Chapter 7 Nova
NOVA
My hand reached for the textbook at the same time as another, my fingers brushing against theirs, sending a jolt of awareness down my spine. I sucked in a breath and turned to face deep brown eyes, glittering with malice. Jay’s lip curled as he stared down at me.
“Hands off my textbook, princess.”
“No. It’s not yours. This is the university library, and I have just as much right to it as you do.”
He knew I was technically correct, but he curled his fingers more tightly around the spine, his hand now covering mine. I could feel the heat of his touch all the way down my arm.
“Nova,” he warned, his voice low. A muscle ticked in his jaw as he held my stare, neither of us willing to look away first. I was finding it hard to breathe, but I couldn’t allow him to know how he affected me.
I reminded myself of the way he hated me.
Never showed me any inkling of anything other than disdain.
Except for that night in the woods, almost two years ago.
Did he even remember that? Or had it been a moment of temporary insanity?
My own jaw involuntarily clenched at the reminder I didn’t want to have, and it was the motivation I needed.
Straightening my shoulders, I stood tall and defiant, letting him know that I wasn’t going to back down.
“Jayesh,” I said, falsely sweet. “You should know by now that you can’t always get what you want.”
Releasing his grip, he took a step back. I thought I heard him mutter, “I fucking know that,” under his breath, but I couldn’t be sure. Slumping back against the stacks, I clutched the textbook to my chest, waiting for my pounding heart to slow.
When I finally emerged from the stacks, I found Liana seated at a large, circular table in the centre of the library, along with Keisha and Ruby from our business course. I’d been so focused on them that I hadn’t even noticed who else was seated at the table.
My brother, Daniel, and Jay.
Brilliant.
“Nova,” Ryker greeted me with a nod. Daniel didn’t even look up from his laptop, and Jay was pointedly ignoring me. I could tell because he’d stiffened the second my brother had spoken my name.
“Sorry,” Liana murmured, leaning into me.
“There weren’t any other free tables, and King asked us to sit here because, apparently, they were getting some unwanted attention.
” She rolled her eyes. We both knew what she was referring to.
The girls who threw themselves at the three of them, who stared daggers at me when they thought I wasn’t looking, never daring to do it openly because of my family name.
“It’s okay,” I assured her, and it was. I’d had plenty of practice in being around Jay Attwood and acting like he didn’t exist.
“Banks, you gonna help me with this or what? I don’t get this.”
My gaze flew to Daniel, who had abandoned his laptop to stare at Jay with his brows raised expectantly. Jay sighed, running his hand through his hair. He blinked slowly, his thick, dark lashes sweeping down, and I cursed myself for noticing. “If you stop calling me Banks, I’ll help.”
“I’ll stop for as long as we’re in the library. Deal?”
“No, but I guess I’ll help you anyway.” Jay pulled Daniel’s laptop closer. “What part are you stuck on?”
“This Phillips curve shit. What am I meant to be looking at on this graph?”
Doing my best to tune them out as Jay patiently went through the graph with his friend, I flipped open my textbook. My throat was tight. Why was he nice to other people and not to me? What had I ever done to him?
Ruby tilted her head to look between me and Liana, her inky hair falling over one eye. “Are you both coming to the game tonight? First game of the season.”
Liana leaned back in her chair, drumming her fingernails on the laminated tabletop.
“Only because I don’t have any choice. I hate hockey, and I hate hockey players—especially assholes like Kane Worthington.
At least they keep their distance, thanks to my dad being the coach.
” She glanced over at the three hockey players seated at our table. “Mostly.”
Keisha laughed. “Yeah. Your dad would have their heads if they dared to disrespect his one and only daughter. You can sit with us. Bring a book or something, and we’ll shield you from your dad’s view.
” Her gaze slid to mine. “I’m assuming you’re going, what with your brother and your fiancé being on the team. ”
Liana’s voice lowered. “We need to look out for her. She’s going to be wearing Anton’s jersey.” Keisha and Ruby exchanged glances, and I quickly shook my head.
“No one will say anything to me, and I’m used to people talking behind my back, so I don’t care about any of that. I wouldn’t wear it out of choice, though.”
“I would. Babes, he’s fucking hot,” Ruby said, loudly enough to gain the attention of the other occupants of the table.
Daniel smirked at her. “Talking about me again, Rubes? Want another go on my dick?”
“Fuck off, Arson. Once was enough.”
“Yeah. Coincidentally, that was the night she discovered she prefers women,” Keisha interjected, smacking an exaggerated kiss on Ruby’s cheek. “Oops. Guess your dick game needs some work.”
“Li, are you hearing this? Your friends are cruel. Vicious.” Daniel pouted at Liana, and she rolled her eyes.
“Perhaps if you stopped bringing up your penis in conversation, people might speak to you more politely.”
“You make a good point, my queen.” He flashed her a grin before turning back to Ruby. “If it wasn’t me you were talking about, then who? It better not be fucking Bellingham.”
“Don’t worry. We wouldn’t betray you by complimenting your rivals.” Ruby paused, then added, “Not while you can hear us, anyway. We were talking about Anton.”
He cocked his head, thinking. “Yeah. Fair point. Volksy’s a good-looking fucker. If we’re rating him out of ten, with me being a ten, then…”
“Going to the coffee machine.” Tuning Daniel out, I pushed my chair back and rose to my feet. I couldn’t sit there listening to them discuss Anton Volkov so casually. It made it hard to breathe, like I was suffocating under the weight of my responsibilities.
Out in the silent hallway, I tapped my card on the contactless reader and selected a coffee from the limited list of options, the ancient machine whirring and creaking as it came to life.
The money funnelled through Cranham University definitely didn’t go to the student facilities, that was for sure.
I supposed it was all part of the punishing prison aesthetic.
“Didn’t want to join in the praise for your fiancé?”
Letting my head fall back against the wall, I closed my eyes. “Go away.”
“No, I don’t think I will.” Jay moved close enough that I could feel the heat of his body at my front. “What’s the matter? Couldn’t convincingly lie about how attractive you find him?”
Fuck this man. My eyes flew open, and I shot him a venomous glare. “It’s a fact that he’s hot, and he respects me, which is more than I can say for you.”
Jay stepped even closer, his hard gaze locked on mine, pinning me in place. “You think I don’t respect you?” His voice was a low rasp. “You think he’s hot?”
“I don’t think you don’t respect me. I know you don’t respect me. If you did, you wouldn’t—” I cut myself off. “Yes, he’s hot. Very hot. And I’m going to marry him.”
With that, I shouldered past him, leaving him standing in the empty hallway. The coffee wasn’t important. I needed to get out of here.
After dropping my books in my tiny room in South Wing, I made my way down to the yard, taking a seat on one of the benches that had been set up alongside the chain-link fence. Tilting my head back to the grey skies, I exhaled a deep, shuddering breath.
“I’m here to save the day.”
Despite my low mood, a smile tugged at my lips at the sight of Vesper standing in front of me. I patted the free space on the bench. “Thanks for coming. How are you? It feels like we’ve barely seen each other since the beginning of the summer. You were gone for ages.”
“The Italian Riviera hits differently when you’re involved in the mafia.
You don’t wanna know. Even Enzo was sick of it after a few days.
” She sighed, sprawling out across the bench.
“Something I discovered was how progressive our outfit is compared to some of the others. The whole…I don’t know, women being expected to stay home and pop out kids while the men run around doing all the shady shit, sticking their dicks into who knows how many other women.
Like one of my distant cousins. Federico is such a fucking sleaze.
It’s an open secret that he leaves his wife back in Italy while he shacks up with his London mistress.
I’m ashamed to be related to him, but at least he’s not part of our outfit here in the UK.
I’m pretty sure my brother would’ve stabbed him by now, if he was. ”
“Um. Yeah. I’ll be one of those women soon, in case you haven’t forgotten,” I reminded her. “As much as I wish it wasn’t my future.”
“There’s no way Anton would cheat on you,” she said, and I shook my head.
“Really? Can it even be classed as cheating if we’re only in a forced arrangement? It’s not a relationship. I’m not interested in him—he’s cold and unapproachable, and I have no clue what he’s thinking. He barely speaks to me unless he has to. He’s—”
“Hot.”
My eyes widened, and she clapped her hand over her mouth, her cheeks flushing. “Forget I said that. And especially don’t let my brother know.”
“I would never. We don’t need another excuse for fights when the Kings play the Flames. It’s the only time I’ve actually seen Anton show any emotion, now I think of it. When he’s on the ice, he’s a machine, but he’s also human.”
“Yeah.” Her cheeks were still flushed, and I smirked at her.
“It’s okay if you find him hot, you know. In fact, some of my friends were discussing that fact just before I texted you to come and rescue me. I…I don’t… I mean, he’s not my type—but I can see why people think he’s good-looking. But…”
“But he’s a cold, unfeeling bastard,” Vesper finished, nodding.
“Just like your brother, and my brother too, I guess. No, actually, Enzo isn’t that bad.
But the rest of my family…well, they don’t have role models to show them that it’s not a weakness to display their emotions. Who does, in our world?”
That was true. My dad rarely let his mask slip, even when it was just our family.
I knew he had bonding time with my brother, but his version of bonding was to involve my brother in his shady dealings.
My mother didn’t really seem to care, either.
She wasn’t exactly the nurturing type, and that was putting it politely.
“Daniel’s different, though, isn’t he? More laid-back,” I mused.
“Yeah, but his family’s different. More…normal.”
“If such a thing exists in our world.” I pulled a face, and she laughed.
“Probably not. Okay. Change of subject.” She glanced around us. “I’ve only been here five minutes, and I’ve already had enough of these four walls. Want to get out of here for a bit?”
“Where? You know my phone’s got a tracker.”
“Hmmm.” She opened the front pocket of her bag, pulling out a shiny key fob. “How about we drop your phone in your room, find Liana, and then take my new wheels for a spin?”
“Yes, please.”