Page 21

Nic

My heartbeat pounds like a war drum, rattling my ribs and drowning everything else out except pure, blistering rage, as I head to Kai’s office.

I should focus on my breathing. On keeping my hands from shaking. On keeping my mind from replaying that sentence.

while you find another rich man to finance your dreams.

A single sentence that torched my entire fucking life. Because it wasn’t just an insult.

In one cruel move, he outed me in front of the entire class—not only will everyone think Theo dumped me, they’ll know what I am.

What I’ve always been.

A woman who needs. A woman who takes. A woman who only knows how to survive off the generosity of men.

For my surgeries. My sister. My father.

I clench my fists so tight my nails bite into my palms.

“Nic!” Barry catches up to me in a few long strides. “Are you okay?”

I blink at Barry. “Of course.”

“What a fucking douchebag—I cannot believe I was actually rooting for that guy.”

I swallow hard, forcing air into my lungs. “Really, I’m fine.”

Barry lifts a skeptical brow. “You don’t look fine. You look like you’re about to commit a crime.”

To kill someone, yes

A humorless laugh slips out before I can stop it. “Hardly.”

“Nic, it’s okay to be pissed. I want to strangle him, too. That bastard humiliated you in front of everyone! If I didn’t need the grades, I’d have—“

“It’s fine, Barry,” I repeat before he can build any more steam.

“It’s not fine!” Barry insists. “He crossed a line. How can you not see that, Nic?”

I glance away, having no words for the tangled mess inside me. Because underneath the anger, underneath the embarrassment, there’s something else—something darker.

Something to do with the way Kai had looked at me that first moment I entered the lecture hall.

And the way he’d pressed hard—right where it hurt the most—like he’d been waiting to rip me open. Why?

Because he’s a fucking asshole, that ’s why.

“You’re doing that thing.” Barry gently takes my elbow as we continue toward Kai’s office.

“What thing?”

“The one where you’re mentally scripting your next episode of ‘How to Sabotage My Life in Three Easy Steps.’”

I roll my eyes.

“I mean it, Nic.” His grip tightens slightly, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Define stupid.” I rake a hand through the loose waves of my hair—hair that has somehow become unbound from my tight ponytail.

“Like going into that office and letting him get under your skin.” Barry’s eyes flick over me, and he groans. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

“What?”

His gaze drops to my shirt. I follow his line of sight—and freeze.

My top three buttons are undone.

Oh, hell.

“Nic,” Barry warns again.

“What? It’s warm today,” I snap, even though we both know it’s a bald-faced lie. The weather has nothing to do with it.

Barry drags a hand down his face, muttering something under his breath. “Nic, I’m begging you, don’t let him win. Or at least let me go alone. Give him an hour or two to settle. He had this . . . glint in his eye. Even I shook a little in my sneakers. He wants a fight.”

Well, so do I. “Come on.” I force a fake smile. “What’s he going to do?”

“I don’t know, chew us both up and spit only me out?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Barry doesn’t laugh. “You two just had a very public, heated exchange. Why walk into his office right after and make it even worse?”

We stop outside Kai’s office door, and I hesitate, searching for a logical reason — something that doesn’t sound completely unhinged—to explain why I need to do this. But there’s nothing logical about it.

All I know is that I need to push back until something inside me snaps. I need to feel something---anything---other than this suffocating helplessness that’s been choking me for weeks.

“You said it yourself, Barry. He’s a douchebag. A bully. I need to stand up to him.”

Barry’s gaze flickers between me and the door, torn between exasperation and concern. After several moments, he blows out a sharp breath, throws up his hands in defeat, and knocks.

The heavy sound echoes down the hall.

“Enter.”

Kai’s voice is low and calm, as if he’s not actively unraveling my entire life.

Barry hesitates at the threshold, stepping half inside before turning back and blocking my path with his arm. “Wait outside, Nic. Let me handle him.”

I shove past him, pushing the door open with such force it hits the wall with a sharp bang

The rectangular office is larger than I expected. Everything is dark wood and severe, the shelves nearly bare except for a few neatly stacked books. A leather couch and low coffee table sit on the far end. There’s a single framed photograph on the polished desk, turned facedown.

Kai leans against the edge of the desk, arms folded over his chest and ankles crossed. His posture is relaxed, but his eyes are anything but. They track me like a predator.

I widen my stance and lift my chin.

Barry steps in front of me like a shield, as if he expects Kai to lunge.

“Professor Mitchell—Chase,” Barry starts, voice tight with forced politeness. “I thought we had an understanding. That you actually cared about my friend—“

“You may go, Mr. Thorne.” Kai doesn’t even glance at him.

Barry flinches, his hands curling into fists at his sides. “Like hell I am—”

“It’s fine, Barry.” I lay a hand on his shoulder, my fingers squeezing just enough to stop him from charging. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

He whirls on me. “Nic, I’m not leaving you alone with this . . . this . . .” He hesitates, no doubt searching for a word that won’t get him expelled.

“Walk away, Thorne,” Kai growls, each syllable dipped in steel.

Barry’s jaw flexes, his shoulders tensing, but I give him another nod, silently begging him to leave.

He doesn’t like it. Every inch of him protests it. But finally, he exhales sharply and grumbles, “I’ll be right outside.”

“Don’t bother, she’s going to be in here for a while,” Kai says smoothly.

Barry’s eyes widen, and I can practically hear the alarm bells pealing in his head. Not that I blame him.

Barry throws up his hands, mutters something under his breath that sounds a lot like ‘fucking psycho,’ and storms away.

The moment the door slams behind Barry, the atmosphere changes.

The air gets heavier. The space between Kai and me feels charged, the silence thick enough to choke on.

I meet his gaze head-on even as my stomach twists itself into knots. “What the hell is this about, Professor Mitchell?”

He pushes off the desk and closes the distance between us with unhurried steps, each footfall landing like a countdown.

I fight the insane urge to run.

He stops less than a foot away from me—too close---his eyes scanning me like he’s taking inventory of every crack in my armor. “Jerking off to my sick power trips?”

My nostrils flare. “Finding another man to finance my dream? Really, jackass? How dare you?”

The corner of his mouth curves up. “Where the fuck have you been, Nicole?”

“How is that any of your fucking business?” I spit. “You humiliated me out there.”

Kai’s expression doesn’t change. “I told the truth.”

“You had no right—”

“No right?” His voice is almost amused. He steps even closer until I have to tilt my head back to hold his gaze. “Do you have any idea why I set up an in-person test two weeks into the semester?”

My breath leaves me in a rush as it dawns on me. “Because you’re a control freak who likes to throw tantrums?”

At first, he says nothing, letting the silence stretch taut.

Are you going to tell me you didn’t enjoy being chased . . . and caught? That you didn’t enjoy me reeling you in against your will? That it didn’t turn you on that in the sea of hundreds of people, nothing and no one else existed except you, your rage and the man you’re dying to fuck it out of you?”

I see red.

I move before I think, and the next thing I know, my palm is flying toward his face.

Kai catches my wrist before it lands.

My breath rips out of me. Not because he stopped me, but because he knew I would slap him—he wanted me to.

His grip tightens. Then—slowly, deliberately—he lays my hand on his stubbled cheek. As if he’s offering his face on his terms.

“Go on. Hit me. See if it makes you feel better.”

My fingers twitch against his warm skin. I want to. God, I want to. But if I do it. If I break . . . he wins, just like he did that night at the fundraiser when he made me bite him. I won’t fall for that shit again.

So, I step back and force my breath to even out.

“That’s what I thought.” Kai’s taunt is razor sharp.

My nails bite into my palms. “Go to hell.”

“Been there already. Now, be a good girl and go lock the door. Your lesson is about to begin.”