“I’ll call you shortly.”
After I hang up, I make my way toward Ames’s class. When I reach the lecture hall, he’s already there, rifling through the contents in his briefcase. He freezes at my appearance and jerks up his head, our gazes colliding.
“Donovan, what are you doing here?”
“Attending class.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “You’re not registered for my class. This is on your bride’s schedule.”
“She’s my responsibility.” I shove my hands in my pockets, feigning nonchalance. “Are we going to have a problem?”
He straightens to his full height, his eyes piercing. “This is only a problem if you make it one.”
“Let me be clear,” I say. “My bride attends your class, therefore, so do I.”
He tilts his head, examining me like I’m a hazardous chemical. “That attitude is going to get you in trouble,recruit. The other leaders may be willing to look past your insubordination, but I won’t.”
It takes every ounce of self-control I possess to keep my features blank. My fingers curl into fists as the need for violence spreads through my body. “What do you mean?”
“Your father’s position on the council doesn’t exclude you from our chain of command. You will fall in line, or you’ll be destroyed.”
“I’ve never gone against the Order’s wishes.”
He eyes me, sizing me up as though we’re about to engage in combat. “Be mindful of your words when speaking about your bride, Donovan. She hasn’t been good for you.”
“That girl isn’t your problem.”
“Thatgirlwas poking her nose in the Order’s business,” Ames says, his tone sharp. “She asked me about my signet ring and its origins on her first day of class. Awfully curious for someone with no affiliation to the founding families. Making her part of the Bride Hunt was the easiest way to gain her silence and stop her inquiries. I assume you’ve handled her appropriately, so I don’t have to?”
His thinly veiled threat shoots acid into my veins. All this time, I wasn’t sure why Delilah got caught in the Order’s crosshairs. Especially after Benjamin and I had gone through such great lengths to keep her hidden. Now I know.
Delilah’s loyalty to Benjamin could’ve gotten her killed, on more than one occasion. First when she asked Ames about his signet ring. Then with her sneaking onto the fraternity’s property. And finally, chasing me down in the parking lot to ask me about Benjamin’s whereabouts. If I could sever the ties between them, I would.
However, the memory of her on the rooftop, wounded and bleeding because she believedmylife was at stake, crawls to theforefront of my mind like a snake, poisonous and cold. I put her in just as much danger than her foster brother has.
I meet Ames’s gaze head-on and nod. “Yes, she’s behaving. I’m here to pacify her. Nothing more.”
“Be careful you don’t overindulge her,” he says. “Women are always a threat. They’re most likely to take advantage of us when we’re blinded by lust.”
Ames’s words grate against me, fueling the fire I’m trying to keep contained. “I haven’t forgotten your lessons,” I say. “She’s my property. Nothing more than that.”
Until I make her my bride in name and deed.
He studies me for a moment, his gaze narrowing as if gauging my sincerity. “Just make sure your property doesn’t compromise your loyalty. The Order willalwayscome first.”
I nod, although every part of me rebels.
Delilah is my first priority in any situation, even if it costs me everything. The Order might be the legacy I was born into, but a life with my little raptor is the legacy I wish to create.
Chapter 9
DELILAH
I’m not sure if I want to punch Xavier or kiss him for what he did today. Actually, it’s both.
Every time I think about how he attended my classes so I could hear the lectures firsthand, butterflies take flight in my stomach and swarm my chest. If I wasn’t on pain meds, I’d drink enough alcohol to drown those bitches. Somehow, I keep ignoring the fact that he threw a freaking knife at me.
I briefly close my eyes, wrapped in the cocoon of Xavier’s sheets and surrounded by the scent of him. My skin is warm and damp from the shower I took, and my hair lies on my shoulders in clumps. Bathing myself left me with barely enough energy to stumble into bed. Combing my hair is out of the question.
