Page 145 of Ruthless Chaos

My finger hovers over the green icon on the screen.

The last time Uncle Laurent and I spoke, things didn’t end well. He left me feeling hopeless when I needed him most. What could he possibly want now?

The thought crosses my mind that maybe he’s calling to tell me that he and my father have found whoever is after me, that I can leave this place.

That’s the only reason I answer his call.

“Allie?”

It takes me a second to find my voice. “Hello, Uncle Laurent,” I say.

My heartbeat is in my fingertips.

“What is this I’m hearing about you, Allie?” He cuts straight to the chase, and there’s a hint of annoyance to his tone. “Is there something you want to share with me?”

“What are you talking about?”

He huffs in exasperation. “You know exactly what I mean,” he says. “Alexander Duke.”

The air evaporates from my lungs.

When Alexander mentioned that the gossip about our arrangement would spread quickly, I had no idea he meant it would go farther than the campus limits.

I don’t know what to say. Is he angry at me?

“Oh, uh….” It’s like I’ve forgotten how to speak. “It was necessary,” I say, clutching at the words as they appear in my mind. “I needed protection. I was being targeted here.”

The blow up I expect doesn’t happen. Instead, Uncle Laurent chuckles.

“It seems I underestimated you, Allie,” he says. I can hear the smile in his voice. I’m even more confused now. “You’ve managed to turn the most dangerous man on that campus into your bodyguard. Well done.”

“Bodyguard?” I say, feeling defensive. I don’t know what to call what Alexander and I have, but he certainly isn’t my bodyguard. “It’s not like that, Uncle Laurent.”

“Then what is it like, Allie?" He lowers his voice. “He’s your boyfriend, then?”

My throat grows dry. “It’s not like that either.” I didn’t need this reminder that Alexander and I are in relationship limbo. “Just don’t call him my bodyguard, please. I really don’t want to talk about him as if it’s a transaction.” Frankly, I do not want to be talking about him with Uncle Laurent at all.

“The fact that you have his protection is just a coincidence?” Uncle Laurent asks. “You didn’t do it intentionally?”

I fiddle with the hem of my shirt, unsure of what to tell him.

When I called Uncle Laurent after that horrible first night, I didn’t specify who had hurt me. I don’t feel like explaining to him that it was Alexander, or what the rest of our encounters entailed. He might just think I’m crazy.

I don’t need his judgment when I don’t even understand it myself.

“I didn’t seek him out,” I say simply. “It just…happened.”

“It seems I was giving you too much credit.” He sounds oddly disappointed that this whole thing wasn’t some part of a carefully concocted plan. “Do you even know who Alexander Duke is?”

I’ve heard rumors, and Tara has told me a thing or two. “No, not really,” I say, then add, “Nothing of consequence at least.”

“His family controls most of the gun and drug trade in London,” Uncle Laurent says, and there’s a certain kind of admiration in his voice that makes my stomach roil. “His father would put yours to shame. From what I hear, Alexander will take over from him once he’s out of school Maybe even sooner.”

I swallow thickly, my throat tight.

Guns? Drugs? I think of the custom gun I saw him with that night, of how he almost killed Liam. I don’t know why now those things feel so…different.

So…scary.