21. River #2
Like I really feel anything toward her other than hatred.
“You don’t need to do that,” I tell him gruffly. “Even if I wanted anything to happen between us, Zayden’s made it pretty clear that she’s off limits.”
Not that it would matter if I really wanted her.
I don’t.
Peyton chuckles and claps Franklin on the back. “Yeah, what the fuck. Cut that shit out. You want to talk about feelings ? How fucking gay is that?”
His buddy starts laughing, and Franklin turns beet red.
“I just mean… Sandra says…” Franklin stammers awkwardly.
Peyton flaps his hands around. “Oh, if Sandra says ….”
“Lay off him,” I snap. “He’s allowed to have something more than a cheap fuck in a bathroom stall.”
Because I’m pretty sure that’s about all Peyton could manage, and that’s assuming he isn’t tossing roofies into the drinks he’s serving up. I’m suddenly suspicious of all of them, wondering how many were willing to use whatever drugs Declan had on him.
I wonder, too, if they drugged Rachel.
The flash of anger I feel is blinding, and it’s all I can do to calm down enough to stop myself from throwing a punch. I don’t even know that Peyton or his friend here have ever stooped that low, but even the thought is enough to make me rage.
“To reiterate! Anyone who brings this bitch into the frat house or fucks around with her will not just get kicked out,” Zayden shouts. “There’s going to be a punishment that’ll make you wish you were in hell.”
I notice Asch and Blaze sharing a look. Blaze shakes his head, and Asch scowls.
What the fuck was that about?
“And now the meeting is over. Get back to whatever you were doing before!” Zayden waves everybody off, and the commotion gets louder again.
My appetite is gone.
Instead of heading toward the caf, I cross the room to Blaze and Asch. “This mean you’re going to stop fucking Pandora?” I demand.
I don’t know why I care.
No, I don’t care at all .
But I need to know what they’re planning on doing with her.
Blaze shrugs. “Depends on if she can stay away from me.” He gives me a wicked grin. “She was real into it when Asch cut her up.”
I go still.
“What,” I begin. My hands clench into fists at my sides, and I take a deep breath. “What the actual fuck is that supposed to mean, Blaze?”
I’m looking at Asch as I ask the question, though.
He doesn’t even have the decency to look chagrined. “She was into it,” he says, shrugging. “Blood everywhere?—”
I grab Asch by the shoulders, shoving him hard against the wall.
“You fucking—” I begin, wanting to pummel him into the wall, but Pandora won’t be the only person kicked out of the frat house if I beat the shit out of Asch.
That’s assuming I even could, because he moves with surprising speed, reversing our positions so I’m the one pinned to the wall.
“Don’t you ever lay your hands on me again,” Asch snaps at me. “If you think I’m a weak target, River, you’re in for a rude awakening.”
I think back to the other day in the caf. Asch had been more or less evenly matched with Fenrir, and I’m not sure where I would stand in that equation. I don’t want to find out in the middle of the frat house.
We already have enough attention on us.
Blaze leans against the wall next to me and grips my jaw. He forces me to look at him, and I’m surprised when I see the unrepentant anger behind his eyes.
“Don’t touch Asch,” he growls. “You want to be one of our brothers? You learn to respect us.”
“Can’t Asch fight his own battles?” I retort. I’m itching to throw a punch, adrenaline coursing through me as I jerk my face away from Blaze’s touch. “You don’t have to keep coming to his rescue. He’s not a little bitch.”
No. There’s something more there. I’m sure of it .
Asch is staring intently at me, like he’s trying to figure out if I mean it or not. He releases me and takes a step back before turning and facing the frat brothers who have been staring at us. “Show’s over,” he snaps at them. “You heard Zayden. Get the fuck out of here.”
Before I can move, Blaze says, “You’re moving in the house once you’re a full pledge, right? You can have Declan’s old room.”
I blink at him. The last thing I would’ve expected after my outburst would be for him to ask me to move into the frat house. “What?”
“It’ll be good for you,” Blaze says. “Foster brotherhood. We can keep you safe from cunts with teeth.” He stops and suddenly laughs. “Shit. She said something like that once, right?”
Asch shakes his head. “No, you’re the one who accused her of having a vagina dentata or something. Twice now.”
“Was I wrong?” Blaze grins at me. “Come on. If anyone’s got a deadly cunt around here…”
I want to defend Pandora, but at the same time, she doesn’t need my protection. She doesn’t need anything from me except help finding Rachel’s killer.
“Stop calling her a cunt,” I find myself saying anyway.
Asch rolls his eyes. “That’s the least of what people are going to say about her after word of this gets out.”
“And it means none of them are going to try to fuck her,” Blaze says, almost as an aside. “That’s probably safer for her, too.”
“Safer for her?” I repeat. “Safer for them, you mean.”
Asch eyes me, but he doesn’t comment. Instead, he and Blaze exchange a look. The two of them are close, that much is obvious, and I wonder how much they know about Pandora now.
“You think you’re the only one here with ties to the mob?
” Blaze counters. “She’s lucky Declan’s mother is on the state supreme court and not with any of the major crime families.
Of course, if Pandora had gone for somebody from the Crescis, Rosa di Sangue, or Diamantes, she wouldn’t have had such an easy time with the stabbing. ”
I snort. He’s not wrong. Those families are from the underbelly of society, though, and Declan’s family comes from the supposed right side of the tracks.
It doesn’t surprise me that he wouldn’t know how to defend himself.
He’d always assume that no one would dare raise a hand to him, and if they did…
He’d probably threaten to sue.
Legal threats aren’t going to stop Pandora fucking Pavone, as he’d just learned.
The room is starting to clear out, with only Zayden staying behind to talk to one of the other senior frat brothers. Franklin gives me a pleading look, but when I shake my head and make a shooing motion, he leaves.
“Pandora wouldn’t go for anyone from the Rosa di Sangue,” I say quietly. “They’re allied with the Pavones.”
More than allied, actually, but if Blaze doesn’t know that, I’m not going to give him all the details.
“Allegiances can break easily,” Blaze answers glibly.
“Not this one,” I tell him with utter certainty. Pandora’s family dynamics are complicated, to put it lightly, but I know that her aunt is one of the powers behind the Rosa di Sangue.
“How can you be so sure?” Asch asks, appraising me.
I shrug. “Believe it or not, but it’s true. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. She won’t.”
Asch and Blaze are quiet for a while, until Blaze says, “Let’s go up to my room.” He squeezes my shoulder. “Don’t want to keep airing all our secrets out here.”
He’s not wrong. There are too many curious frat boys around us, and while most of them have moved on to do other things, a few have lingered nearby like they’re expecting Asch and I to start up again.
I want to tell Blaze that I don’t have anything else to say, but I also need to make progress on learning more about Rachel’s death. If there’s the chance that they know something, anything, I need to find out.
“Yeah,” I say instead of arguing.
I follow the two of them up the stairs to Blaze’s room. Once inside, I see that the sheets have been pulled off the bed, tossed haphazardly off to the side, and I remember what Blaze had said about Pandora liking to be cut up.
Anger flares inside of me.
Is this where they sliced into her? Is this where they made her bleed?
Blaze shuts—and locks—the door behind us. I glare at him, but he only shrugs.
“So, River. Why don’t you tell us what Pandora is doing here? And don’t give us that crap about Pandora being mysterious or whatever.” Blaze folds his arms and tries to look intimidating.
Maybe it would work, if I was some soft kid from a cushy life.
I’ve dealt with intimidating assholes all my life, though.
Asch nods. “If she shows up here again, nobody’s going to go easy on her.”
“Does she really need anyone to go easy on her?” I retort.
I’d like to say she’s not going to come back, but I know it’s only a matter of time before she does.
Asch gives me a look. “Do you really want the entirety of the frat actually gunning for her?”
I grit my teeth. “She’s here for an education. Yes, she chose this particular university for a reason, but that reason isn’t any of your fucking business.”
“She kind of made it our fucking business when she went after our frat brother,” Blaze growls. “ Your future frat brother, River. You want to be part of Kappa Alpha, you have to show us you understand what that means. Brotherhood isn’t just a word. It’s a philosophy. A fucking duty.”
“Your brother had roofies in his room,” I reply hotly. “He should be kicked out of this brotherhood, not protected from the consequences of his actions. Who knows how many women he’s drugged and fucked?”
Blaze lets out a dark laugh. “And how many women has the Pavone Family kidnapped and sold? You think you’re on some fucking moral high ground?”
He’s not wrong about the Pavones. Even though they primarily stick to the legal side of sex work these days, that hasn’t always been the case. I’m not going to defend them to Blaze, and I’m not going to be a little bitch by claiming I didn’t have a choice but to work for them.
I didn’t, but there’s no point in dwelling on that fact.
I’ve done what I’ve done, and that’s included some pretty shady shit.
“ I don’t roofie random women,” I say coolly. “ I don’t kidnap or sell women.” My eyes narrow at him. “Can you say your family has never abducted a woman before?”
“Of course,” Asch says immediately, but I see the way Blaze’s eyes narrow.