Page 17 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“ E xcuse me?” Jennings exclaimed. “Just who do you think you?—”

Zach stepped into the light next to us, and Matt’s eyes went comically wide.

“Oh, shit, are you…?”

“Zach Ferrero. Now fuck off.”

Even Matt’s infatuation with me was no match for the fear of the Four Families that had been ingrained in every citizen, and he scurried off without a backward glance.

I whirled on Zach. “That was unnecessary, you dick.”

Zach just shot me his sexy smirk before yanking me into his hard body by my hips.

He was still wearing his dark gray suit jacket, and his shirt was unbuttoned low enough that the top of his toned, tattooed chest was on display.

His black hair was artfully messy, and his dark eyes glinted with mischief.

“Quit hanging out with the help, Princess. You’re supposed to be rising above all of that now as a Holywell student.”

I let him pull me in close as we started to grind against each other, his hips moving expertly to the beat. I didn’t even fight him when he ran his big hands up my arms and then placed them around his neck. After all, the longer he was distracted, the better.

That’s all this was .

You lying liar, Jolie .

“You’re a prick,” I told him, for good measure, except that my voice came out all low and breathy.

“I sure am,” he purred, his lips brushing against my ear. “And yet you’re still here, letting me put my hands on you.” Those hands dipped lower on my body, just brushing the top of my ass. He stopped short of copping a feel, so I didn’t have to break his hand.

“For now,” I replied, ignoring the fluttering in my belly that had been decidedly absent when I danced with Matt.

We continued to move, pressed tight together, for several long, hot minutes.

The low purple lighting didn’t allow me to see much further than a few feet in either direction, so for now, my world was entirely Zach.

He smelled clean, with a hint of something citrusy, and the rush of being so close to him, of being held by him—my old friend, the Ferrero Heir—was heady.

Finally, I spied Max moving casually through the crowd like he was on his way to the kitchen, and he gave me a surreptitious thumbs up before he disappeared again.

I let out a relieved sigh, accidentally tightening my arms around Zach’s neck and pulling him closer, eliciting a pleased little growl from him.

I decided I could suffer through this for a little bit longer now that I knew Max had successfully grabbed what we needed from Zach’s bag.

Zach kept exactly two things on his key ring, which I’d observed that he usually carted around in his bag rather than in his pants pocket.

The first was the key fob to his Ferrari.

The second was an old brass key that unlocked the door to the hidden basement at the Euphoria Club.

Only Andrea, her bodyguard, and a few select top-ranked Ferrero Enforcers had a copy.

Max now had a mold of that key, which meant I would have an exact replica by tomorrow.

“I don’t think Mom and Dad approve of your behavior,” I said into Zach’s ear as the band began its rendition of “Style” by Taylor Swift. I motioned to the VIP box high above us where Bennett and Noah had returned, both watching us intently, their frowns visible from all the way down here.

He cast a quick look up at his best friends before giving them a smirk and the finger.

“I am breaking the rules a little bit,” he whispered, rubbing his rough cheek against mine.

“But I can’t help it. You look fucking hot tonight.

You always wear the simplest shit and manage to look sexier than anyone else. ”

“Which rule are you breaking?” I asked, turning in his arms, backing my ass right up against his body, and slinging an arm around his neck. “Don’t fraternize with the Southside trash?”

He chuckled, now running his lips up and down the column of my throat that was totally exposed to him because I’d opted for my usual ponytail tonight.

I felt the cool touch of his lip ring and his hot breath on my skin as his hands returned to their firm grip on my hips. He murmured, “Something like that.”

I refused to think about how damp my panties were at this point. Zach was hot, he could dance like sin, and he’d always feel just a little bit like home to me.

The home I’d had before the Families stole it from me.

I caught Mari’s wide-eyed stare from out in the crowd where she was dancing in a group of some of the more pleasant scholarship students. I shot her a tight smile, which she returned with a “what the fuck do you think you’re doing” look.

“It really is too bad, all these rules,” Zach went on, still purring in my ear as he held me. “Otherwise, I’d love to see how these hips move while you’re writhing on my cock.”

I used all of my strength to bite back a moan. My goofy friend Zach had grown up to be dirty hot, and it was about to melt my brain.

“But it’s not to be,” he continued with a dramatic sigh. “The Heirs do have certain… standards.”

And record scratch. Good—time to wake the fuck up, Jolie .

I knew he could feel my smile up against his cheek. “Yes, well, I understand. I also have standards.” With one smooth, practiced motion, I freed myself from his embrace and threw my elbow into his ribs.

“Ow, fuck ,” he growled.

“Never touch me again, you egotistical shithead.”

“Oh, come on, Princess?—”

I marched away from him. “Nope.”

My work here was done, anyway.

I was going to hit the bathroom, and then I was going to find Mari and convince her it was time to leave this leech-infested hellhole .

When I located the ladies’ room, I found it was, unsurprisingly, a whole lot fancier than was really necessary for a bathroom.

It had rich hunter-green carpeting, golden vessel sinks shaped like seashells that sat atop white marble counters, and a rose-gold chaise lounge sat in the corner in case any of us were feeling faint.

Someone flushed the toilet in one of the closed stalls behind where I stood at the ornate mirror, and even that sounded dainty.

Having already done my business, I reapplied my nude lip stain and righted my ponytail, then I made my way back out into the dim corridor, on the hunt for Mari.

I hadn’t taken three steps into the hallway when something heavy cracked against my skull, and everything went black.

The first thing I noticed when I came to was the same green carpet that was in the bathroom. I was on my back, my head absolutely pounding, and I could feel the drip of warm liquid down the side of my face and pooling in the wet carpet under my head.

Slowly, using every ounce of my remaining strength, I pulled myself up to sitting. It was then that I noticed that my right hand had been handcuffed to the top pipe of what I’d soon discover was an old radiator, forcing my limp arm to hang above my head.

“Shhh, she’s awake,” I heard Lisa hiss as I fought to open my eyes.

Goddamn it. Everything I’d done, all the preparations and the training, and I let Lisa fucking Aviano get the drop on me.

“Your mom is going to kill you.” That was Harper. “Look at all the blood staining her carpet.”

I finally forced my eyes open and found myself in an office that was professionally decorated and staged as if it were in a magazine.

There was a large wooden desk, two rose-gold chairs in front of it that matched the bathroom chaise, and colorful artwork adorning the walls.

Fresh flowers were arranged in a crystal vase on an understated side table.

I was slouched against the side wall next to the radiator, now looking up into the smug faces of Lisa, Harper, and Annie.

Lisa stepped closer, crouching down to my level to crow at me. “I’m sure you were very pleased with your little display out there. I bet you think you have some kind of pull on Zach, and he’s going to be your ticket out of your slum life and straight to the top.”

“Ugh,” I groaned. “Get a grip, Aviano. If Zach wanted to fuck you, he would fuck you. Taking your insecure bullshit out on me is not going to change that fact.”

She screeched and aimed a slap at my face, which I caught before impact with my free hand, squeezing her bony wrist as hard as I could as she cried out. At least my reflexes were coming back online.

“Look,” I said, wincing at the pain that rattled through my head with every word I spoke. “I feel like shit right now, and I’m down an arm, but I will still beat your ass. Step away from me.”

She yanked her hand away and scurried backward on her pointy heels. She took up her place again next to Harper and Annie, who were now watching me warily. Lisa smoothed her tight white dress, regaining her composure, and then she pulled a silver key from her tiny purse.

“This is the key to this office,” she said, holding it high.

“We’re leaving and locking the door. Then we’ll be heading back out to the party to sell this key to the highest bidder.

” She pretended to look it over, like she was studying its little nooks and crannies.

“I wonder how much a shot at slum pussy will net me?”

Great. I was going to have to kill someone tonight.

My head pounded harder.

Harper trotted happily over to the desk a few feet away from me. She cracked open the sleek silver laptop that had been sitting on top of it, and she positioned it so that the computer’s camera would be facing my spot on the floor.

“Just a little livestream that we’ll make sure the Heirs have a link to,” she tittered happily. “Not that we don’t all know you’re slutty trash, but sometimes it’s good to have some solid evidence. The Academy doesn’t look too kindly on public lewdness, either. With any luck, you’ll be expelled.”

I said nothing. I slipped my free hand into the pocket of my romper, predictably finding that my phone was missing.

“Looking for this?” Annie sang at me, holding up my phone. Then, in a feat of strength that actually surprised me, she hurled it against the opposite wall, and it shattered on impact. “Oh, no—that’s unfortunate.”

It was unfortunate. Dom was going to have to procure me a new one with all the special software we used, and that was going to make him grouchy.

“Are you three done?” I griped, trying to wipe some of the blood off of my face. “I get the picture. Better get going on your evil mission.”

“We’re not kidding, you dumb bitch,” Harper barked. “We’re going to make sure this key goes to someone with very flexible morals.”

They wanted me to cry and beg and plead with them. They wanted to see me break, and they wanted it on camera.

I would never give them that.

“Well, that won’t be hard with this group,” I said with a lazy shrug.

“Ugh, let’s go,” Lisa whined. “It’s like arguing with a toddler.”

I watched as they filed out, whispering to each other before slamming the door behind them. The telltale sound of the lock engaging followed, which meant I had some quick decisions to make.

While I’d reluctantly left my backpack behind in my dorm, I still had a small knife in my shoe and a few pins in my hair.

The camera was a fucking problem, though.

I let out a loud sigh to seem like I was frustrated, and I ran my hand over the bloody, swollen wound on the side of my head, pulling the pins from my hair in the same movement.

I yanked on the handcuff like I was testing it, then I groaned in exasperation, turning toward my restrained hand and putting my back between it and the camera.

I mimed like I was pulling at it some more. “Come on! Break, you stupid thing!”

All the while, I inserted the pin in my free hand into the lock, popping it open with a few quick motions. I kept the cuffs where they were, connected to the radiator, as I slowly got to my feet to wait.

My head pounded, and I was going to need to lay down soon.

After a few minutes, the sounds of the key being inserted into the office door and the lock turning gave me the shot of adrenaline I needed to focus and ignore the pain.

The door opened, and a guy I vaguely recognized as a fellow Academy student entered before closing the door and locking it behind him. He was shorter, maybe my height, and he was thick and brawny like Chad. He had close-cropped brown hair and a short, neat beard. His beady eyes took me in eagerly .

Since I didn’t immediately know him, he must’ve been a Tier Two unknown trying to impress his superiors.

“Holy shit,” he said, barking out a laugh. “They really weren’t kidding. It’s the Southside slut, finally getting put where she belongs. I’m so glad I outbid Chad for that key.”

I stared at him with a blank look before turning to look right into the camera lens on the laptop. I lifted my sneakered foot, my legs thankfully long enough to reach the desk, and I slammed my shoe into the laptop screen, breaking the camera and ending the livestream.

“Damn, they’ll be pissed you did that,” the idiot said as he crept closer, leering at me.

“Yeah?” I said, finally acknowledging him. “You disappointed your crimes won’t be recorded for the world to see?”

He chuckled darkly. “Baby, there’s no such thing as a crime when you’re one of us .”

Well, that was mostly true.

“Oh?” I said, squaring up to him as much as possible while still pretending to be chained to the radiator. “That’s good news, then, because when they’re dragging your body out of here, I’d rather not be hassled by the cops.”

“Funny,” he drawled, still advancing on me. “Just behave, and this might even be good for you.”

I snapped my hand out of the cuff, and his eyes widened.

“Oh, I think this is actually going to be very good for me.”

And then I attacked.