EL

e as I stood outside the campus maintenance garage. The massive metal doors were cracked o

1. The fat girl from London. The girl who was locked in a janitor's closet for hours while classmates laughed outside. I had spent three yea

door open. It screeched a

les were parked in a neat row. Sitting on the hood of a dismantled sports car was Lucian Vane, tos

r of it all was

ycle jacket, the collar popped against the chill. He was rolling a lighter across his knuckles, click,

slamming his beer bottle down on the workbench. "I t

e wasn't loud, but it cut through the ro

wing a long shadow over me. He walked toward me slowly, his heavy boots echoing against the c

scent of leather and cold rain en

murmured, checking his watch. "

ce trembling despite my best efforts to

his thumb slowly tracing my jawline. His skin was freezing, sending a sharp jolt of electrici

ng his hand away from my face. "You already ruined my

nches from my ear. "And I hate it when my favorite toys run away. Y

sound unhinged and mocking. "Tell her th

t to my head. "This is your new reality, freshman. You sign this contract. For the next thirty days, you are my personal assistan

athed, staring at the t

ng onto mine with an intense, suffocating grip. "You

r thirty days?" I aske

feel the hard muscle beneath his shirt, the terrifying warmth of his body

hood of the car. "Sign it, freshman. Or I upload

k as I reached out and picked up the pen. If I signed this, I was entering the li

t the metal door and scrib

cond I thought about tearing it in half, running, taking my chances with the video instead of whatever this was. But my hand wouldn't move. Som

s jacket. A dark, terrifying smile spread across his face. He reached out, his long

s dropping to my lips. "Your first

eaving me standing there in the cold. My stomach twisted int