Page 23

RUMORS

ALEX

My ears hum with white noise as Mila drives us back into the heart of Bristal. Color returns with every mile between me and my parents’ house.

When Declan ousted the founding families and overturned the Sigma Sin Council, the Pierce and Donovan names were burned to the ground.

The Christiansen and Lancaster families were the only ones to survive the fallout.

Not that my family or Kole’s is any more innocent.

They were just better at burying their secrets from Sigma Sin.

But no matter how many times my mother recites the rosary, nothing will wash the sin from any of our hands.

Patience crucifies me for the fact that I returned to Sigma House after getting out of Montgomery, but what did she expect? That I’d return to that haunted hellscape?

I respect my father for his help in keeping my demons on a leash the best he could.

But he’s only capable of it because he understands what it means to be a monster himself.

Lancasters are damned from the second we’re born— my sister being the only exception.

It’s why I’ve done my best to protect her all these years.

Send my soul to hell if it means one of us has a chance.

“So, about last night…” Mila pulls my attention back to her, and it snaps the world into focus.

She’s teasing her lower lip with her teeth as she tightens her grip on the steering wheel. It’s rare this girl lets her nerves show, but today they’re written all over her face. Etched in the pinch of her eyebrows and climbing in the blush up her cheeks.

“What about it?”

“I know I’m probably not supposed to bring it up.” She worries her lip again. “But at the risk of sounding desperate—and because you’ve already been clearly stalking me anyway—what are we doing, Alex?”

Her green gaze flits to mine, and an avalanche hits me square in the chest, sending my insides toppling in on themselves.

Sun streams through the windows, drawing out red in Mila’s thick chestnut hair, and I want to wrap it around my fist. To slink my fingers around her waist. To breathe in her every exhale and see just how long it would take to melt her into my body.

She never should have made herself mine.

“I know what people say about me,” she continues, her voice losing surety with every word.

“But I don’t fuck every member of Sigma House.

And just because I don’t try to fight the rumors around campus doesn’t mean they’re true.

At least… not all of them are true. Yes, I’ve spent lots of time at Sigma House.

And yes, I’ve hung out with a few of your fraternity brothers.

But I don’t just open my legs for anyone with a pulse. ”

Her delivery is blunt but shameless. One of the many things that piques my curiosity when it comes to her. Mila doesn’t mind perpetuating the lies people spread, so long as it works in her favor.

I understand that.

“Also, that’s not what this is, so I thought you should know,” she continues, almost like she’s talking to herself as she works through whatever is bothering her. “Last night was?—”

She stops herself, dragging her teeth over her lower lip as she searches for the answer.

“Different,” I finish for her, reaching for her hand.

Her breath catches, like it does every time she hears my voice. Like she still thinks it might be a figment of her imagination.

Maybe I should have left it that way. It was safer when my thoughts were locked in a cage. I know better than to trust what can so easily be used against me. But something about this girl with her bright-green eyes has me peeling open parts of myself I swore I’d cemented shut.

And right now, I need her to know that I don’t give a shit what happened before me because everything moving forward is just about us.

“Yeah, we’re different.” She swallows hard, keeping her face on the road.

“I know we shouldn’t do this, Alex. Because of Patience, and because you just got out of Montgomery.

I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through right now.

I’m not trying to get in the way of you healing or readjusting. I just… I couldn’t help it.”

Me either.

Although her level of not being able to help it and mine are likely nowhere close.

Mila pulls the car to a stop outside her dorm, and I climb out first, circling to her door. I don’t think she waits intentionally, but she’s still frozen in her seat when I open it.

When she finally climbs out, she rolls her shoulders back, and it pushes out her tits. Next time I fuck her I need to strip her naked so I can memorize every beautiful inch.

A breeze rustles her hair, so she wrangles it over one shoulder.

Mila is absolute perfection. The most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. And that beauty seeps into her pores. It’s bone-deep.

What captivates me about Mila Bianchi goes beyond her pretty face and practiced smiles. It’s the knife strapped to her thigh. The trauma in her eyes. The honesty in her words, when I spent too many years pretending to be someone else for the sake of the people around me.

Her gaze drifts to my scarred arm, and I wonder when she’ll ask me about the trial—because I know she will. She’s curious but trying to be respectful. Which is more than can be said about the people who spread rumors and whisper behind my back.

I’ve heard all the theories, and while none of them are correct, Declan and Kole fed what lies were necessary—lies to keep the truth at bay.

“I’m sorry if I’m complicating this with what I just said.” Mila’s gaze drifts to the ground. “I’m not trying to push a relationship on you after one night.”

“Complicate it all you want.” I step closer, and her gaze moves to my hand snagging hers. “I don’t mind.”

Mila looks up at me with the full force of the sun. So much hope, it’s a pity her being around me too long will do nothing but douse it.

“Okay.” She smiles, but it’s tentative because I placated her question more than offered a straightforward response. “ I should get some studying done. I’m taking an online class this summer to get ahead. But I’ll be at the carnival later if you don’t have plans and want to meet up.”

I nod in response, knowing for a fact she’s uncomfortable going there when the root of her nightmares is sewn in those tents.

“Then I guess I’ll see you tonight, Alex Lancaster.” Her face brightens with appreciation I don’t deserve. “Unless you show up at my doorstep first. Or maybe my bedroom.”

This girl is asking for things she can’t handle. Begging for the monster I’ve barely chained down. Which is why I keep my mouth shut and watch her walk away in silence.

I wait by my car until Mila disappears into the dorm. There’s no need to follow her there. Kole had the entire building wired the second he laid eyes on Violet, and I happily reap the benefits of his obsession.

Climbing into my car, I take the long drive to Sigma House. There’s still a part of me that resists going to the fraternity house, but I plan to train the discomfort out of me like I do everything else. Being back is the only way to control the situation—to keep Mila safe.

Sigma House is busier by lunchtime because more of my fraternity brothers are awake. I pass two of next year’s initiates in the main hall, and they’re smart enough to avoid eye contact. They don’t know what to do with me now that I’m out of the psychiatric ward.

The same can be said for the women who loiter around these halls, some brave enough to try and get my attention. Desperate to test their boundaries with Bristal’s token psychopath. But there’s only one girl worth thinking about, and I just dropped her off at her dorm room.

Passing by the pool table, I meet Marco’s gaze and hold it a second longer than I need to. We both know I’m the reason he could never quite catch my angel, and in his glare is proof he hates that now she’s mine.

I hope it fucking haunts him.

Knowing I’ve heard her scream. Felt what it’s like to lose myself inside her. I’ve tasted her beautiful, full lips and let them breathe me back to life.

I hope it eats away at the corners of his mind, like his lies did to hers. And when I do finally make him pay for it, I’ll take my time.

Continuing down the hallway, I head to the back office and unlock it. The scent of Mila hangs in the air.

I walk to the desk and trace my fingers over the wood, still remembering the heat of her sitting on the surface. I can still feel the resistance when I tugged her ass toward me and slid her onto my cock.

Fuck, it makes me hard now.

Makes me question why I didn’t follow her up to her dorm room and submit to this sickness she’s weaving inside me. If they think I lost my mind when the House tried to break me, they have no idea what looking into Mila Bianchi’s eyes did that first time they met mine at Montgomery.

I swore I’d seen a ghost.

An angel.

She was exactly like I remembered and entirely different.

And now it’s finally time to end this mess that brought her here. To remind her why she trusts me, even if she clearly doesn’t remember.

I’m the dreams that haunt her.

The monster who keeps her up at night.

She might hate me when she learns the truth, but it’s time to atone for my sins.