55

Adrianna
I can feel Archer’s eyes on me as I polish off my fifth slice of pizza that evening. Pizza twice in one day is an overload of carbs, but right now I don’t really give a shit.
“You can eat as much as me,” he muses.
“And your point?”
He shakes his head. “No point, it’s just an observation.” He sits up straighter and opens up one box, grabbing his fifth slice to keep up with me. “I can’t believe you went to Fratelli’s for lunch and didn’t mention it when I suggested ordering pizza.”
“Can never eat enough pizza in one day.”
He laughs and takes a bite.
“Plus, this is American-style pizza and Fratelli’s is Italian. They’re totally different.”
He sits back and watches me with a flicker of amusement dancing in his dark eyes. “Right, not similar at all.”
It’s funny how our sense of humor aligns so perfectly. Archer is never serious and I rarely am, except for when in competition and then we both get serious.
“How about a movie?” I ask, glancing at his huge flatscreen TV on the wall.
He runs a hand through his dark hair. “I’m not really that into movies.”
“So why do you have such a huge TV?”
He arches a brow. “For sports, of course.”
Typical man.
“I love playing sports but watching.” I pull a face, as it’s really not my kind of thing.
He tilts his head. “Maybe I can get you into it.”
“Maybe I can get you into watching movies.”
“Perhaps.” He grabs his beer and takes a swig. Silence falls between us as he doesn’t move to switch on the TV. And so to break it, I ask a question that’s been on my mind for a while.
“Why did you run from your family?” I blurt out.
His entire body turns stiff. “It’s not something I normally talk about.” Archer’s Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard. “But I guess I know your secret, so only fair I share mine, right?”
I nod. “Right.”
He stands and goes over to the fridge in his open-plan kitchen, grabbing another beer. “Do you want one?”
I shake my head. “I’m good, thanks.”
“Where to start?” He looks at me. “My family is in control of Dublin and has been for many years before I was born.”
“Ireland?” I ask, totally shocked as Archer has no accent at all.
“Yeah, the accent is confusing, isn’t it?”
“A little,” I confirm.
He sits back down next to me, shifting to the side to look me in the eye. “I did something that led to a target on my back.”
“What?” I ask.
“My father had got remarried to a younger woman about two years before I fled.”
I roll my eyes. “I think I know where this is going.”
He actually looks hurt and shakes his head. “She was always suggestive toward me from the moment she came into our house. I was fifteen years old. And within a short space of time, she touched me inappropriately.” He shrugs. “Now I’m not saying I wasn’t up for it. I mean, what fifteen-year-old boy is going to say no to hand job from a beautiful twenty-four-year-old woman?”
I wonder then if that’s why he’s always been such a man whore, sleeping around. His previous experience with women, particularly at such a young age. No matter whether he was willing, that woman shouldn’t have touched him. He was a minor.
“In Ireland, the age of consent is sixteen, and I was a couple of months off that age, anyway. She didn’t think it was wrong, I guess.” He grinds his teeth. “And that turned into a full-blown affair until a couple of weeks before my seventeenth birthday when my father found out the truth.”
There’s a weird look in his eyes that I can’t quite decipher. “I was at a soccer match that afternoon and returned to my room to find Fiona in my room on my bed with her throat slit and a note.”
I can tell it’s difficult for him remembering it as the look in his eyes is haunted.
“It said I know what you’ve done.”
And within a few seconds, I’d thrown all my most important possessions into a bag and climbed out the window, running and never looking back.
“So they blamed you for something she started?”
He nods. “Yes, but I knew it was wrong. She was my father’s wife, for fuck’s sake.”
“It’s not as bad as selling your whole family out to their biggest enemy, though, is it?”
“It’s different.”
“Did you have any siblings?”
“A younger brother, who is now in line to take control of the Monroe Clan. It would have been me.”
“And you wanted that life?”
He looks thoughtful as he considers the question. “I did at the time, but I wouldn’t change what I’ve found here for anything. Oak gave me a safe place to escape, and I’ll forever be in his debt.” Archer reaches for me and places his hand on my leg, squeezing softly. “As a veteran, I have some ideas about how you can pull off escaping from your dad at graduation.”
I stiffen at the mention of the plan I’ve tried so hard to keep a secret, even from my best friends. “I don’t need ideas. I told you no one is going to know but me.”
He tilts his head. “But I can help you, Adrianna.”
“I don’t need any help,” I say. All my life I’ve had barriers from everyone and anyone and they aren’t about to come down for this man.
There’s a flash of hurt in his eyes, but he shrugs it off. “Suit yourself. So you have it all sorted out then?”
I don’t have it sorted it out, but no one can know my plan. If anyone does, it leaves me vulnerable to being caught by my family. “I am not sharing my plans with anyone,” I say simply.
His jaw tenses. “How can you act like this?”
“Like what?” I ask.
“As if what we’ve had together means nothing.”
I might be lying to myself if I say it means nothing, but there’s no way I’d admit it to him. “It means nothing. It’s just sex.”
The hurt in his eyes takes me aback, as it’s intense. “You don’t mean that.” This is what I wanted. To get my revenge on him for forcing me into the sack. And yet now that moment is here, it doesn’t feel very good.
“I mean it,” I say, sticking to my guns as I won’t back down, not after all that he has done.
His jaw clenches. “If that’s true, then walk out of that door and tell me it’s over.”
I stand, glaring at him. “Are you saying I’m free to go, or is this a trick?” Rage builds as he’s acting like a self-centered asshole for expecting me to tell him I care about him. “Up until now, I’ve assumed I’ve had to spend time with you to ensure the truth doesn’t leak. Is that no longer the case?”
I can see the hurt building in his dark eyes. He’s trying to mask it, but he’s not very good at masking his emotions. It’s something I’ve noticed about him for a while now. “Yes. If you don’t want to be here, leave.”
“Perfect,” I say, grabbing my rucksack. “I’ve been hoping you’d say that for fucking months.” I turn to leave.
He growls and stands. “You are a liar, Adrianna!”
I turn toward him with narrowed eyes. “You are an idiot!”
His face is practically as red as a tomato right now with rage. “I know what I felt. I know you feel something for me.”
“No, what you felt was me doing what I had to do to keep the truth from spilling about my plans.” I look him dead in the eye. “And that’s what I’ve done. Now my duty is fulfilled. Good fucking riddance.”
I walk toward his door, but he grabs my wrist and yanks me back toward him. His eye full of pain. This is what I wanted and right now it feels good to see him hurt, because I’m angry that he expected anything other than contempt from me. He deserves even less.
“Don’t do this, baby,” he pleads.
“I’m not your baby or baby girl.” I tear my wrist from his. “Now leave me the fuck alone and go find another student to fuck like you always do.” I storm out of there, my heart pounding from the adrenaline racing through my veins. It’s insane how angry he can make me. As I march through the courtyard and back toward my dorm room, the anger wears away with each step I take.
It’s over.
I just broke up with Archer Daniels, and a part of me wishes I hadn’t. A part of me wants to go back and admit that I do indeed have feelings for him. But that’s too dangerous to admit, because he isn’t a part of my plan, and the plan is it all that matters. At least, that’s what I thought.