Page 52 of Between Steel and Secrets
Nova has her books out, taking up most of the table, and I join her, glancing over her latest quiz.
The glaring red F irks me, but it’s the answers to the quiz I find even more unsettling.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”
“What is it?” Nova asks. “I know I screwed up. Don’t laugh. I’m asking for your help tutoring me, not making fun of me for being stupid.”
My jaw drops. “Nova, you’re not stupid.” I reach into my bag and retrieve my pop quiz, showing her the answers. “You got each one right. Look.”
“What?” Her brow furrows as she stares at me, then reads the answers to my exam. “How can that be?”
“You’re better in class than you thought.” I exhale loudly and lean back in my chair. “Henry has it out for you. He’s a fucking pig.” I stand, pacing the length of the room.
“Why would he fail me?” Nova asks. “I don’t understand.”
“Henry thinks that by failing you, he can somehow get you to fuck him. He’s using his position of power. It’s disgusting.” I run a hand through my hair and tilt my head up at the ceiling.
Think, dammit.
There has to be something we can do to get even with him.
Really stick it to him.
“We should go to the professor or the dean,” Nova says.
I glance away from Nova. “Yeah, that’s an option…” My voice trails off as I try to come up with another solution.
“Why? Do you have a better suggestion, Ashton?”
“Let me think.”
Nova stands from the chair and faces me. “Why is going to the professor a bad idea? They would have to investigate and would keep me from failing the class. And if the professor won’t listen, then we take it up with the dean.”
I answer her with silence.
“Ashton?” Nova’s tone is louder, more forceful. “What aren’t you telling me?”
She reaches for my hand, glancing at my bruised hand. “You got this today, recently.”
I hate how observant Nova is, that she realizes I wasn’t bruised this morning in class or when we were at lunch.
“It doesn’t matter.” I try to deflect. “Did you happen to keep the other quizzes that you failed?” I ask.
The only papers that Henry is responsible for, as far as I’ve seen, are the pop quizzes. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t grading our exams or upcoming midterms.
Nova shakes her head. “I wasn’t too happy about the grade. The last two that I failed, I tore up the quizzes as soon as I left the classroom and tossed them in the garbage.”
I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her against me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t offer to tutor you sooner.” Shame burns me. I should have noticed that Henry had been interested in Nova.
I’d been too swept up in the fact that she’s mine to even notice anyone else taking an interest in her—not that Henry had been obvious until today.
What changed?
“Maybe I should drop the class, Ashton. Henry has it out for me, and I can’t prove I didn’t fail the other quizzes that he graded…”
“No.” I’m adamant that dropping the class isn’t the answer. “Come on, you and me. The daughter of a mafia enforcer and me, who works for the mafia, can figure this out.”
