Chapter 4
ERYX
The first half of my day went smoothly. Now I’m heading over to Mr. Roberts class for Criminal Law.
His class is the longest, lasting two hours since its combined with a lab.
It’s like mock court where we reenact past cases and try to prepare for our future lives.
Caine is in this class with me. Not that he’s aiming to be a future lawyer, but in our line of business, it doesn’t hurt to get a leg up on the law.
This morning's interaction is still running through my head. The way she was just standing there, basically naked in front of me. Begging me to snatch that towel off of her and drag her back into that shower, fuck if any one walked in. I’d deal with them later for daring to lay their eyes on her.
On my body, cause she’s mine. Her skin so supple and soft.
Water dripping from her wet hair. Her scent so intoxicating, sweet like summer. The need to taste her strong.
Just thinking of her has me readjusting myself. Caine walks in just then and sits in the seat next to me.
“Aye man, how you doing, interesting morning, no?”
“Shut up, if you know whats good for you. You might be my best friend but I’ll still fuck you up.”
He smirks and starts taking out his notes and laptop.
“You going to the fight tonight? We’ve got some bets on the table. A couple of freshies trying to test their luck against Mogily.”
Of course they do. I’m undefeated and they always want to try and be the one to take me down. Spoiler alert, they never do. But if they want a beating that badly who am I to say no? Plus, it’ll be nice to let off some steam.
“Yeah, sure I’ll be there.”
“You inviting that little vixen of yours? We still need to send out invites, I can slip one under her door,” Caine says in a teasing tone.
He’s really testing me today.
“She won’t show.”
“You leave that to me.”
Just then, said vixen walks in. A scowl on her face that seems to always be there. A sexy little wrinkle between her brows. We make eye contact and she scoffs, taking a seat a few rows down from mine. Great, I get to stare at the back of her head for two hours. No. Not happening.
I get up and take the seat next to hers. Before she can protest, Mr. Roberts walks in.
“Welcome to Criminal Law 350, take a good look around, memorize who you’re next to, because these will be your seats for the rest of the year.”
“You’ve got to be jo–,” she scoots her chair back and stands up.
“Problem, Ms…” He looks down at the list he’s holding, “Díaz,” he finishes.
She clears her throat and sits back down, “No sir,” She looks at me, “theres no problem.”
“Good, now, this is going to be fast paced, I don’t have time to babysit you and hold your hand. If you can’t keep up with what’s expected of you in this class, there’s the door. Let’s not waste mine or anyone else’s time.”
No one gets up to leave. We’re here because this is what we’ve all been bred for since birth. No one is backing down. Let’s not get it twisted though, just cause they aren’t leaving doesn’t mean they will last. They are all fatuous and unfit to be here.
“As you know, in my class, I choose three high-profile cases that we will work on all year that will be a part of our lab. We’ll work on other cases too and hold debates, but these three will be worth 2/3 rds of your final grade and will count as your final.
We will be split into three teams of two, defendant vs plaintiff, and you will have to prove your case.
There will be two lawyers for each side, which means you will work in teams. I will bring in 12 students outside of this class as your jury.
We’ll pick names to decide teams. Our three case studies will be on Mann vs.
Boyer, Donovan vs. Moran, and United States v.
Sebastian Rivera, I’m sure you all are familiar. ”
Mr. Roberts walks around as we pick a piece of paper from the cup he’s holding.
“Yes,” we all say in unison.
We all turn to look at her. I give her a questioning look. My train of thought is caught off by Mr. Roberts.
Mr. Roberts gives her a compelling look. “Everyone please look and see who you’ve picked.”
One by one they all sound off, then it’s her turn.
“Plaintiff, United States v. Sebastian Rivera,” she looks up at him.
“Ahh, Ms. Díaz, I’m looking forward to what you discover.”
A confused look on her face, like she’s trying to decipher what it all means.
“Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of each other…partner,” I give her my best smile, waving my piece of paper showing I got the same as her.
“Whatever,” she rolls her eyes at me.
That makes me chuckle, I’m going to have so much fun taming the brat in her. And if I don’t break her, the truth definitely will. I’m going to enjoy the ride regardless.
With class over, I head over to my room to get ready for tonight. I wasn’t really planning on going, but I need to decompress. She’s clouding my mind and I need to clear it. Caine slipped an invite to her, but I seriously doubt she’ll even come.
I change into my joggers and zip-up, grab my bag with my equipment and meet Caine and Roman outside my door. The school has a few secret underground rooms we use throughout the year for our club meetings and fights. It’s located through a secret wall behind the library.
By the time everyone gathers its already midnight.
We’re legacies here and this goes all the way back to our great-great grandfathers.
Our fight club is a way to get our stresses out, create allies, and break our enemies should we choose it.
Mainly we have brutal, bloody, fun. Well, I do at least. No one’s ever beaten me.
They don’t call me Mogily–or Graves, for nothing.
I’m sitting on a bench inside a small rest area on our side of the arena we’ve built. Roman is wrapping my hands, readying me for tonight.
“You two aren’t fighting tonight?” I ask them both. Usually, they join in on the fun with me.
“Nah, I’ve got other plans tonight,” Roman says, his eyes locked on someone on the other side of the room who’s just walked in.
I follow his gaze and Caine speaks next, “Next time, I’ll make sure of it.”
They start calling me over as the fight will start soon, and my eyes try to find hers as I step through into the ring. I’m searching for those raven eyes and that wrinkle between her brows I love so much. Always frowning. But she’s not there.
However, I do see a familiar face. A face that has no business being here, given that I broke things off with her. I told her we were done and that I never wanted to see her again. Yet, here she is, clearly unable to follow clear instructions.
For fucks sake. Why the hell is she showing up like she owns the place? Like I’m still hers to mess with. She’s a mistake I shut down hard, and yet here she is, crawling back like some bad habit.
“Why the fuck is Brielle here?”