distraction and with Kate and Luc getting together, and the old men doing their usual..." He trails off for a moment before shaking his head. "We have more important things to worry about than a program girl. I think if we let it go, it'll resolve itself and she won't try anything else."
"She disrespects us at every turn," I snap. "She runs roughshod over us and our fucking authority and you think we should just let it go?" I'm fucking stunned. Is this the same Abel Frazier I've known my entire life? The one who doesn't understand the meaning of mercy?
"I think we can overlook it," he continues, still not looking at me. "We've made our point. You've staked your claim. If you're worried about her fucking someone from Eastpoint, well ... I don't think you really need to. There isn't a guy on our campus that'll touch her. Not with your name stamped on her ass."
Though I know he means it figuratively, there's a sick sense of pleasure in the idea of tattooing my name on Avalon Manning's ass. I reach down and scratch the bleeding roses I have tattooed on my side. It's been a long time since I've gone for a round in the chair. Maybe an appointment with the needle will help me settle.
"So, what do you think?" Abel asks, drawing me back from my thoughts.
I think giving Avalon any sort of leeway is asking her to fuck us over, but when Abel finally gets up, dropping the rag in a trash bin, and looks at me, I find it hard to tell him no. I press my lips together, thinking. I want to focus on something else. Something that’s not her.
"What have you heard about Kate and Luc?" I demand.
Abel shoots me a look that tells me he knows exactly what I'm doing, but he answers my question regardless. "I know she's moved in with him. Not sure if he's realized the reason for their sudden engagement yet or not, but—"
"He knows," I say, cutting him off. There's no way that fucker doesn't know. Yet, still, I have no clue what he's planning.
"You think so?" Abel asks as he starts picking up his tools.
"I know so," I reply. "He's a snake. He has to be planning something. He doesn't give a shit about her. He's just using Kate because he thinks she can hurt me."
"Can she?" Abel grins when he catches my look of irritation. "Just asking," he says.
"No," I answer. "She can’t."
"But you used Avalon to hurt her," he points out.
I grimace. That hadn't been well planned on my part. Doing so had spiraled into the rumors and I'd fed them, letting people think that Avalon is my new fucktoy. Reality is, I haven't gotten laid since before she came. Maybe Abel's right. Maybe I do need to fuck her out of my system.
"About the girl," I start. Abel drops a wrench into the toolbox and looks up. "We can't just let her roam free."
He's quiet for a moment and then he nods. "No, you're right," he agrees, "but we don't have to keep antagonizing her."
I eye him. "Is there a reason you wanna let her off the hook?" He had, after all, wanted to fuck her the day he first met her. Maybe it's something more now? Fuck knows I can't seem to stop my reaction to her. No matter how hard I want to.
Abel sighs and turns, crossing his arms as he leans against the workbench. And then he shocks me. "Do you trust me?" he asks.
My head whips to the side and I stare at him. "What kind of fucking question is that?"
Cold blue eyes stare back. "Answer it."
Flashes of Abel and Brax carrying my half-conscious body through our house after meetings with my father. Them dumping me in showers to wash off the blood of the traitors I'd been forced to kill. Of bandaging broken bones when we were kids. Do I trust him?
I stand up and turn to him. "With my fucking life," I swear.
He nods as if the answer was expected. It should've been. "Then trust me when I say, laying off of her for the time being is a good plan. If you're worried, I'll have the three of us transferred to the rest of her classes to keep an eye on her, but I don't think we're going to find anything."
"You don't think she's working for the old men?" I ask. Maybe that's it, I wonder.