Page 34

A SUM OF ITS PARTS

MILA

I wouldn't be surprised if the library at Briar Academy is haunted.

The old chairs creak with the slightest movement, and the floorboards wobble with every step.

Cobwebs decorate the corners of the two-story bookcases, and dust paints a thick layer over the shelves.

While everything else at Briar Academy is maintained and brand new, walking through the doors of the library is like stepping back in time.

With school out of session for the summer, the thermostat is set higher. Summer heat has settled, but Briar doesn’t want to waste money on air conditioning. It’s blistering hot. Nearly unbearable.

Sweat beads the back of my neck. Even in a tank top and short skirt, I'm burning up.

I hate how uncomfortable the library is, but with everything going on between me and Alex, I feel guilty snooping around his fraternity house again. And due to the comprehensive town archives at the library, this is the next best place to search for information on Sigma Sin .

Maybe I shouldn’t still be digging. Threatening texts have been coming in more frequently this past week, urging me to stop. Then there’s Alex’s loyalty to the House. If he found out I’m searching for dirt, would he turn me over to them or understand?

I don’t know enough yet to risk finding out the answer to the question.

When the librarian leans back in her chair, losing herself in her book, I quickly turn the corner toward the archives.

During the school year, these records are heavily monitored.

The only way to get access is to put in a request and have the librarian retrieve specific books.

Thankfully, she’s too distracted by her iced tea and summer reading at the moment to care where I’m going, and there is no one else here.

The archives section of the library is in the back corner, sectioned off in its own room. It’s so dusty when I open the door that I sneeze, hoping I’m too far away for the librarian to hear. It takes me a few minutes to find what I’m looking for, and when I do, the book almost falls on me.

I skate my fingers over the Sigma House insignia embossed on the leather cover, taking a seat at the only table in the center of the room.

Sigma House was originally founded by the same four families who founded the town of Bristal. Teal’s family, the Donovans. Kole’s family, the Christiansens. Declan’s family, the Pierces. And finally, Alex’s family, the Lancasters.

To this day, and even after Declan recently turned over the Council at Sigma House, those four names hold more weight than any others within the boundaries of Bristal.

They’ve woven their influence through generations.

A spiderweb that has spread with each graduating class until it fed into corporations and political parties well past the boundaries of this town.

The evil deeds of Sigma House aren’t bound only by what happens here on the Briar Academy campus. The House’s influence extends to every facet of the country. Which is how somewhere, some tie is threaded to Oregon.

To Remi.

More dust clouds the air as I flip open the thick cover. Thankfully, the book is clearer than the cryptic codes I found in the ledger at Sigma House.

The first page is a series of family trees that end a couple generations before Alex’s. Information that old won’t lead me directly to who I’m looking for. Still, I continue flipping through the pages, sorting through the history of familiar family names and businesses.

Each page is proof of how Sigma House bleeds into the corruption in our country. And it all stemmed from one fraternity, built on a foundation of sacrifice and sin.

Alex Lancaster is one of them.

He’s not listed in the book, but plenty of his family members are, tracing all the way back to a man named Teagan Kurt Lancaster. It’s no wonder Declan, Kole, and Alex are all so fucked-up considering how far back the corruption goes. Or why Patience resents them for it.

A floorboard creaks behind me, and I jump, slamming the book shut, which only reveals my guilt.

“When are you not getting into trouble?” Alex smirks, striding across the room.

“Who said I’m getting into trouble?”

He hums, peering over my shoulder at the Sigma Sin logo on the front of the book sitting in front of me. “Looking for something?”

“Answers. ”

He leans down to plant a kiss on my forehead, pausing to breathe me in. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Alex is gentle and sweet. But when his fingers wrap over my collarbone, trailing my bare shoulder like a threat, I know better.

Every touch has lethal precision. Each movement a warning. And I crave more.

Alex’s fingers pause at my pulse, and I’m curious if he knows it strums for him. He rests there for a heartbeat, then pulls away, leaving me wanting as he drops into the seat beside me and leans back.

His knees are casually spread, but his scarred hand flexes. It’s the only hint that something is bothering him.

“What kind of answers are you looking for, Mila Bianchi?”

“It’s not important.”

He’s too smart to believe the lie, but he doesn’t bother wasting his breath arguing. He simply tilts his head and waits for me to answer his question honestly.

“Fine.” I break when he won’t stop staring. “It is important, but that doesn’t mean I want to talk about it.”

“Fair enough.”

My eyebrows knot in confusion because I expected him to push me harder than that.

Alex steals the book from my hand and flips it open, skimming the pages. He pauses on one about his great-grandfather. A bloodline of monsters, and I’m falling for one of them.

“Is it weird being from a family that’s important enough to have a whole section in the town archives?” I ask, watching him flip the page again.

He shrugs. “I don’t know any different.”

Alex doesn’t pause long enough to read anything. But I suppose he doesn’t need to. While most children grow up hearing fairytales, Sigma Sin has its own lore to pass down. Influence that was strong enough to convince Alex to continue his trials even after what happened to him.

Whether his scars were a direct result of the House’s actions or not, they’re the ones who left him in that vulnerable state. Who allowed someone to gain access to him. They aren’t innocent, so why does he seem to forgive them?

“Ask me what you’re thinking, Mila.” Alex doesn’t look up, but his attention is clearly on me.

I swallow hard, twisting the hem of my shirt with my fingers. “You still chose to become a legacy for the House even after they sent you to Montgomery. Why?”

His fingers pause on a page, and he slowly closes the book. Alex turns his face to me. His knees are tipped open so that mine are caged between his, but he doesn’t reach for more. One hand strums the wooden table, while the other relaxes on his thigh.

“There is no stopping the initiation process once it starts unless Sigma House decides they’re done with you.”

“But you weren’t even at the House anymore.” My eyebrows pull. “I’ve heard the rumors. They’ve let initiates go for much less. And after what they did?—”

“What one person did,” Alex corrects me. “Not the House . Not even a member of it.”

“Still. At what point is enough, enough?”

“I guess that depends on the situation.”

I try to digest his words. “You really wanted to become one of them that badly? You were willing to just forgive the part they played in it?”

“Would it make you feel better if I said they forced me to do it? ”

“It would make me feel better to know the truth.”

The corner of his mouth lifts. “I made the decision to pledge the House, Mila. And to continue my trials from a distance. No one forced my hand. There’s still a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Then tell me.” It comes out sharp.

Alex might think I haven’t earned those answers, but I deserve them.

This might just be sex—or a whim, as his father called it. But I have enough self-respect to demand transparency. I deserve to know who I’ve climbed into bed with.

My expression softens. “I’m not judging you, Alex.”

“You say that now.”

“I say that in all honesty. I just want to get to know you.”

Alex’s gaze drifts, and we both know it’s not that simple. “You want to know why I forgave them?”

“Yes.”

He flattens his palm on the table, quiet for a moment.

“Because an institution is the sum of its parts. The House doesn’t make us; we make it .

Every member who pledged before us. Every member who pledges now.

We all find our way there for a reason, and that includes me.

There are no innocents. No accidents. We all know what we’re signing up for. ”

“So that’s it? You forgive them because you think you’re no better than they are?”

“I’m not.” His eyes land on mine. “Or do you want to see me like my sister does? A pawn in their game? A victim? Do you want to convince yourself I don’t bleed Sigma Sin just so you can feel better about what we’re doing?”

“I don’t need lies to make myself feel better about anything.” My eyes narrow. “I’m capable of protecting myself, even from you.”

Alex leans forward, brushing his fingers over the ridge of the knife holster at my thigh. “Clearly.”

He’s still never asked me about the knife, but that simple action makes it clear he knows beyond words why it’s important to me. How it makes me feel safe. In control.

While Alex protects himself with isolation, I prefer blades. Two very different defense mechanisms we use to keep others at a distance. Except Alex sees through mine.

I tug the hem of my skirt to hide the tip of the sheathed knife. “I’m under no illusions when it comes to you, Alex. I don’t care that you stayed with Sigma House. I’m just trying to understand it.”

“I stayed because that’s where I belong.”

With sinners. With men who do terrible things. Because he’s no better.

“Okay.” I swallow hard. “I accept that.”

At least it’s the truth. Alex is no prince or hero. That much, I accept.

Alex shakes his head, almost like my acceptance makes this worse. “You should walk away, Mila. Or at least try.”

“Like you’d let me?” I narrow my eyes.

The smirk that climbs up the corner of Alex’s mouth is downright deadly. He leans closer, brushing a finger up my bare leg. And even if it’s sweltering in this room and sweat trickles down the back of my neck, I shiver like I’m freezing.

“I wouldn’t.” He tucks my hair behind my ear. “And you should be glad, my angel. Because I might be a bad man, but I’m yours.”

Mine.

Why does that sound so good ?

“Good.” I bite the corner of my lip, trying to bury my smile.

Alex smirks in return. “Join me for dinner at my parents’ house this Sunday.”

It’s a fight not to roll my eyes. “I’m pretty sure your dad was clear that I was not included in that invitation. He doesn’t want me there.”

“I want you there.” So simple, yet… not.

Taking a deep breath, I come up empty on excuses not to. His dark eyes rarely show a hint of hope. I refuse to be the one to snuff it out now.

“All right. I’ll go.”

“Good.” Alex hums, leaning forward and lifting me from my chair.

“Alex!”

He sets me down on the table in front of him, peeling up my skirt. “You’re going to have to be quieter than that unless you want the librarian’s attention.”

“What are you doing?” I whisper yell, trying to close my knees when he starts to tip them open, but there’s no use.

“Thanking you for being so agreeable and understanding.” Alex peels my underwear to the side, kissing the path up my inner thigh. “Don’t you want me to thank you, Mila?”

“This is a public library.”

“Exactly.” He grazes his teeth on the sensitive skin right between my legs; his hot breath sends my blood coursing through my veins. “So be a good girl and keep quiet for me.”

That’s the last warning I get before he flattens his tongue on my pussy, licking all the way up. And it takes both hands on my mouth to stifle my scream as he ravishes my core, not stopping until I fall apart.