Page 11 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series

CHAPTER SEVEN

I put my head down and focused on my classwork and my mission, and before I knew it, a month had passed.

Most of my days started with a morning workout, either out on the water or on the indoor rowing erg, before I would drag my ass back to my room to shower, reapply my makeup, and put on whatever “cheap” clothes struck my fancy.

I’d try to check in with Dom or Max most mornings before or after breakfast, and then I’d go about my day, attempting to get into the fewest verbal altercations possible.

The bullying by Chad, Harper, and their cronies had continued, mostly in the form of a ban on anyone speaking to me and the usual uncreative verbal insults tossed my way in the hallways.

I’d had soup and drinks and other shit “accidentally” spilled on me in the dining hall more than once.

I’d also had to walk back to my dorm in a towel after crew practice once after my clothes had disappeared from my locker, which now had a new industrial lock on it thanks to Dom.

It was all fucking stupid, and none of it really phased me, but I knew better than to think it couldn’t get worse.

Mari stuck by me through all of this, earning my great respect, and I’d noticed that when she was at my side, I was mostly just ignored. Apparently, no one had the balls to fuck with an Anzaldua, “outcast” status or not .

We’d taken to studying together, usually in her room—I didn’t want her to accidentally come across something in mine she shouldn’t see—or tucked away in the library stacks.

She video-called her girlfriend daily, and though she wore a brave face, I knew her relationship with her parents had soured further, and it was eating at her.

I also did my best to keep my distance from the Heirs, feeling a little rattled by my unplanned interactions with all three of them during my first days here.

I’d known it would be hard to see them again after all these years.

I’d even suspected that it might trigger that longing for the time when I was still whole —a happy kid with two loving parents and three best friends, blissfully unaware of the festering rot around me.

And I’d had no false hopes that the three of them hadn’t grown up to be exactly what they were—little princes lording over their kingdom, callous and cold.

But I hadn’t anticipated the draw that still pulled me toward those unfeeling bastards, the familiarity and the little hints of the boys I knew still there, and it was messing with my head.

Zach liked to needle me, stirring the pot whenever possible, giving me little bits of flirty attention here and there, if only to rile up the sheep trying to impress him. I rarely took his bait, but it never did deter him.

Noah seemed mildly interested in me, like one would be on discovering new species of insect, but he, at least, was considerate enough of the target on my back not to give me special attention during Tech Skills class or at any other time.

Bennett never spoke to me again after that first day, but I felt him watching me when we were in the same room. I suspected he was waiting for me to put my toe out of line one more time so he could order me to leave again, and I just hoped he’d get bored of me eventually.

But the fact that I was keeping my distance from the Heirs didn’t mean I wasn’t keeping a close eye on them, learning their schedules and their movements.

They kept to their classes and school activities like the rest of us, then they usually retreated to their ivory tower in A Dorm.

They left campus occasionally, especially on the weekends, but they were never really gone long, seeming to prefer their home here to their respective Family Towers.

They were even nice enough to leave all together a few times, so my creeping around A Dorm and maybe planting a little extra something behind the panel of their penthouse security system went unnoticed.

I did travel back home once, making sure to exit and reenter campus undetected.

I used ways in and out that were not through the gates, just to ensure I could do it.

Max also visited me a few times, breaking and entering in a similar fashion even though he was on the approved list as my family and could have waltzed in the front door.

By the second week of October, I felt ready to make my first move.

“Knock, knock,” I said with a rap of my knuckles on Noah’s open office door. “Still a good time to meet?”

Noah looked up from whatever he was doing on his laptop, pushing his glasses up his nose with his finger in a move that made my heart pinch, and he motioned me into his office with his professional smile.

“Yes, definitely,” he said. “Have a seat.”

I’d requested a meeting during Noah’s office hours, supposedly to get his help with our most recent assignment in Tech Skills. It was the easiest way to get him alone, but it wasn’t really him I wanted.

It was his laptop.

“So, have you lived in Southside all of your life?” he asked me offhandedly after we’d gone over the assignment. “Or are you a transplant to our fair City?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Taking an interest in the nobodies now, Hargraves?”

He shrugged, giving me his charming smile. “Just making conversation, Miller .”

Or fishing for information. I had little doubt that at some point someone on Team Heirs had pulled my background, and they would have found everything they needed to confirm I was exactly who I said I was—right down to my standardized test scores from an elementary school in Durham.

“I moved to Southside to live with my aunt and uncle when I was eleven,” I replied. “After a family tragedy.”

His smile faded, and he nodded, an understanding look on his face. “I get that. Trust me.”

Sure, Noah .

He steered the conversation to lighter topics. “So, what’s with the purple eyes? ”

“Violet.”

He chuckled. “What’s with the violet eyes? Do you change colors according to your mood, or…?”

“Something like that. Wouldn’t want people to think I was trying to fit in or anything.”

He grimaced. “You know, you really should consider just… giving them what they want. I know you’re tough and all, but things can get a lot worse than they already are. You could have a much better four years here if you just….” He waved a hand, giving me a pointed look.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “What? Got on my knees in front of you three to grovel? To kiss your shoes and thank you and your benevolent Families for raising me from the dregs of the City where I belong?”

He sighed. “That wasn’t our idea. I just want you to know that.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, barking out a laugh. “Sure, that makes it so much better.”

“Look,” he snapped. “We don’t interfere in what the others do. If we put a stop to something like this, it will get back to our parents eventually. And trust me, that could make things worse.”

That I did believe—James, Peter, and Andrea were reprehensible scum without a conscience between them.

“Don’t worry about me, Noah,” I said tersely. “I’m not your problem.”

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. That was Max, letting me know it was go time.

On cue, Noah’s phone blared at him. He frowned at the screen before getting to his feet. “Excuse me for a minute,” he said, putting the phone to his ear. “I have to make a quick call.”

He strode quickly from the office, shutting the door behind him.

I dug my external drive from my backpack, then leaned over the desk to connect it to Noah’s computer.

Since he’d been on it fifteen seconds ago, it was still unlocked.

I initiated the cloning process, pulling everything from his hard drive, including his email, even his recent keystrokes.

It would be close, but Noah was going to be sorting through the mess Max just made of the security system on their dorm penthouse for at least five minutes.

I needed four.

“Come on, come on, come on,” I chanted under my breath. “Do this for mama, you beautiful machine. ”

The thing about the Families was that each had their own way that they handled security.

For Hargraves, and specifically for the private areas accessible only to the Family itself, they used keypads with codes that were changed weekly.

We knew that those codes were sent to the Family members and the staff that needed them via encrypted email.

I wanted in Peter Hargraves’ private library. For that, I needed Noah’s code.

The computer chimed, telling me the process was complete, and I quickly set the screen to sleep. Thirty seconds later, Noah walked back in to find me lounging in my chair, bored to death by what was in my TikTok feed.

He ran a hand through his wavy blond hair, looking harried. “Sorry about that. False alarm. I think.”

“Huh,” I said with a shrug, then I stood up. “Well, I should be going anyway. I’m good on the homework.”

“Okay,” he replied, distracted. “Just… think about what I said.”

About how I should just go ahead and get on my knees for them?

I paused at the door. “Noah,” I said seriously, hoping the gravity of what I was about to say was clear to him.

He looked up from his phone. “Yeah?”

“Over my dead fucking body. You got that?”

He stared at me, endearing smile nowhere to be seen, and his blue eyes bored into me with such force that he gave Bennett a run for his money.

“It’s your funeral, Joanna.”

I left, slamming the door behind me.

That night, Mari interrupted my debrief with Dom by banging on my door and informing me that it was Fight Night.

“Oh, how cute,” Dom drawled, overhearing her hollering. “The rich kids have their own little fights. Do you think it’s fencing with the fake swords and the goofy suits?”

I opened the door, and Mari breezed in without a word and went straight into my closet to find me some version of what she thought was an acceptable Fight Night outfit, I presumed .

“I guess I’ll check it out,” I said to Dom. “You know anything about it?”