40. Thea
40
Thea
T here were very few people in the cafeteria, thank goodness. Nobody looked at me as I slunk in with my head down and a pair of dark glasses hiding my bruised eyes. I needed a decent coffee and some actual food. While Florrie’s chicken soup was indeed amazing - and I did feel a lot better, bruised ribs not withstanding - it wasn’t enough.
I wanted carbs. Greasy pizza, macaroni cheese with extra cheese, and something so full of sugar for dessert, I’d be pre-diabetic in no time.
Praise the Lord. The food gods had listened to my prayers. The menu today featured all of my favorite things.
The lady behind the counter gasped when she spotted the fading bruises on my face, but I ignored her. It was none of her business. I grabbed two slices of pizza, a bowl of pasta, and a dish of fruit crumble with custard. Once I’d scarfed this down, I’d fill up my coffee cup and shuffle back to my room for some more rest and Netflix.
With a bit of luck, nobody would see me. I wasn’t ready to face Eden, even though she’d been blowing up my phone for the last four days. The fact she cared enough to check up on me gave me the warm and fuzzies, but the nosy bitch needed to know when to leave it alone.
I didn’t need another babysitter. Landon texting me every five minutes was bad enough. Kyril had also been a frequent visitor. Not that I was complaining about his visits. The pain pills he’d sourced were top-tier. They were the reason I’d been able to sleep since Torrance punished me for my sins.
Speaking of… Both he and my father had been worryingly quiet since I failed in my mission. I hadn’t been able to get hold of Verity, either. I’d only agreed to come here if my father and Torrance left Verity alone. If they weren’t sticking to our agreement, then there was nothing to keep me in this country.
A small, very unwelcome stab of pain bit hard when I thought about leaving the guys behind, but I shoved it down. Forming attachments was bad news. Had I not learned my lesson with Dar?
Allowing my stupid heart to become attached to him had ended in heartbreak.
I wasn’t about to make the same mistake again.
Eden dropped into a chair across from me. “Where have you been, bitch?" Her eyes widened when she saw my bruises. “Jesus, what happened? Who do I need to ask my cousins to murder?”
A snort of laughter escaped, and I winced with pain when it jarred my ribs. “Nobody. I’m fine.”
She leaned closer and tried to lift my glasses, but I shoved her hand away.
“It’s OK, you can tell me. Is Landon Rothmore a raging cunt who likes to beat up women? He has to be. Nobody’s that perfect.”
“It wasn’t Landon.” Dammit, I should have stayed in my room for a few more days. It was obvious Eden did not want to let this go. Realizing my carb-loading was coming to a premature end, I shoved one last fork-full of pasta into my mouth and stood with my bowl of fruit crumble, doing my best not to groan with pain. The dessert and I were in a relationship now. No way was I leaving this baby behind.
Eden jumped up after me. “Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry!” The genuine regret in her voice made me pause.
“Look, I appreciate your concern, but it’s not something I can talk about.” I yanked up my hood and headed across the cafeteria, praying Eden didn’t cause a scene. The last thing I needed right now was any extra attention. If too many people saw me covered in bruises, the gossip train would take over and Cassian’s engagement would no longer be the hot topic around campus.
Unfortunately, Eden wasn’t a quitter. She soon caught up with me.
“Slow down!”
“Can’t, my crumble’s getting cold.” I shoulder barged my way into the stairwell up to my room, grimacing in pain.
“Pinky promise not to ask any more questions,” Eden huffed as I power-walked upstairs. “I won’t even pass comment on the fact Landon was in your room the other morning!”
“Really?” I halted on the first-floor landing.
“Yes, really. Please don’t cancel me. I don’t have many friends here and it sucks.”
“Why don’t you have many friends?” She was way more outgoing than me, and unlike me, a nice person.
“Because too many people know my uncle is head of the Irish mafia. A lot of the students here are connected to other criminal families, so they don’t want to associate with me because they’re scared of my asshole cousins. The rest are members of the aristo set. People like that are way too stuck up to hang with me. They only socialize with other toffs.”
“I suppose Cassian Forsyth and Landon fall into the latter.” I hauled my carcass up the last steps to the second floor. “What about Milo and Kyril?”
“You mean the two who share an apartment with them? Kyril’s Russian mafia, but not sure about Milo. He’s not a blue blood, but his father is some super wealthy tech genius who made billions when he sold a software application to Microsoft. I don’t think he hangs with anyone apart from Cassian, Landon, and Kyril. I’ve never seen him talking to any other students.”
“I thought you had friends on your art course?”
“No, not really. The other students studying art are mostly from blue blood families and only here because they couldn’t get into more prestigious schools. None of them take the course seriously. I’m the only one in the studio after hours. It gets kind of lonely.”
Well, shit. Now I was starting to feel sorry for her. I understood the pain of loneliness. I’d spent most of my life alone. Verity was my only friend until I met Dar, which was probably why I was stupid enough to become his friend.
“That sucks,” I said when I reached my door.
“Yeah. I have nobody to watch Vampire Diaries with. So, are you up for a binge-watching session?”
I opened my bedroom door and Eden followed me in like a little lost lamb. It was pointless asking her to go. She seemed in desperate need of a friend. And I wasn’t mean enough to throw her out, even if I was overdue another nap.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but you can stay as long as you don’t talk too much. My head hurts.”
She grinned at me. “I promise! Now open Netflix on your laptop and I’ll introduce you to Damon Salvatore. Trust me, you won’t regret it.”
Eden had left an hour ago, and I was now a card-carrying member of the Damon Salvatore fan club. It was late but I couldn’t sleep. My ribs still hurt like a bitch and the deathly silence from Torrance and my father was unsettling.
It was too late to call Verity, but I resolved to try when I woke up in the morning. Assuming I got any sleep. Right now, it wasn’t looking hopeful.
I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling while rain pattered against the window. The nights were drawing in and snow hung heavy on the horizon. Not that news of an incoming snow blitz had derailed a planned bonfire night party.
Eden had done her best to persuade me to go with her, still adamant I was her only friend. Honestly, her claims she had no other friends were probably an exaggeration, but I had reluctantly agreed.
The minutes ticked by. Midnight came and went, but sleep was elusive. Just as I was about to crawl out of bed, I heard a noise outside my bedroom door. The lock clicked and the door opened.
There wasn’t enough light to see who it was, but from their height and build, they seemed like a man. My hand swept under my pillow, and before the intruder could take another step, I spoke.
“Come any closer and you’re dead.”
“Thea, it’s me.”
I lowered the gun. “Milo, I could have shot you!”
He laughed softly. “You didn’t, so we’re all good.”
“Why are you here?” He dropped his jacket on the chair and stalked over to the bed, sitting on the edge. Close enough for me to smell the woodsy cologne he liked, but not close enough to touch.
Light from the window highlighted the planes of his face, but his eyes were in shadow behind his glasses. I noted he’d dressed all in black, like some creepy night stalker. It should have been a red flag, but because I had mental health issues, it turned me on.
Put me in an office with a psychologist and they would no doubt have a field day. Even I knew I had serious issues. A normal woman would be screaming to the rafters by now.
Not me.
I was more interested in dragging him into my bed and having my wicked way with him. Even the thought of how painful it would be didn’t put me off. Pain was no deterrent.
“You’re usually asleep when I come to watch over you.”
His words took a moment to register. “Wait…what? You’ve been here before in the middle of the night?”
“Yeah. I like to watch you sleep.”
“You know that’s not normal, right?” Even I, Queen of the Damned, knew Milo’s stalkerish behavior wasn’t normal. Potentially illegal, in fact.
He shrugged, apparently not seeing it as an issue. “You sleep better when I’m lying next to you. You don’t have as many nightmares.” He tugged his shoes off and climbed up the bed while being careful not to touch me.
Why isn’t he touching me? He’d kissed me before and liked it. Had he changed his mind about me?
Why was I more concerned about whether he liked me , liked me, than I was about him creeping into my bedroom in the middle of the night? Yet more evidence I had mental problems.
Still, I didn’t like the way his rejection made me feel. Like I was less than. I pushed the gun back under my pillow and tugged the covers up. If he wanted to stay, fine. Maybe he was right. It might help me sleep.
“You’ll get cold lying on top of the quilt,” I pointed out after turning my back on him.
“I’ll be fine,” he said, shuffling closer until his breath warmed the back of my neck. Yet he still didn’t touch me.
It was torture.
I so badly wanted him to put his arms around me and pull me tight against his chest.