’s powerful engine. “You missed the whole of last week. What happened to Miss Perfect Student?”
Despite his relaxed appearance, his question felt like a trap.
“Right. Uh…” I cleared my throat. “I was sick.” Close.
“That’s what Kali said.”
“Because that’s what happened.”
“You don’t look sick to me.” He drawled, eyes roaming over me.
“Because I’m not anymore,” I clipped back, before looking away and facing the front as we entered Columbia’s parking lot. Knew I should’ve walked.
“See, I don’t think you were sick at all.” His words made me bite down on my back teeth. “I think… There was another reason for why you missed an entire week.”
I could hear my heartbeat echo in the compact space between us. Discussing my personal life and Maria with this asshole was so not on my list.
“There was a cybersecurity breach with the Dynasty’s underground operations.” Relief flooded into my chest, only to disappear a second later. “Any chance it was the Moretti crime family, and you helped them hack into my systems?”
“What? No!” I snapped, just as he pulled into a parking space.
He turned the car off and faced me. “So you’re gonna look me in the eye and tell me it wasn’t the Morettis?”
Frustration bubbled out of me. “If it was, I didn’t help them.”
I thought that would stop the argument, since I wasn’t involved – yet .
Suppressed anger took over Trevor’s features, and he cocked his head. “Were you with Gìovanni?”
The record scratched.
“ What? ”
“You heard me.”
I stared at him, taking in his audacity. I could spend time with whoever I wanted. “It’s none of your business who I’m with.”
His jaw clicked. “That a yes?”
I got out. “ Maybe .” Then slammed the door in his face.
Skipping my first college class back after missing a whole week, was not my first idea. Hell, it wasn’t even on the list. But after the run-in with Trevor this morning, I just couldn’t take two hours of him lounging in the seat next to me.
Of course – I couldn’t know for sure that he would sit next to me. I just didn’t want to risk it.
So, what did I do instead of going to Communications like the perfect student I so loved pretending to be? I hid away in Columbia’s grand Butler Library.
After two hours of sitting down between stacked shelves and getting lost in a good book, I finally stepped out of the dark, dusty corner and tried to find a seat along the grand long study desks.
It was barely noon, the library quiet with scattered students, each doing their own thing.
I quickly found a good spot, where a ray of sunshine shone through the windows above, warming me up in the early spring. Opening my laptop, I put in my headphones and got to work on my assignment for Davis’ class.
Although I had her next, the worksheets weren’t due until next week.
I wasn’t in a hurry to get the work done.
So, when my mind wandered to him …
‘I don’t like you.’
Trevor turned to face me, leaning in so close I had to lean back, as he caged me in. And for a moment, his eyes dropped to my pink-heart pendant, then lower, sending a flush across my face and chest at the reminder of the other night.
‘I'll take that as a challenge,’ He murmured, deep and low, so only I could hear.
I slightly shook my head. Letting go of my pin-heart diamond, which I hadn’t even noticed I’d picked up, I got back to work.
I'll take that as a challenge.
I tried to focus on coding, but kept getting distracted by the memory of Trevor’s proximity.
Why was he always so close to me? Or was that a normal distance between people, and I’d just never bother to pay attention until him? Was that just his personality? Or was he being close on purpose?
God, he was making my head hurt.
My heart rate was beating at a constant quick pace since I’d thought of Trevor. Glancing at the time on my screen, I cringed, realizing I’d been daydreaming for almost twenty minutes.
The bigger realization tasted sour on my tongue.
I had a crush .
A stupid, illogical crush. On my best friend’s older brother.
I couldn’t believe I’d been so careless.
People in New York and the Ivy Leagues referred to him as Playboy . He was already a multi-billionaire at twenty-two, had more girls wanting him than any other ‘bachelor’ and you couldn’t look at a tabloid without seeing his face or name.
Falling for someone like that resulted in nothing but heartbreak. Everyone knew that.
I took a few minutes to sulk in my own self-pity and cringe before deciding my next steps.
Maybe I couldn’t change the past, but what I could do was prepare for the future and save myself the embarrassment. I would ignore whatever this was I was feeling – crush or not.
I startled at the scrape of a chair nearby – the irritable sound seemed illegal in the quiet library. So did the deep voice that followed, filling the air around me.
“Skipping class again, Miss Perfect ?”
My heart jumped in my throat. I masked it by fueling my frustration – with him or myself, I don’t know – and rolling my eyes. “Surprised you know what a library is.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Trevor sit in the chair he pulled up next to mine.
“I was looking forward to another two hours of you pretending I don’t exist.”
“I doubt you were heartbroken.” Make fun of his emotions. Good man repellent.
“You’d be surprised,” He drawled, leaning in closer. “It was lonely, sitting in your seat. All that empty space…”
I slowly turned my head and looked at him for the first time since he found me. Was he… Flirting with me?
Trevor had one of his hands over his mouth, hiding his smirk and using it for support as he leaned into me, in a way that was both casual and invasive.
God, he was so… So…
I gritted my teeth and turned back to my laptop, beginning to type furiously.
“What are you working on? It looks intense.”
“Davis’ coding assignment,” I replied sharply. “Some of us use the library for actual work, instead of terrorizing people who want nothing to do with them.”
“ Ouch. ”
I stole a quick look at him to find him smirking.
Why was he acting like this? This was weird. He wasn’t charming or playful…
“I could help, you know? I am top of the class, after all.”
“I don’t need your help–”
“You got a typo in your function. Right there…” My eyes followed his finger as he pointed at the mistake on my screen.
I quickly corrected it. “Thanks. You can fuck off now.”
My fingers froze again on the keyboard as Trevor leaned in. He hadn’t even said anything yet and I just knew… Whatever that was before, was a facade. This was the real him.
“You’re really bad at hiding, you know?” His tone was mocking, sharp enough to draw blood. “I found you in what? Five minutes?” I was just about to argue when he pointed at a desk on the other side of the grand library, with a perfect view of where I’d been previously. “Sat right there and watched you hide between the shelves. Must’ve been a good book.”
My lips parted as I stared at him, dumbfounded. “You were here the whole time?”
“We weren’t done in the car.”
“So, you stalked me for almost three hours?”
He leaned in, making me back away. “Don’t make me hunt you down again, yeah?”
I gritted my teeth. “Maybe you should take the hint and leave me alone.”
“This seat’s not bad, though.” He drawled, making a show of getting more comfortable. “Think I’ll stay.”
“ Whatever .”
I turned back to my work, typing harder than I needed to.
Less than a second passed before my chair scraped loudly along the marble floor in the otherwise silent library, until I was right next to Trevor.
I slowly looked up to see him leaning down to my eye level, his hand fisted around the leg of my chair. He let go, straightening back to his height.
“You can’t just–”
“Sit wherever I want? Sure, I can. Public space and whatnot.” The frown on his face was… Dangerous.
My stomach turned. Not from fear, but from being right.
This was the real him. The criminal. The hacker. The arms dealer. The gangster.
I almost scoffed. Charming my ass.
Still, I couldn’t ignore the way my thighs clenched at his large, intimidating presence, or the steady pulse which had slowly moved from my chest to between my legs.
I struggled to regulate my breathing. “Why are you such a–”
“Tried to be nice, didn’t I? You didn’t like that.” Trevor shook his head as he spoke, frowning like that again and it sent warmth pooling in my tummy.
I hadn’t liked it.
There must’ve been something seriously wrong with me in order to be attracted to the real him.
I was still glaring at him, hands fisted under the desk, when he rested his elbows back on the table and propped his chin on one hand. Watching me. Like a puzzle.
“Missed you in class today. Was it because of me?”
“Not everything revolves around you.”
“So it was because of me,” He drawled, leaning in closer just to annoy me. “Should’ve known I had that much power over you.”
I actually laughed. “You wish.”
“I’m just curious – wow , your notes are… obsessive – is this your way of coping with me? Coding until you forget I exist?”
I felt the anger curling its way through my veins. I was just about to open my mouth and give him a piece of my mind – when it hit me .
And I remembered how I solved the code he couldn’t, all those weeks ago.
“You hate losing.”
Trevor’s jaw clicked before he turned to look at me. And I knew I had him.
“That’s why this bugs you so much. You can’t figure me out, and it’s driving you crazy.”
“That right?”
This time, it was me who leaned in closer. “ Mhm . Whole time, I got you figured out since day one. You’re not that complicated. You’re just another arrogant jerk who thinks he’s better than everyone else.”
He smirked. “I am better. And you hate that I know it.”
“Maybe. But I’m not the one obsessing over it.” With one swift move, I placed my laptop in my pink Birkin and stood, giving him my sweetest smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to class and solve more codes you can’t.”
Trevor ran his tongue over his teeth before rubbing a hand over his sinful smirk.
Walking away, I threw a parting phrase over my shoulder.
“See you around, playboy. ”
This time, it was Trevor who skipped Davis’ class.