I nod. “Thank him for me,”
“He doesn’t need your thanks, Ash. He hates those fuckers as much as we do. If he could be here himself, he would,”
If it wasn’t for Jacob and his uncle, I would have lost everything last term. I will forever be indebted to them. And by association, the Bratva.
Jacob may look like your typical English man, but his mother is a Bratva woman through and through. His uncle is some big dog in Russia, but his mother was sent to the UK for school and fell on love with an English man. Jacob wouldn’t have much to do with the Bratva with being an Evans and not a Zaitsev. But after his cousin was killed, hebecame the only heir left, so has spent every single summer back in Russia with his uncle learning the ropes.
A flash of white hair draws my attention again. I have no idea why she is avoiding me, every time I try to approach her, she gets a strange haze in her eye that wasn’t ever there before and makes an excuse to run away. I thought she would want to talk more about Bronwyn, I was actually on the verge of asking for her help, because in a matter of a few weeks she has managed to notice things that no one else does at this academy. Her insight and fresh eyes might help, because as much as I try to find out who the inside person is, faculty member or student, I am coming up empty handed.
Yes, there are a handful of staff members with questionable morals and sealed files. But none suggest an in with whatever is happening here. Mr. Carmichael is on the top of my list, not because I think the head teacher is actively kidnapping girls from his own school, but I think he knows a lot more than he is letting on. Yet every time I corner him and pretty much interrogate the man, he has a perfectly well prepped answer and explanation for everything.
“What do you think about bringing in more eyes and ears?” I ask quietly while it’s just the three of us.
“Like who?” Jacob asks. “Everyone else seems pretty okay with sailing through with blinkers on,”
“Not everyone,” I watch as Ruella starts to pack up her lunch tray. “Ruella told me she thinks Bronwyn is the latest in a line of missing girls from this school,”
“How the hell has she pieced that together?” Daylan snaps. “She has only been here five minutes. Bronwyn went missing a couple of days after we came back; she’s never even met her,”
“They could have, Bronwyn’s room is below hers,”
“How do you know that?” Jacobs gaze narrows.
“Bishop gave me her room number,” I shrug. Of course, I covered all basis after Ruella blurted out what she did. There aren’t any cameras in the sleeping quarters but there was footage showing Ruella and Bronwyn crossing paths in the main room on move in day.
“Since when did you trust Ruella? I thought she was on your list of suspects?”
“She was, and she still is,” I smirk. “Keep your friends close,”
“And your enemies closer,” Jacob grins back.
I wasn’t lying when I said I am in a constant battle of emotions.
I want Ruella Griffith. Badly.
But that doesn’t mean I trust her.
“So, you guys okay with bringing Ruella in?”
They both look at each other then back to me, nodding in sync.
When Ruella stands and turns with her tray, her eyes clash with mine and that intense pull grows stronger, as though her eyes are black holes, and I am being sucked in. Her cheeks flush and it sends a bolt straight to my cock, which hardens instantly. Then that connection is instantly squashed as that other emotion overcomes her and she spins on her heels and leaves the room, tray still in hand.
“Did she walk out without putting her tray on the stand,” Daylan asks.
“Yeah,” I chuckle to myself.
At least I affect my little vixen as much as she affects me.
Now I just need to find out why she is trying to mask it.
My phone buzzing on the table in front of us makes me groan, before I reluctantly pick it up.
“Father,” I grit out between clenched teeth. “What can I do for you?”
“You can explain to me why Darcy’s father has called me concerned, yet again, because you still haven’t asked her to accompany you to the fundraiser next week,”
I nip the bridge of my nose to try and release the building pressure.
