Chapter 209

We let Chase into the room. In his arms, he carried the recording equipment we would need. He placed each item on the table, then turned to me.

“Ready?”

I doubted I would ever be ready, but I was as close as I could be. So I nodded.

The recording device was very small and hidden within a broach I could wear on my shirt.

The earpiece was subtle, tucked into my ear like a hearing aid. It would be mostly hidden unless someone knew to look for it. I could brush my hair forward to hide it.

Chase helped me attach the broach and insert the hearing aid. Behind him, Asher paced back and forth across the length of the room.

As Chase worked on setting everything up to his phone, he lost patience.

“Asher, please. Go for a walk. Your energy is making everyone more nervous, even me.”

Asher glared at him, but ultimately agreed, moving toward the door. “Don’t leave without me.”

“We have time,” Chase said.

Asher looked at me. I nodded. Then he left the room.

Chase sighed. “He has it bad for you, Cynthia.”

“It’s not all like that.” I didn’t know how to explain the intricacies of our relationship, or even if I should.

Asher had said we were mates, but he had left it at that, unless they had talked about it separate from that instance, which I doubted. Asher was very private.

Chase glanced at my face, surprised.

I worried my hands together. “He cares about me, but I’m still not sure if it’s totally… romantic.”

“And how do you feel about him?” When I didn’t answer right away, he asked, “Do you love him?”

I looked at the ground. “I… don’t want to be hurt.”

But I knew it was already too late for that. If Asher didn’t want me romantically, I would ache all the way down to the deepest reaches of my heart. I might not ever recover.

I loved Asher. I wanted him to be my mate in all ways, and I wanted to belong to him in the same way.

Anything short of that wouldn’t be enough. Not really. No matter how much I lied to myself.

Chase touched my shoulder, reclaiming my attention. “You have nothing to worry about.”

I didn’t know how to believe him. He couldn’t possibly know the inner workings of Asher’s heart.

“In fact,” Chase continued, “I need you to promise to be extra careful today, for yourself of course. But also for him. He’s never been like this with anyone before. I don’t want to see what would happen to him if he lost you.”

“He might not be so broken…” I couldn’t believe Asher felt the same as me. It seemed too farfetched. He was so… everything, and I was just me.

Chase gave a soft, sad smile. “He would, Cynthia. Be careful, for him if for nothing else. Your life is not worth the information we could garner from this. If the Vice President so much as flinches your direction, you call it off, okay?”

I couldn’t do that. We needed the information. “I won’t take any unnecessary risks,” I said carefully.

He narrowed his eyes, but didn’t press.

Not long after, Asher returned to the room and it was time to walk across campus to the Academy’s administration office.

Once there, we stood outside the building, all of us hesitating in the moment.

Chase reviewed the plan. “We’ll be out here listening. What do you say if you need us to rush in?”

“Pineapple,” I said.

“Right,” Chase said. “Good.”

He stepped back, and Asher came forward.

In an instant, Asher’s arms were around me and his mouth was on mine. It was a sweet kiss, long and tender. When it ended, he pulled away only so far as to press his forehead into mine.

“Come back to me,” he said.

I closed my eyes, soaking in his warmth and strength. “I will,” I said, making a promise.

I’d survived so much already. I’d survive this too.

“It’s time,” Chase said from behind us, breaking our moment.

Asher lowered his arms and I moved back a step.

“You got this,” Chase said. I heard him both in front of me, and in my ear.

Asher stared at me with his ocean eyes. He nodded.

Reassured, I turned and entered the building.

The Vice President’s office was on the third floor of a four story building. The office itself was at the end of a long hallway. His secretary quickly let me in.

“He’s been expecting you.”

She closed the door behind her, leaving me alone with the Vice President sitting behind the desk.

He was handsome, in an older man kind of way. Dark hair, brown eyes, high cheekbones. He had the same kind of smile as Joseph, boyish and disarming.

Yet there was an edge to him that even Joseph didn’t have. Maybe it was the stiffness of his shoulders, or the way his eyes never brightened with the smile he gave me.

“You must be Cynthia.” He gestured to one of the uncomfortable-looking chairs that faced his desk. “Sit.” He didn’t say please.

I considered standing instead, but I needed him to lower his guard, to say something incriminating. To do that, I had to have him believe I was compliant and afraid.

I was scared, so playing it up wasn’t difficult.

Following his instruction, I moved to the chair and sat.

He didn’t speak again right away, just looked at me like he was sizing me up.

The staring unnerved me.

“You wanted to see me?” I asked. If I played dumb, maybe I could get him to explain himself.

“I did.” He tapped his fingers on the desk. “Young Joseph is quite… taken with you, as I’m sure you know. He explained to me that those feelings are not mutual.”

Gathering my courage, I said, “Joseph is a liar and an abuser of women.”

I’d hoped to shake him into admitting something, but he just smiled.

After a moment, he spoke far too calmly. “I can see why he gives you so much attention. You have spirit. Too much for my tastes, but I won’t judge others unfairly.”

His gaze trailed down my body.

I desperately wanted to wrap my arms around my waist protectively, but I refused to cower under what was surely a tactic of intimidation. So I gripped onto the armrests instead, so hard my knuckles turned white.

I had to find a way to steer the conversation toward the website and the club, so that he could implicate himself. The way he was talking now was far too vague. Nothing was incriminating.

“If you wanted to talk about –”

“I have an offer for you,” he said, cutting me off. “Something I think you will appreciate.”

“I don’t want anything from you,” I said quickly.

His smile added teeth, like a big cat about to sink its teeth into its prey. “You’ll want to hear me out, little Cynthia.”

The way he said my name sent shivers up my spine. It took all that I had not to cringe.

“I know due to certain… complications, you’ve had some trouble becoming a full student here at the Academy. As a gesture of goodwill, I can help you. You see, I have the authority to simply let you in, no exams necessary.”

For a moment, I imagined what that would be like if it were true. I could so easily achieve my dreams. But nothing ever came for free, especially with Joseph and his relations.

“And in return?” I asked.

The Vice President held up his hands. “No strings attached.”

I waited for the catch. I didn’t have to for long.

“Of course, if you wished to reciprocate this gesture with one of your own, it would only be decent.”

“And what would you expect?”

He shrugged, though it looked stiff and unnatural.

“All you have to do, Cynthia, is let certain things go…”