Page 53 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

JOLIE

M y alarm blared on my dorm nightstand at five in the morning, and I groaned into my pillow. Why had I decided to start going back to my morning workout schedule? Did I not already have enough shit to do? My big bed was so comfy—shouldn’t I just live here forever?

“Goddamn, Princess. Turn that shit off and go back to sleep.”

Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling my back into a hard chest, and I sighed happily. “Why don’t you get your ass up and come to the gym with me? It got lonely in there when you guys stopped haunting my morning workouts last semester.”

Zach groaned into the back of my neck before his teeth nipped at the skin there. I shivered, and I knew he felt it, because he let out a pleased little hum. “I was out late last night, and I’m fucking beat, baby.”

It had definitely been late when Zach finally slipped into my bed.

I tried never to wait up for him because I refused to be the girl who sat there, twiddling her thumbs, then crumbled under the disappointment if he didn’t show.

But he’d been here consistently since the night of our fight—even the two nights I slept at home in my bunk.

That had been… interesting. He’d arrived around bedtime both nights, was exceedingly charming to Laura and Dom—who had both bl essedly refrained from acting like anything was weird about the Ferrero Heir coming over to sleep in my bed—and then Zach and Max would snark at each other before he climbed into my bunk and wrapped himself around me like I was his teddy bear.

We’d both slept peacefully all night long, even smashed together in my tiny bed, and then he’d been gone by sunrise after a kiss to my cheek.

I still didn’t know what the fuck was going on. I was getting close to demanding an answer, but I was also worried I’d spook him, and he’d disappear like it’d never happened.

A coward, Jolie Knight. You are a coward.

“Okay, Sleeping Beauty,” I said, rolling over to face him, my head now cradled by his tattooed bicep. “Release me. You can stay here and snuggle my pillow while I’m gone.”

He chuckled, the sound heavy with sleep. “Just like old times, isn’t it? Except you used to shriek at me like a tiny banshee if I crowded you too much when we all slept together on the floor. Now, you always manage to find your way back into my arms.”

My heart warmed at the memory of our slumber parties—such a foreign feeling, since I’d long ago stopped reminiscing about my childhood with the guys because it hurt too much.

I reached up and ran my fingers through his sleep-tousled black hair, peering into the bottomless depths of his deep brown eyes. Feeling bold, I closed the inches of distance between our faces to nuzzle his nose with mine, then I pressed a soft kiss to his rough cheek.

“Princess,” he rumbled, and it reverberated all the way down to my toes. “You are about to snap my control. It’s already hanging by a thread.”

“Is it?” I whispered innocently. “And here I thought you only wanted to cuddle with me.”

He gave me a dark look, the outline of his stunning face just visible in the low light of my bedroom. He moved his hand from where it had been lightly caressing my back, dipping lower to roughly grasp my hip as he pulled my pelvis flush against his.

His hard dick greeted me, straining against his pajama pants, and I gasped, stifling a moan.

“I want everything with you,” he whispered against my ear.

“But first, I want to make sure you know how serious I am. I want to prove myself to you. I want you to trust me.” He traced the shell of my ear with his tongue, and my panties went from damp to soaking.

“And when I fuck you, I want you to be ready. I want you begging , because once it happens, baby girl, there is no going back.”

A tiny, desperate whimper escaped me.

“That’s good, Princess,” he purred. “I’ll let you think about that for a while.”

He dropped a chaste kiss to my hair before untangling his limbs from mine and crawling out of bed. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and shoved it into his pocket before he crept toward my bedroom door.

“See you in class, Jojo.”

He disappeared, presumably to sneak back upstairs into his own bed, and I was left to suffer through my workout with the worst case of blue lady balls anyone had ever experienced in human history.

“So, he… came to your house. To Dom’s house. And slept in your bunk bed with you. With Max in the room.”

I stared at Mari over the top of my coffee cup. “Yes.”

“And he’s been sneaking into our dorm every night for a week.”

“Yep.”

“And you’ve been sleeping in the same bed as that boy—who oozes so much sex through every pore in his body that it could almost make me consider dabbling in dick—and you have not had one single orgasm.”

None of these were questions. Just stated facts.

“We used to sleep together all the time,” I offered.

“When you were children ,” she retorted.

I took a bite of my eggs. “Things are… complicated with him.”

She placed her spoon gently down on the table, then she took a calming breath, steepling her fingers under her chin and pinning me with a patronizing look.

“Chica, do we need to have a sex talk? I do not have personal experience with a penis attached to an actual male, but the mechanics are easy enough to explain.”

“Mari— ”

“Let him take care of you. Release all this tension you’re carrying around. I worry you’re neglecting your needs.”

I snorted. “I’m good, I promise. It hasn’t been that long.”

It kinda had been, but there was no way Zach could ever be just a dick to ride to break my dry spell. I had too many feelings, and we had too much history.

And he was still the son of the woman who’d killed my mother.

Mari huffed at me, her perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched in a way that said she wasn’t buying what I was trying to sell her.

Time to redirect. “How’s Carmen?”

She deflated. “She’s good. Perfect. I miss her.”

I drummed my fingers on the table, debating how much to say.

“Mari, I know you have some idea what I’m up to as far as taking back my Family’s empire.

I know it sounds a little… ambitious, but I’m confident I can do it.

And you have a place with me. With Knight.

” I paused, letting that sink in. She swallowed, nodding at me to continue.

“So, if you want to wash your hands of Anzaldua, leave Holywell, and go back to Spain to finish college and be with your girlfriend, I’ll support you. ”

I’d buy her a villa in Málaga where she could live with Carmen, and then I’d let them watch as I tore the Anzalduas and their regressive bullshit from their golden tower, if that was what Mari wanted.

“I… I don’t know,” she replied in a low whisper. “I love Carmen, and I hate that I’m forced to be here. But I don’t want to leave you either. Not yet.”

That hit me hard. I wasn’t sure I’d really earned that kind of loyalty from Mari, but maybe it was time I tried.

The sound of plates dropping onto the table next to us ended our discussion before I could respond.

Hannah, Devin, Hannah’s friend Nick Ruiz, and John Tyler all filled in the seats around us.

Raiford beamed a smile in my direction as he passed by, running a hand through his coiffed hair and flexing a bicep as he took the seat next to Nick.

Not even a little bit tempting, buddy, but go on .

I looked across the aisle. The Heirs were absent from the dining hall this morning, so I guessed it was more than just Zach who’d had a late night.

Annie caught my stare and gave me her most hateful scowl, while Lisa rolled her eyes at me and laughed with her buddies like I was the butt of a joke being told right then.

Harper eyed me with a smug look before waving her ring at the crowd of tittering Tier Two girls standing in the aisle.

I was getting tired of those three.

My phone buzzed against the table. A quick look at the screen told me a new private chat had been successfully added to our secure server.

I typed a quick message.

Me: All good, Uncle A?

After a minute, his response appeared.

Anders: Yes, thank you. You’re sure they can’t access this chat?

Me: I’m sure

Anders: Wow, that’s great. Thank you again.

Me: Just let us know if you find out anything interesting or get into trouble

Anders: *thumbs up emoji*

When I arrived to Economics, my first class of the day, I was greeted by a smirking Zach, who took the time to look me up and down with heated eyes as I climbed the stairs to my seat.

I wore a skirt today, specifically to fuck with him after he’d wound me up this morning, and it appeared to be doing its job.

I moved into the row in front of Zach, planning to sit where he could stare at my long legs in my thin black tights and think about what he’d done, when my gaze snagged on Bennett.

He was seated on the other side of Zach, looking tired and bored and sporting a vicious darkening bruise that marred his perfect cheekbone.

Something took over my body—a beast snarling inside me, a demonic possession, something— because I was in front of him in an instant.

“Who did that to you?” I asked in a low, angry whisper.

Zach’s eyes widened in shock before a slow pleased smile spread across his face. Bennett just frowned at me in confusion.

“I’m fine, Jolie,” he said, terse and dismissive as usual.

I stepped as close to the front of his desk as I could, leaning down and getting into his space. “Who, Bennett? What the fuck happened?”

He sighed. “Not here. After class.”

“Fine.”

I stalked back to my intended seat, then I watched the clock for fifty long minutes, trying to figure out what the hell had gotten into me.

By the time class had ended and I’d made it out into the hallway to watch like a hawk as Bennett and Zach exit the classroom, I’d come to my senses.

Bennett had probably been training with Zach or something and had gotten popped like we all did when we sparred. Just because I’d never seen him with a visible injury before didn’t mean something terrible had happened to him.

And really, Bennett probably needed to get nailed in the face every now and then to keep him humble.

The two of them exited the classroom, Zach still looking amused and Bennett exuding his usual cool intensity, and I fell in step next to them as they headed up the stairs to the top floor of Holywell Hall. We entered the quiet administration wing and stopped in front of a door I recognized.

Bennett keyed the code into the panel on Noah’s office door from memory, and after the lock disengaged with a quiet beep, he shoved open the door and flicked on the light.

We filed in, Zach taking up a casual slouch against the wall while I parked my butt on top of Noah’s desk. I leaned back onto my hands and crossed my legs, my skirt riding up my thighs with the movement. I bounced my leather-booted foot as I waited for my answers.

Bennett shut the door behind us, then turned to face me, crossing his arms and staring down at me. His gaze dropped to my legs, and his jaw tensed. “What the fuck are you wearing? You hate skirts and dresses.”

“I like it,” Zach chimed in from the wall. He wasn’t even pretending not to stare at my legs.

I couldn’t help but grin at Bennett even though he was being a dick. Little Jojo Knight had been such a tomboy, and it pleased me he was thinking of her.

“Bennett,” I said, the picture of patience. “Your face.”

“You sure about this, man?” Zach asked.

“Yes, I?—”

The door opened. “What’s going on in here?”

Noah waltzed in, looking dapper today in his navy vest and bow tie.

After a nice long look at my legs, he made his way around his desk, tossing his leather messenger bag on its surface before taking a seat.

He leaned back, casual as could be, like it wasn’t weird to find the three of us in his office without him.

Zach responded. “Jojo wants to know what happened to Bennett’s face.”

I tossed a look over my shoulder at Noah where he was reclined behind me, now frowning. I said, “Since we’re in here, having a secret meeting about it, I’m going to assume it wasn’t that Zach got a lucky shot in when you guys were sparring or something.”

Noah was grim, his blue eyes tired behind his dark frames. “Unfortunately, no.”

I turned back to Bennett, narrowing my eyes in suspicion. “What, then?”

He glanced at Zach and then at Noah behind me before he said, “None of this is your business, Jolie, but I’m telling you because you need to know what you’re signing up for.

You want to be an Heir, and you want to pick a fight with the most powerful people in this City. This is not a fucking picnic.”

And then he told me. The bullshit errand from his father, the threats he’d had to issue at the Alastia board meeting, and the immediate attack after he’d left. The gun fight, the dead Spencer Enforcers, Zach and Noah arriving in just the nick of time….

Now the beast was roaring .

First Noah, now Bennett. It seemed Families would endanger their sons’ lives without a thought as long as it put money in their fucking pockets.

Bennett was a stubborn shithead on his best days, but the thought of him dead ? It was like a hollow pit had opened in my stomach.

I stood up, keeping a tight lid on my simmering rage, and I smoothed my skirt before looking him in his mossy green eyes. “Thank you for telling me.”

I strode from the room, leaving them to have their own private meeting, and I didn’t stop walking until I was outside Holywell Hall and within my favorite little copse of trees. I pulled my wool coat up around my face to fight the bitter wind, then I dialed Zepp.

“Boss lady.”

“Hey. Do we have time for a little unscheduled project? ”

He hummed as he mulled it over. “Probably. Things are rolling along with our… scheduled one.”

“Good. This one needs to be quick and dirty.”

“Tell me more.”

So, I did. He chuckled knowingly, called me a savage, and then put the ball in motion.