Considering the way his muscles bulge through his shirts and leather jackets and whenever I’m flattened against him, I figured he had a developed physique, but nothing I could’ve imagined would rival the scene in front of me.
Jeremy is a big man with wide shoulders and an impressive build, even compared to others from his entourage. He has slick abs and a defined V-line that disappears beneath the black shorts that hang low on his hips.
I knew he was tatted by the small glimpse I saw on his arms, but now, I get the whole picture. Artistic skulls pierced with knives and guns stretch from his full sleeves to portions of his chest and abs, creating a striking, intimidating image. At the top of his chest, he has a cursive scrip tattoo that reads, Veni, Vidi, Vici.
I came. I saw. I conquered.
That’s what a mafia heir looks like. A beast in the making. An animal since he was born.
Even if his father wasn’t part of the Bratva, I have no doubt that Jeremy would’ve followed a similar path. He’s certainly not built to be an ordinary citizen.
With each of his powerful strides, the spectators go wild. He doesn’t have to flaunt himself or change his expression to capture everyone’s attention.
It happens naturally and effortlessly.
Like the way he trapped me.
I internally shake that idea out of my head.
Nikolai hits him on the shoulder and remains behind as Jeremy slides into the ring. His attention zeroes in on Lan, who’s smirking in his usual provocative way.
The moment the referee announces the beginning of the fight, there seems to be a collateral holding of breaths. Everyone has been looking forward to the clashing of two titans, the leaders of the Heathens and the Elites and the lifetime rivals at REU and TKU.
This is the fight for the championship. Maybe a final before the final.
Jeremy and Lan circle each other for a few seconds before Jeremy lunges at him. He lands the first punch successfully, causing an uproar of the crowd.
But he doesn’t even pull away when Lan drives his fist into the side of his face, so hard that blood explodes on Jeremy’s lips.
I gasp along with many others. Ava is jumping up and down and punching the air.
“Yes! That’s my boy. Get him, Lan!”
A whole-body shiver goes through me and I can’t even breathe properly as the same scenario happens again.
Every time one of them punches, the other jumps back up and delivers a stronger one.
The crowd alternates between holding their breath, gasping, and cheering so loudly that my eardrums nearly explode.
I’ve never seen a more brutal manifestation of violence and testosterone than right now.
It’s like they’re out to kill one another while everyone watches.
I was aware of the animosity that ran between them, but I didn’t think it was this savage.
Or out of control.
The more I watch, the tighter my stomach gets. I don’t think I can stay for the whole thing.
I’m sure Ava will be able to get home by herself—
My thoughts are cut off when Jeremy wipes the blood off the corner of his mouth and stares straight at me. As if he knew I was there all along.
How the hell did he find me in the middle of all these people?
My stomach flutters the more he watches me with that icy stare of his. Only, right now, fire erupts in their gray depths. No, it’s a wildfire that won’t be stopped unless it devours everything in its wake.
He’s looking at me as if I’m the first he’ll devour.
As if I’m the only one he sees in the crowd.
And that doesn’t make sense. Jeremy has never looked at me this way.
Or has he?
That night, the first night at the deck, after he took me inside and went down on me in the middle of my stupid sleep paralysis, I think he had this look before he attempted to choke me.
I gasp when Landon uses his small moment of distraction and pummels him to the ground.
He leans down to whisper something in his ear, then stands to his full height, opens his arms wide, and grins, showing bloodied teeth as our students chant.
“King! King! King!”
But their celebratory yells end in a collective “Ahhh” when Jeremy jumps up and punches Lan into a corner.
He drives his fists in his face over and over. The brutality is criminal level and keeps heightening with every passing second.
Our students go silent while TKU’s become insane. Their cheers grow with Jeremy’s craziness.
The referee jumps in to announce that he won by points, but instead of backing away, Jeremy punches Lan one more time.
And when he tries to stand up? Jeremy throws him back down again as if to prove a point.
I’m deaf to all the noise, to the students chattering, to Ava grumbling about losing the money she bet on Lan.
My gaze remains locked on Jeremy, who’s glaring at Landon as if he has a personal grudge against him.
Could he know about Landon’s involvement in the fire? Maybe about my involvement?
I’ve never stopped feeling guilty about that, not even after Jeremy threatened me and basically turned me into his sex toy.
His morals shouldn’t reflect mine, and I don’t want to hurt people. However, I’m not idiotic enough to tell him about it. That would only create trouble.
I was so sure Landon wouldn’t either, but he’s been clearly displeased by how I’ve been refusing to be his spy, so maybe he sold me out.
No.
He wouldn’t do that. At least, I hope not.
Either way, I don’t want to stay here. I manage to drag Ava with me. Considering her dejected state, she doesn’t mind too much and doesn’t call me a killjoy.
We eat some ice cream on the way to the dorm, and then I tell her I’m going to study.
She says she’ll practice her cello.
Usually, I wait for her to go to sleep so I can sneak out, but I’m restless tonight.
Fifteen minutes after the sound of her cello fills the space, I throw on my hoodie and slip out of the flat.
It feels like it takes me forever to reach the cottage. I open the gate with the wireless key Jeremy gave me soon after I became a regular visitor at his property.
The whole house is shrouded in darkness, but the gothic vibe doesn’t bother me tonight.
Something else does.
Out of instinct, I stop at the door of the cottage. Usually, this is when he’ll ambush me, then chase me all over the place.
However, when I push open the door, nothing happens.
Though I’m sure I saw his bike outside. Could he be taking a shower?
I go all over the cottage, but there’s no sign of him. However, I catch a glimpse of a mass of muscles through the kitchen window—that he fixed after I shattered it to pieces.
My steps are careful as I head in his direction. Jeremy sits on the deck, leaning back his palms on the wood as he stares at the gloomy lake that I’m sure is filled with water ghosts.
I stop right behind him, and I yelp, then shriek when he grabs me by the ankle and flings me forward.
But before I tumble into the water, he plops me on his lap so that I’m straddling it and wraps a large hand around my waist. He stares at me with dark eyes, so dark, they practically blend with the night.
However, another novel emotion I’ve never witnessed on his face lurks beneath the surface.
Something like…relief. Surprise?
“You came.” It’s a bewildered statement at best.
I let my palms flatten on his shoulders. “You told me to come every night, remember?”
His grip tightens around my waist. “You’re early.”
“Ava went to sleep early.” Liar.
“I see.” There’s something weird about his tone and expression tonight. It’s…softer. More human than beast.
And Jeremy is never soft, so this is throwing me off, but I also grab on to it, wanting, no, needing, to get inside his armor somehow. It’s not fair that he’s the only one who gets that privilege.
I touch the cut at the side of his lip, slowly, tentatively. “You should probably treat these.”
He releases an ambiguous sound but otherwise remains silent.
“Earlier.” I clear my throat. “How did you know I was there?”
“I know everything about you, Lisichka”
“But I don’t.”
“You don’t know everything about yourself?”
“I don’t know anything about you, Jeremy.”
“You don’t need to.”
“I want to.”
His expression tightens, but he speaks calmly. “Why?”
“To make it fair.”
“I’m not a fair person.”
“I’m well aware.” I let my fingers linger on his hard jaw. “But I still want to find out.”
“Good luck. Trying is free, succeeding isn’t.”
“Very convenient.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I didn’t thank you.”
“You’re welcome anyway.”
I release a breath and he smiles a little—as much of a smile as Jeremy can offer. And holy shit. Why does he appear tenfold more attractive when he does that? It’s not healthy for my skyrocketing heartbeat.
Little by little, my doubts vanish. Lan couldn’t have told him about my involvement in the fire.
There’s no way Jeremy would remain collected if that were the case. He would’ve drowned me in the lake by now.
I still don’t feel any form of relief.
“Are you disappointed?”
His question catches me completely off guard. “W-what?”
“That I won against your precious Landon and ruined his beautiful looks.”
“Not really. I mean, I would rather you guys didn’t fight, but there needed to be a winner. I’m sure Lan would’ve done the same if he’d been in your position.”
He pauses, observing me with strange intent. “Weren’t you rooting for him?”
“Ava was. She cursed you all night long for the money she lost.”
“How about you? Did you curse me?”
“No, and I wasn’t rooting for Lan.”
“Then were you rooting for me?”
“I don’t think so.”
“That means it’s a possibility. I’ll believe that you were cheering me on.”
“Why is that important?”
He lifts a shoulder, but his arm tightens around my middle. “Beats me.”
We remain like that for a while. Seconds. Minutes. During that time, his gaze gets lost in the lake and I watch his face.
This is the first time he’s sort of hugged me outside of sex, and I want to extend the moment for as long as possible.
“I’m going to stay the night,” I announce out of nowhere.
No, actually, I’ve been thinking about it all week long, but I’ve had the courage to say it out loud now.
His gaze slides to me and I can’t help feeling a tinge of discomfort at the sight of the bruises and cuts on his face.
“Why?” he asks, his tone curious instead of accusatory.
“Because I want to.”
“Why would you want to?”
“I told you. Because I want to get to know you.”
“Spending the night won’t allow you to get to know me.”
“Maybe not, but it’s a start.”
And I will fight tooth and nail to get a say in whatever we have.