Page 31 of Mayhem

Something in Hunter’s face settled at that. He had been gathering information since she walked in. He stopped doing that now.

“You think because you don’t own property here, don’t have a business attached to your name, and don’t come from one of the families everyone recognizes that I can’t reach you.” His voice stayed calm enough to make the threat worse. “I can make your housing disappear. I can make every professor you have start documenting problems that weren’t problems yesterday. I can make security stop you every time you enter a building, make internships vanish before you know they existed, and make people around you decide knowing you costs more than it’s worth.”

Echo stopped moving.

That was the first real recalculation I had seen from her since Malakai brought her upstairs. Hunter saw it too and continued without raising his voice.

“There are a lot of ways to ruin somebody, Matthews. Most of them don’t involve laying a hand on them.”

Her jaw shifted. “So this is a threat.”

“Call it whatever you want. I’m explaining what happens if you come after Nichlas again without clearing it through me. At that point, you stop being a problem I’m willing to manage.”

Echo held his gaze for a long moment. She looked irritated, not frightened, but at least now she understood the scale of what Hunter was putting in front of her. “And if I clear it through you?”

Hunter rested his forearms on the desk. “Then we talk about what you actually want, what I can give you, and what you’re willing to do for it.”

I almost laughed at the phrasing because I knew exactly how she was going to hear it.

“You’re not allowing me anything,” Echo said. “You’re standing between me and something I already came here to do.”

“Then decide whether getting through me is worth it.” Hunter’s expression barely moved. “Because the alternative is that this conversation ends here.”

Echo stared at him, and I could see the calculation working behind her eyes now. She had already proven she could get to Nichlas. She also knew that doing it again would bring consequences much larger than a disciplinary hearing or a campus fight. Hunter had finally made the protection around Nichlas real in a way the title alone had not.

Malakai pushed away from the desk and looked down at her. “I can walk her back.”

Hunter’s eyes went straight to him. “No. Ronan will take her.”

I looked at Hunter. “Why me?”

“Because I don’t trust him to keep his dick in his pants long enough to get her across campus.”

Malakai smiled without a trace of embarrassment, which was exactly why Hunter had chosen me.

Echo looked between the three of us like being assigned an escort had somehow become the most offensive part of the conversation. Hunter was already reaching for the invitation card again when she finally stood.

“Fine.”

The word sounded temporary enough that Hunter glanced up at her, then apparently decided temporary was good enough for now. His attention dropped to the invitation in his hand, and I recognized the change before he said anything. Desmond. Camille. Friday.

He turned toward Malakai. “Find her a dress.”

I frowned. “For what?”

Hunter set the invitation down in front of him. “She’s going to be my plus-one.”

I stared at him. “What the fuck?”

“My father wants the room talking about Camille and me before I even sit down. He moved her beside me because he wants everyone assuming something has already been decided.” Hunter’s gaze moved to Echo, who looked no more pleased about the idea than I felt. “If I walk in with her instead, the conversation changes before Desmond gets the chance to control it.”

Echo folded her arms again. “You’re using me to piss off your father.”

Hunter leaned back in his chair. “I’m using the fact that nobody here knows what the hell to make of you. Right now, that’s useful.”

echo

The pounding started before I had finished deciding whether Hunter Hansen was deeply annoying or genuinely delusional. I had been awake for almost an hour with my phone beside me and yesterday’s conversation replaying in pieces every time I tried to focus on anything else.