Chapter 22
Twenty-Two
Daphne
The Devil’s Lair turned silent as everyone looked at me.
The bruise from Sinclair pinning me against the bookshelf had barely darkened, but leave it to my best friend to notice it.
Coming here was a mistake, but I’d been desperate for any distraction to scrub my mind of what had happened in his office earlier.
Knowing Sinclair was somewhere on campus made me want to sage the entire university.
Worse, he had access to all my personal information, including where my dorm was. I’d blocked his number, but blocking a professor’s email wasn’t exactly an option.
Over the past few weeks, he’d flooded my inbox with emails. I ignored everything that didn’t involve coursework. The idiot wasn’t smart enough to use a personal account. He used his university email to tell me how good fucking me had felt.
It was ballsy. But men who cheated weren’t exactly known for their intelligence.
Adelina held onto my arm before I could hide the bruise.
“Oh, I just ran into a doorknob.” I did my best nonchalant shrug. “You know how clumsy I am.”
Gemma and Seraphina joined her. Gemma reached for my arm, but she never got the chance to look.
Brooks shouldered between them. An unwanted shiver raced up my arm when he closed his fingers around my wrist.
He brushed his thumb over the small, tender bruise, like touching it enough times might tell him who’d put it there.
“Who the fuck did this to you?” he growled.
I opened my mouth, ready to lie, but the words died on my tongue.
Brooks would see right through it. He’d threaten every person on campus until he got a name.
Telling Brooks the truth felt like signing Sinclair’s death certificate.
The man looked like he’d been hit by a truck, yet somehow my tiny bruise was the emergency here.
I didn’t pull away, lying to myself that it was because I didn’t have the energy to fight. Truth was, I wanted him touching me. I wanted the warmth of his skin and the careful way he treated my bruise like it mattered more than all of his.
Which further proved I was insane since he’d almost killed me TWICE.
He suddenly froze mid-stroke.
I gasped when he dropped my arm and caught my jaw, turning my head sharply to the side.
The room seemed to tilt around me.
Oh shit.
He’d found Sinclair’s hickey.