He rolls his eyes. “Your daddy does.”
He leans to the side, where a bag is tucked partially under his chair, and pulls out a cell phone.
EvenIdon’t have mine. Who the fuck didn’t check his bag?
“Look.”
He pulls up an article about her father’s company going public. The headline is legible from here–probably because I wouldn’t shut up about how it meant this guy was just another rich, white asshole, and I practically memorized it.
“You pay me, and I pretend you didn’t file a report with the school.” His eyes narrow. “You nearly got me in trouble, Scar.”
“I–” She shakes her head. “I’m not asking him for money.”
He glances at the phone. “I’ve got a nice little video I could send him. One of you in your glory days at those frat parties… Or maybe of your boyfriend cage fighting? It’s a secret, isn’t it? I’d hate for this to get posted.”
“Boyfriend?” she questions.
Nicholas motions to me.
Ah, fuck.
He flashes a video someone must’ve taken discreetly–one of his goon helpers, probably. It’s got my face in it.
“How much?” she asks.
My mouth dries. She mustreallynot want whatever video he has of her to get out. Not that I can blame her. God, my mind is a jumble. I think I do have a concussion.
“Hmm…” Nicholas smirks. “Twenty grand sounds reasonable.”
Her jaw drops.
My gut churns.
“I don’t have that,” she whispers. “I can’taskfor that.”
He shrugs and pretends to pick at his nails. The phone disappears back into his bag. “I don’t know, Scar. It’s either that or those two videos get sent out, and I get to watch both your lives crash and burn.”
“Nicholas–”
I can’t hear her beg him.
“I’ll pay,” I blurt out.
I have twenty grand. Locked in a safe in the house. I’ll have to figure out another way to pay back the Webber brothers, now that the plan for this fight has gone out the window. Now that I’ve failed their test. But I’d rather deal with that thanthis.
Scarlett’s jaw drops, but she recovers fast. “No, Cross–”
“It’s fine,” I say quickly. I step forward and put myself between them. “I pay, and you disappear for good. Is that the deal?”
Nicholas rises. He presses a hand to his ribs and tries to suppress his expression. He can’t hide the flicker of pain, but it passes after a moment. He meets me in the middle and sticks out his hand.
“And you delete the videos,” I add.
He pauses. His eyes gleam, but after a beat, he nods.
I shake his hand when all I want to do is punch him in the face until he’d need surgery to put his nose back together. He snickers and pulls away first, turning his back like he doesn’t have a care in the world about the two of us. He grabs his bag and heads to the door.
The noise rushes in when it opens then leaves Scarlett and me in the devastating quiet when it slams shut again.
