Jordan huffed as he finished dressing himself. “We all will. We need to fill the others in on our plan for Alex, too.”
I grinned at his implication that I had any hand inhisplan but agreed anyway.
Round two would have to wait; we had crappy news to deliver to my bestie.
Chapter 17
Mattie had been less than excited when we told her that Zachary Westbridge would be back at Arbon Academy in a matter of days. Still, she handled it well, vowing to pick up some random guy—or girl—in front of her slutty fiancé just to give him a taste of his own medicine.
Jordan’s virus idea cheered her up a whole lot, though, and I all but forgot about the mysterious Meghan until we were leaving Mattie’s room hours later.
“Hey,” I said, pausing Jordan with a hand on his arm as we approached the junction of hallways before the boys’ dorms. “Who’s Meghan? When Rafe said she was coming to the dance, you looked, I don’t know, annoyed? Should I be worried?”
Jordan wrinkled his nose, but shook his head. “Not at all, gorgeous. She’s… uh wow. I mean, this shouldn’t really come as any shock given what we know, but she’s my betrothed.”
My brows shot up, and my lips parted. Of course, the logical part of my brain knew he had a fiancée.Allthe royals did. And if they didn’t… well, apparently that was what the princess ballot was for.
Still, no one had mentioned Jordan’s intended—outside of Mattie’s cryptic words. But she was right, no girls pawed at him every meal break like Claudette did to Rafe. Part of me had hoped maybe she didn’t exist.
“Oh,” I said. Yeah, that was the best I could manage. My heart was at my feet, and my stomach was rolling with reality. Jordan was engaged… which meant I’d just had sex with an attached man. Oh fucking hell, I was theother womanin this scenario. Rafe’s engagement to Claudette didn’t count. She was a raging cunt who’d tried to have me killed.
Jordan shook his head, though, and laughed. “It’s not like that. I promise. Meggy is like… She’s like my sister. I legitimately can’t picture ever marrying her. Ever. Ever, ever, ever.” He shuddered dramatically to drive the point home, and I allowed it to lift my spirits a tiny bit. “I can see you’re still doubting me, but please, Violet, trust me. Meghan isnotsomeone you need to worry about. I’ll introduce you at the dance, and you’ll understand.”
“Okay,” I replied, cautious and skeptical. It wouldn’t exactly be the first time a crown prince at Arbon Academy had played me for a fool, would it? “If you’re fucking with me, you know I’ll kill you, right?”
Jordan smiled this gorgeous, blinding smile that I badly wanted to kiss. Or would if I wasn’t suddenly second guessing everything between us..
“I’ll buy you new blades myself,” he promised, snaking his arms around my waist and leaning down to kiss my lips ever so softly. “Want to come back to my room? I think we left something unfinished earlier.” He raised a brow, and my pussy fluttered with excitement. Greedy bitch.
“I wish,” I groaned, “but despite the way Alex is fucking with my course schedule, I do still want to graduate with a degree from Arbon Academy. Which means I need to study. Raincheck?” I was lying—my grades were basically guaranteed now—but I was feeling really overwhelmed and needed a minute to get my head straight.
Jordan kissed me again, deeper this time and almost changing my mind. But then he released me with a sigh and nodded. “I’ll take that raincheck, gorgeous. See you at breakfast.”
I stood there for way longer than I needed to, watching him walk down the hallway towards the guys’ dorms. My stomach was a mess of butterflies and knots, and I had no idea which was more prevalent. I’djustbeen burned by Alex. It was way too soon to go sticking the crumpled remains of my heart back out there.
Maybe we could just keep it casual, though. Maybe with that looming question of my attraction to Rafe, I could guard my emotions with Jordan.
Yeah, right.
On my way back to my room, I was lost in many thoughts. Sex, espionage, viruses, international lists to purchase the perfect reproductive match. I mean, was this some sort of fucking movie or real life? Royals did not live like normal people, that much was no secret, but at the same time, I had not expected this level of insanity. Not in, like, five months of being part of this world.
Turning the final corner into my hall, there was no one in front of me, and I appreciated that I was in one of the farthest wings. Out of sight. Private.
A hand wrapped around my forearm, yanking me to the side, and while I was prepared to fight, they were as skilled as me, wrapping two arms around me and effectively trapping both of my hands.
I still had my feet though.
Throwing myself back, I cracked my assailant under the chin, hard enough that I saw stars and he swore.
The moment I heard that familiar voice, I stopped my assault. It took my heart a bit longer to calm, though.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Rafe?” I whisper-yelled, wrenching myself out of his grip.
He’d pulled me into one of the secret tunnels through an entrance I hadn’t known was there. It was close to my room, and I made note of the exact panel for future reference.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing with Jordan?” he snarled back.
I blinked, trying to figure out his tone. The shadowy alcove hid his expression for the most part, and I only caught a sliver of annoyance and frustration in his voice.
