Page 13 of Asher Black (The Five Syndicates)
damn loon. I’m glad I’m looking away from Asher, because if I don’t die by his hand today, I’ll definitely die from embarrassment.
Winded, I stop myself. Thinking of his words, I can feel a panic attack coming on. I can’t breathe. I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. How can he be so brazen? Coming into my class, sitting next to me, and all but telling me in public that he’s here to kill me. Will he do it in public?
I eye the clock. It’s 9:10 A.M. on the dot. Class is about to begin. I have 50 minutes to think this through before I have to leave. I don’t even have to think about it to know that he’ll be following me out of class. The knowledge causes another panic attack to begin, before I even have the chance to get rid of the last one.
I can feel Asher leaning towards me.
“Hey,” he says, his tone surprisingly gentle but firm.
I can’t look at him. It would just make this worse.
“Hey,” he says again, but this time, he places his fingers on my chin and turns me to face him.
When I finally do, I want to turn away again. There’s a crease in between his eyebrows that wasn’t there before. It’s a look of concern that seems out of place on his stony features, but I don’t know if it’s for me or because of me.
Probably the latter, because no way is Asher Black concerned on my behalf.
Right?
“Calm down, Lucy,” he says, frightening me with his knowledge of my name. His voice is full of condescension and annoyance, which only confirms my theory. He’s not concerned for me. “You’re drawing attention to us, and you don’t want to do that.”
I take a shaky breath. “W-why shouldn’t I?” I swallow, gathering the courage to speak again, even though my words are ridden with stutters. “G-give me one r-reason why I shouldn’t s-scream.”
The glare he throws me vanishes any hope that I’ll be speaking again. “Don’t even think about it. I tracked you here. I can track you anywhere, except next time, I won’t be so nice.”
He’s right.
I don’t doubt for a second that, with his resources, he can follow me anywhere. I Googled him after the incident at Rogue. I was unsurprised to learn that he’s a big deal here in New York, not just in the underworld but also in the business world, where he owns a Fortune 500 company that has made him one of the wealthiest men in the city.
I couldn’t find much on his illegal dealings, only some speculation and ridiculous tall tales that he has never been formally accused of. I was, however, able to find out quite a bit about his legal businesses, which are all controlled through his company, Black Enterprises.
I feel the shift in the air when people realize that Asher Black is here. Not only does he own a successful company, his possible mafia ties and gorgeous looks have made him a media darling. The paparazzi seem to follow his every move, and there are fan blogs all over the internet that post pictures of him all day long. I know without a doubt that the majority of people in this class know who he is, and this is a lecture hall of three hundred.
The classroom, which was previously silently waiting for Dr. Rolland, is now buzzing with whispers. I hear a few people get up, and from the corner of my eye, I see some girls walking down the steps and heading towards the front row. It’s almost full now.
A pretty girl with big eyes and a sultry smile sits down next to Asher. He doesn’t even glance her way. He’s still looking at me with a slight frown on his face. I swallow, give him a nod to confirm that I won’t be screaming, and look away.
Someone takes the seat next to me. It’s one of Minka’s lackeys. Her name might be something like Nelly or Nessy. She eyes Asher curiously, not even bothering to conceal her interest. It annoys me.
This guy probably wants to kill me, and she’s looking at him like she wants to get hitched, have his babies, and be buried next to him. And not necessarily in that order.
It’s the knowledge that Asher is probably going to kill me anyway that gives me the courage to say, “Why are you sitting next to me, Nelly? You don’t even like me.” I feel Asher shift in his seat next to me, but so long as I’m not staring at him, I still have the courage to speak.
Her jaw drops. She’s probably dumbfounded that I’m actually saying something to her after a month of silently taking her torment. “It’s Nella,” she says stiffly. Her eyes shift to Asher. “And I was going to ask Asher if you were bothering him.”
I almost snort. She’s full of shit. No way did she not see that he was the one to approach me. It’s a classroom tradition for everyone to see who has the misfortune of sitting in the splash zone. I don’t believe for a second that she didn’t see me here first. She probably even got a kick out of it, looking forward to seeing Dr. Rolland’s spit fly my way for fifty minutes.
So, I finally call her out on her bullshit after a long month of tolerating it. “Bull.” I cross my arms. “You saw me sitting here alone in the splash zone.” I distantly hear Asher question the splash zone under his breath, but I ignore it. I’m on a roll, and even he can’t break it. “You probably even thought it was funny. Then, you saw him,” I nod in Asher’s direction, “sit down and thought you would come over here all demure- and innocent-like to get into his pants.” I take a profound breath, realizing that this can be an opportunity to get away. “Well, you’re welcome to take my seat and try.”
Her eyes widen in astonishment. This probably isn’t the direction she thought I was headed. Hell, even I’m amazed with myself. I wanted to embarrass her. This is the perfect opportunity to do so, but getting away from Asher is far more important. My life is more important than these petty fights with Minka and her crew.
I grab my bag and move to leave. I am halfway out of my seat when an arm wraps around my waist and pulls me back into my chair. Asher shifts his arm so that it hangs loosely around my shoulders, his long fingers casually dipping into the side of my slinky camisole.
I am distinctly aware that I’m not wearing a bra. I know he can feel my rapid heartbeat and the light sheen of sweat that is coating the area of my neck in contact with his arm. Hell, I can even hear the quickening of my breath.
I feel like I’m his prey, a meek little animal that he can toy with before going in for the kill. And when he leans into my ear and whispers, “You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” I know that I’m right.
He’s amused.
