Page 56 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

JOLIE

I t was Tuesday after crew practice—a week after he’d walked into Economics class with a busted face—when Bennett cornered me outside the locker rooms.

The dim hallway was deserted, most of our teammates having long made their way back up to the dining hall for dinner.

I’d just finished dressing in my Academy-issued sweats after taking a long hot shower, and I hadn’t made it three steps outside of the locker room door before a strong hand wrapped around my bicep and yanked me into the nearest quiet corner.

“Bennett, what a surprise it’s you who is manhandling me in a hallway yet again,” I deadpanned.

Similar to how it was with Zach, my body apparently recognized Bennett immediately and determined he wasn’t a threat, because I allowed him to drag me where he wanted without putting up a fuss.

My back now against the wall, I looked up into those haunting green eyes and found him glaring at me, as usual, but also looking…

befuddled? It was like he was trapped somewhere in between disbelief, awe, and his normal pissed off.

“What?” I demanded.

“I just received a call from a woman who is apparently my new private banker in the Cayman Islands,” he said slowly, like he was still processing it. “An account was opened in my name earlier today, and a very large sum of money was deposited into it shortly thereafter.”

I tried to look casual, giving him a shrug. He smelled nice, and his dark-brown hair was still wet from his own shower, giving him a softer look than his usual styled perfection. “Congratulations. You’re even richer than you were twelve hours ago.”

He speared me with a look. “I do not think it is a coincidence that I was told, mere hours prior to this phone call, that Alastia had somehow just imploded, its shares all liquidated and disappearing without a trace. I was also informed that its CEO, George Layne, is now sitting in jail in South Carolina for solicitation of a minor.” He stepped closer, our bodies now separated by mere inches, his voice low.

“The amount of cash that was deposited into my new bank account is a pretty damn close match to the valuation of a giant successful City company like Alastia.”

I kept my face blank. “Is there a question in there?”

He shut his eyes, wincing like he was in pain before he opened them again to search my face like he was desperate for an answer. “Did you do this?” he whispered.

“Does it matter?” I whispered back.

“Yes,” he huffed before he blew out a shaky breath. “If they find out it was you…. Spencer is scrambling. My father’s a nightmare. One of our most profitable partners just… vanished.”

I frowned. “They tried to kidnap you. They’d have killed you.”

He shook his head. “My father doesn’t know. We were debating how we wanted to deal with it.”

“Well,” I snapped. “It’s dealt with.”

“Clearly,” he snapped back.

We eyeballed each other, the silence between us deafening. I could see his brain whirling as he tried to process this information while the emotional turmoil roiled within him.

Finally, he stepped back, running a frustrated hand through his damp hair before he held it out, like he was reaching for me, but he quickly closed his fist and dropped it to his side, thinking better of it. Instead he just murmured, “Thank you.”

He turned to leave.

“Hey, Bennett,” I said, my words soft and quiet like I was suddenly a timid little mouse .

Don’t crush me, Spencer.

He looked back. “Yes?”

“If things had turned out… differently… would you have done it for me?”

He held my gaze, suddenly wearing the pain of the last seven years on his handsome face. His eyes were tortured and his words angry when he replied, “I would have done anything for you.”

Then he stalked off.

I hadn’t even made it into the dining hall to get my hands on the artisanal sandwich of my dreams before I was accosted yet again.

Noah slid in front of me, blocking my way to the doors. He was casual this evening in his gray cashmere sweater and fitted dark jeans that both molded perfectly to his runner’s body, and he wore a blinding smile that could light up even the darkest recesses of my cold, broken heart.

“Hey,” he said, taking several steps toward me.

“Hi?” I replied, suddenly on my heels, stepping backward as he advanced.

His beautiful smile somehow got even bigger. “You care about us.”

He was still walking toward me. I continued to fumble backwards until I came to an abrupt halt, my ass ramming into a large, potted ficus that sat neatly against the wall near the dining hall doors.

“Noah, what?—”

“Bennett, as much as he would actually take a bullet for you, has been a complete ass since you came back. But you still care for him. For us.”

He grabbed me gently by the hips, moving me from my precarious position halfway on top of the ficus and depositing me against the wall right next to it.

He kept his hands where they were and pressed his forehead to mine, and I became a pliant noodle in his hands.

I stared into those deep blue eyes, mesmerized and not having a clue as to what the fuck was going on.

“You—somehow—destroyed an entire Tier One company, stole every dollar of its worth, and secretly gave it all to Bennett. You gave him a lifeline—his own pot of money, no Family strings, to do with as he wants. You gave him freedom . And all because people connected to that company endangered his life.”

I was beet red. I’d definitely done all of those things—with my extremely capable team of Shadows, of course—and I’d done it because I was mad, and the thought of Bennett dead made me want to die, however stupid and pathetic that was.

And now Noah was looking at me like I’d hung the moon, and he was holding me like I was a precious treasure.

“So,” he went on, now very pleased at how much he’d made me—a stone-cold, badass bitch—blush. “You care about him. You care about us. It makes me very happy, sweetheart.”

“Of course I do. I told you I wasn’t?—”

Suddenly, his lips were on mine.

Sweet and gentle, I could feel the affection, the longing, and the gratitude he poured into the kiss, and I melted for him.

I’m kissing Noah—my sweet, wonderful Noah.

After a few blissful seconds, he pulled back, cupping my face as his long fingers brushed my cheek, and I let out a little whimper at the loss of him.

“Fuck,” he whispered, and then he dove back in. This time he was insistent, hungry , his tongue licking across my lips and demanding entrance as he took a firm, possessive grip on the back of my head.

I opened with a moan, and his tongue found mine, stroking it, then he sucked my lower lip into his mouth before our tongues tangled again.

He let out his own little pleased moan against my lips as I combed my fingers through his wavy blond hair. I sent the other hand south to finally get a feel of his pert ass.

“Ahem,” a harsh whisper sounded from nearby.

We froze. Noah blew out a frustrated breath as he pulled away, moving his hands to encircle my waist like it was the most casual thing ever for him to be touching me like this in the middle of the hallway.

Hannah Langford stood a few feet away, looking amused. “Just a heads-up that the masses are on their way out of the hall. You two might want to move this little rendezvous somewhere more private than behind a ficus unless you want the entire Academy—or the entire City, really—talking about it.”

Noah scowled at her, but I gave him a light shove so that he’d let me off the wall. I dropped my hand into his, giving it a squeeze, and then his sunshine smile was back.

“Thanks, Hannah,” I said. “This was… unplanned.”

She snorted. “Sure it was. I’m pissed at you, actually. I had my money on Zach in the pool.”

“What?” I asked, my eyes narrowing. Noah just chuckled next to me.

“Mari, Devin, John Tyler, and I have a pool going. Which of the Heirs was going to be the first to make a move. Only John Tyler had Noah. Way to give a win to the dudes, Knight.”

“Oh my God,” I groaned.

“I always did like JT,” Noah commented lightly, like he was musing over the fucking weather.

“It’s the quiet ones,” Hannah whispered conspiratorially. “They’ll surprise you.”

“Okay,” I said, drawing out the word. “Bye, Hannah.”

“Later!” She turned and, with a little wave, tossed her dark-red hair, her ridiculous emerald-green pantsuit clashing with the sea of neutrals and pastels as she sashayed down the hallway.

Noah pulled me to him again, this time to press a sweet kiss to my forehead. “Sorry I got carried away there, sweetheart. It won’t happen again. Not until the time is right.”

What? “Noah, wait—what does that mean?”

He was already backing away, grinning, his eyes alight with mischief. “Bye, Jojo.”

I watched him leave, a definite pep in his step, while I was left with the sneaking suspicion that I was now being cruelly edged by two of my hot ex-best friends.

I had been correct. Over the next two weeks, I became certain that the low-level horniness that had been at a constant simmer since the first time Zach crawled into my bed was going to boil over any day now, then I would just expire on the spot. Cease to exist. Melt away into nothing.

Zach still slept over most nights, often arriving long after I’d fallen asleep and disappearing even before my early morning alarm. I always knew when he was there, though, because his spicy citrus smell would linger on the sheets, and I still hadn’t had a nightmare.

Noah did not kiss me again—not like that , anyway.

He did do a lot of staring at my lips, and he was a bit freer with the touching—a squeeze to my hand, a sweet-and-just-this-side-of-too-sexual sweeping of my hair behind my ear, or a soft, chaste kiss to my cheek when we parted ways.

But mostly, it was like we’d fallen right back into our old friendship.

The tension that had lingered between us had vanished, and I had my Noah back again.

It made me even more confident in my decision to leave my dad’s flash drive in his possession. I didn’t think he’d make any more headway than I had—we needed the encryption key, period, end of story—but Dom made the point that it was probably safer in Noah’s hands than mine.

Assuming I could trust him, of course, but I somehow knew with an unshakable certainty that I could.

We didn’t know if James Spencer would come looking for that drive as Anders feared he would, but it was unlikely he’d target Noah in his search.

Bennett’s face had healed completely, quelling the possessive monster that lived inside of me that I struggled to control. He seemed stressed, but then one day I caught him actually laughing with Zach and Noah—in public —so things couldn’t have been all bad.

The elation at seeing Bennett lit up and laughing with them had been swiftly smothered by the soul-crushing sorrow that I was no longer a part of it. The whole thing had almost torn me into sad, pathetic little pieces, and I’d run from the room.

I’d had to remind myself too many times that I wasn’t here for this.

I was here to prove I was a proper Heir, and I couldn’t lose focus on the war going on behind the scenes.

The Families had been quiet, oblivious to our current project and still seemingly content to hope I failed to make the necessary impression at the Academy while they tried to poke and prod at the small part of my operation that they knew about.

Knight Acquisitions, Inc. was warding off almost daily attempts to hack into its system, and Dom and Max had to have a stern chat with two different Family goons they’d caught sneaking around the bookstore.

It was nothing we hadn’t expected or seen before, but we were all still constantly on our guard.

And that was how Max ended up as my escort to Zach’s twentieth birthday party, to be held this evening at none other than the Euphoria Club—Andrea’s base of operations and the scene of one of my infamous B&Es.

“Are you two quite done?” Mari asked irritably from her spot on the plush white couch in our dorm apartment. “Por amor del Dios, this is a birthday party, not a SWAT raid.”

Max and I stood in the dining room, where we’d been busy finding the best places to stash our weapons—which were currently lined up in a neat little row on the table—without ruining our outfits.

“Ah, let them do what they need to feel safe, mi corazón,” Carmen said, squeezing Mari’s hand. “We are going into the belly of the beast, after all.”

Max grinned and pointed at Carmen with the little dagger he was holding. “What she said.”

Mari huffed. “You’ve been here less than a day, and already Max likes you more than me, querida.”

Carmen laughed, tossing a wink back in our direction.

I’d met her many times on video calls, and she was every bit as charming in person.

She was petite like Mari, but slender where Mari was curvy, and she had honey-brown hair, pale skin, and the cutest tortoise-shell glasses.

She wore a deep-purple romper paired with chunky black sneakers, and because she was a woman after my own heart, she’d pulled her long hair into a sleek ponytail.

Mari wore a sexy little black dress with red pumps, while I’d opted for a sheer white blouse that showed off my fancy black bra, a black leather miniskirt, dark tights, and heeled boots.

Max looked slick in his gray Henley and tight jeans, and his long black hair was in his usual artfully messy knot.

He threw on the puffy vest that was going to hide his handgun.

“I love all of my ladies equally,” Max announced, “and I am prepared to defend your honor tonight should anything go awry in the Ferrero snake pit.”

I pulled on my own wool coat, tucking my last knife into an inside pocket.

“Zach swore up and down there would be no issues with my attending a party at the Club. He gave me the biggest fucking puppy dog eyes and made me promise I’d be there.

” I ignored the waggling eyebrows and knowing looks I was getting from all three of them.

“So, I’m not worried. And this is pretty much Max’s and my every day casual wear, anyway. ”

Mari rolled her eyes before hopping to her feet, pulling Carmen up with her. “Let’s go, then, Laura Croft. Your man will be disappointed if we’re late.”

Max coughed as he muttered, “You mean men .”

They giggled as Max leaned forward to give them each a high-five, and I mentally disowned him as I zipped my jacket and grabbed my purse, griping, “You guys are the worst.”