Chapter 12
Twelve
Ashton
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to Nova that I’m tasked with keeping a close eye on Harper. It’s been that way since she stumbled into the basement nearly a year ago.
I haven’t exactly announced that I’m keeping tabs on her for Dante.
Why would I do that?
It’s easier to gain her trust and report back to him anything problematic, which hadn’t been much until the recent incident with her running off to the police station.
She hasn’t spoken about it to me, and Luca seems to have forgiven her.
Something I’m not sure I’d have done.
“Spy on Harper? I mean, if you want to put it so bluntly, then, yes.”
Nova folds her arms across her chest and points to the building where her next class is. “I have to go, but this conversation, it isn’t done.”
My gaze tightens. There’s no sense in arguing with Nova and upsetting her.
“Yeah, I’ll catch you later.” I lean in to give her a kiss, and she turns her head to the side, letting me kiss her cheek.
Oh, fuck, she’s pissed.
“Catch you later.” I force a smile and watch as she saunters into the building without so much as glancing back at me.
The girl is definitely angry with me.
I head for the crosswalk and wait at the intersection for the light to change. “How was lunch with your little friend?” Henry asks. There’s a menacing tone in his voice.
My shoulders tense and I spin around, grumbling under my breath when Henry is staring slightly up at me.
I’ve got several inches on him.
I wanted to be wrong. I was hoping that perhaps the question was directed at someone else. But it’s just the two of us waiting to cross the street.
“Excuse me?” I growl. “My little friend?” What the fuck is he trying to say about Nova?
Henry smirks and tilts his head, staring up at me. “You should let her know, if she wants a passing grade, it’s going to take a date with me.”
“The hell it will!” I yank his shirt and tug him toward me.
He’s lucky I’m not shoving him into the street to get hit by a car.
“What are you—” Henry looks startled as I get up in his face.
“Nova made it crystal clear she isn’t interested in you. Leave her the fuck alone!” I shout, spit flying as I can no longer keep my temper from going off the rails.
“Get your grimy paws off me.” Henry shoves me away and scoffs as he wipes the imaginary dust from his shirt. “I’ll have sex with whomever I damn well please.” The cocky grin on his face is deplorable.
“Nova made it clear to leave her the fuck alone.”
Henry doesn’t stop smiling. “Do you think that’s going to stop me? Girls always like playing hard to get. Nova isn’t any different. Her no absolutely means yes.”
I slam my fist across his face with an uppercut and then knee him in the groin. He doubles over in agony.
Good.
“Touch her and die,” I growl at Henry before I storm across the street, the crosswalk momentarily clear.
“You’ll pay for this!” Henry shouts.
“What happened to your knuckles?” Nova’s fingers are featherlight as she grazes the slight discoloration.
I was hoping she wouldn’t notice, let alone ask about it, but it’s kept the tension between us at bay. I suppose she’s forgotten or maybe forgiven me about earlier.
“It’s best if you don’t ask.” I stand and head into the kitchen, grabbing us both a glass of water and a snack. I’m using it as a distraction. We haven’t even gotten started, and I’m already bailing on her.
She’s going to need help studying if Henry has any say regarding her grades.
I grab a bowl of grapes and two bottles of water, bringing it back to the table to study.
Nova has her books out, taking up most of the table, and I join her, glancing over her latest quiz.
The glaring red F irks me, but it’s the answers to the quiz I find even more unsettling.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”
“What is it?” Nova asks. “I know I screwed up. Don’t laugh. I’m asking for your help tutoring me, not making fun of me for being stupid.”
My jaw drops. “Nova, you’re not stupid.” I reach into my bag and retrieve my pop quiz, showing her the answers. “You got each one right. Look.”
“What?” Her brow furrows as she stares at me, then reads the answers to my exam. “How can that be?”
“You’re better in class than you thought.” I exhale loudly and lean back in my chair. “Henry has it out for you. He’s a fucking pig.” I stand, pacing the length of the room.
“Why would he fail me?” Nova asks. “I don’t understand.”
“Henry thinks that by failing you, he can somehow get you to fuck him. He’s using his position of power. It’s disgusting.” I run a hand through my hair and tilt my head up at the ceiling.
Think, dammit.
There has to be something we can do to get even with him.
Really stick it to him.
“We should go to the professor or the dean,” Nova says.
I glance away from Nova. “Yeah, that’s an option…” My voice trails off as I try to come up with another solution.
“Why? Do you have a better suggestion, Ashton?”
“Let me think.”
Nova stands from the chair and faces me. “Why is going to the professor a bad idea? They would have to investigate and would keep me from failing the class. And if the professor won’t listen, then we take it up with the dean.”
I answer her with silence.
“Ashton?” Nova’s tone is louder, more forceful. “What aren’t you telling me?”
She reaches for my hand, glancing at my bruised hand. “You got this today, recently.”
I hate how observant Nova is, that she realizes I wasn’t bruised this morning in class or when we were at lunch.
“It doesn’t matter.” I try to deflect. “Did you happen to keep the other quizzes that you failed?” I ask.
The only papers that Henry is responsible for, as far as I’ve seen, are the pop quizzes. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t grading our exams or upcoming midterms.
Nova shakes her head. “I wasn’t too happy about the grade. The last two that I failed, I tore up the quizzes as soon as I left the classroom and tossed them in the garbage.”
I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her against me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t offer to tutor you sooner.” Shame burns me. I should have noticed that Henry had been interested in Nova.
I’d been too swept up in the fact that she’s mine to even notice anyone else taking an interest in her—not that Henry had been obvious until today.
What changed?
“Maybe I should drop the class, Ashton. Henry has it out for me, and I can’t prove I didn’t fail the other quizzes that he graded…”
“No.” I’m adamant that dropping the class isn’t the answer. “Come on, you and me. The daughter of a mafia enforcer and me, who works for the mafia, can figure this out.”
She laughs darkly. “What are you suggesting, Ashton? String him up, torture, interrogate, and then kill him?” There’s a smile on her face.
“I’d do all of that for you if it’d make you happy.”
She smacks my chest. “You’re so full of shit. I love you, but if you hang him, I’ll never forgive you for committing murder.”
I grab her wrist, intertwining our fingers together. “Did you just say the l word to me?”
Nova’s eyes widen, and she turns her back, hurrying to the table to shovel her books and papers into her backpack.
“Nova?” I’m watching with rapt fascination. “I love you too.”
The moment is interrupted when the front door slams shut and the house shakes. Frowning, I poke my head around to see Harper holding Zeke in her arms and locking the front door.
“Where the hell is Luca?” Harper shouts.
“He’s not home yet,” I say. “Do you need something?” I try to defuse the ticking timebomb that is Harper McKenna Ricci.
What the hell happened?
Her hair is a bit disheveled and the fury in her dark brown eyes makes my stomach revolt. I can’t even force a smile. There’s pain and concern etched all over her face.
“Where’s Luca?” she asks again, just as forceful.
Nova comes around the corner, backpack in hand. “He’s probably still at class, Harper. What’s wrong?” She puts her bag on the floor and walks over to offer to take Zeke, who has a bit rosy cheeks.
“Someone tried to pick up my son today from school.”
“Who?” Nova asks the same question that I’m wondering.
“That’s what I’d like to know. He wouldn’t give his name. Claimed to be Zeke’s father.” She grinds her teeth and hands Zeke over to Nova.
“Is it possible his biological father showed up?” I ask. Harper has never mentioned the father to me, but I’ve done a little digging. Assuming it’s the guy she dated in high school, he’s not that hard to track down.
“That was my first thought but, no, it’s not him. She rolls her lips together and steps closer, staring up at me. “Tell me everything that you and Dante have been working on, Ashton,” she demands.
“You know I can’t do that.”
“You can, and you will. If my son is in danger, I need to know what the hell is going on. No more secrets!”