What if I’d ended up trapped in Australasia with him and for the rest of my life I’d been forced into whatever arrangement he wanted because I had nowhere else to go?
I shuddered, and he pulled me closer.
"Game face on, my lovely Violet," he murmured in my ear. "Would hate for anyone to think the newest ballot winner wasn't getting her happily ever after."
"Fuck you, Alex," I whispered, with a fake smile pasted on my face. "You make me sick."
He laughed softly. "Not what you were saying when I was tongue fucking your tight cunt, darling."
I stiffened, revolted at the reminder, but he just laughed again and steered me out of the dining room and right toward—fuck my life—Rafe and Jordan. The two gorgeous princes were in the middle of what looked to be a very heated discussion, and I silently prayed for the floor to open up and swallow me whole.
"Violet," Jordan said, seeing me first. His gaze shot to Alex, and his brow dropped in a scowl. "Are you okay?"
"Of course she is, Jordy," Alex answered for me, and I seethed. Men who spokefortheir partner always gave me the icks.
Jordan cast a quick, disgusted sneer over Alex, then turned his gaze back to me, his eyes softening. "Violet, I was askingyou."
The implication was clear, and based on the way Rafe folded his strong arms, he was backing Jordan up. If I gave them the word, they'd rescue me from whatever Alex was up to, no matter what the cost.
"I'm fine," I replied with a sigh, "just looking forward to disinfecting my skin later. Hey, how are you going on that project?"
Jordan's brows lifted slightly, and the corner of his mouth curled in a knowing smile. "Really good, actually. I'm hoping to get it finished this afternoon."
Hope flared, and I bit my cheek to hold back my gleeful grin. "That's great! Hopefully it won't take long to get the results."
"As fun as it is to make idle chitchat with people I despise, we have somewhere to be. Come on, babe." Alex gave my waist a firm tug, and I reluctantly let him lead me away.
Neither of us spoke for a few minutes, me because I didn't care to make conversation with him. Ever. About anything. It was a waste of breath.
"Since when did you and Jordan work on projects together?" Alex demanded when we reached the male dorm wing. "You're not even in the same year."
I rolled my eyes. "So? I'm not in the same year as you, yet suddenly I'm taking 300 level courses."
He narrowed his eyes at me, suspicious. We were out of sight of the dining room and most of the students, but still, he kept a possessive hand on my waist. I didn't even bother trying to peel him off me because he'd probably pull some bullshit excuse out.
"Violet, if I find out that someone else has been putting their hands onmyproperty," Alex told me in a scary calm voice, "I'd be inclined to cut those hands off at the wrists. Don't think to underestimate my reach."
It was almost laughable. Here I was worried he somehow knew Jordan and I planned to frame him for breaking into a highly classified server and stealing the data files. All he could think about was whether some other guy had been warming my bed.
"I'm not your property," I spat in reply as we reached Alex's dorm room and he opened the door. "What are we doing here, anyway?"
Instead of answering, he just shoved me into his room and slammed the door shut behind him. The only thing that saved him from a broken nose and knee to the balls was the fact that he didn't lock it.
"Get in," he ordered me, nodding to his huge bed. His hands worked his tie, loosening it and tugging it off before starting on his shirt buttons.
I shook my head. "No way. I thought I made it pretty fucking clear I'm never sleeping with you again, Alex."
The look he gave me was like I'd just farted out my mouth. "Get in the fucking bed, Violet, or Matisse and Nolan will pay for your disobedience."
I blinked rapidly, feeling the sting of his threat like a physical blow.
Fuck me. Why'd I have to go forming friendships? I knew better. Friends made you vulnerable. They gave your enemies leverage where otherwise they might not have any.
Alex smiled the kind of smile a shark might give a clown fish. "Now you're getting it. I may not be able to touch those other two lovesick fools—yet—but the Guays are way, way, way down the ladder. Easy to crush with one’s boot."
And there it was. He couldn't touch me because I had no property, no title, no political aspirations and he wouldn't stand a chance in a fair fight. He couldn't touch Jordan or Rafe because, right now, their kingdoms were more powerful than his. But Mattie and Nolan? They were sitting ducks. Collateral damage. Fuckingleverage.
God damn it all to hell.
