Falcon (Trinity Academy 1)

When my eyes collide with his dark ones, an apprehensive shiver skitters down my spine.

Laaayyyylllaaaa! When are you going to learn to shut up? Do you have a death wish?

“She didn’t have breakfast this morning,” Kingsley quickly jumps in, trying to save my butt by making an excuse for me.

“Falcon,” Mason growls, still keeping his eyes locked with mine, “your assistant doesn’t know her place.”

Yeah, so much for having any survival instincts.

Taking a deep breath, I open my mouth to let Mason know what I think about his comment but instead swallow a gulp of air which goes down the wrong hole when Falcon places his arm around my shoulders.

This time it’s not Kingsley gently patting my back as I almost cough up a lung, but Falcon slapping my back. When I clear my throat, I glare at him. “You can stop now. I’m breathing again.”

He gives me one last slap right between my shoulder blades then brings his hand up to the back of my neck. Feeling his fingers wrap around my neck makes a different kind of shiver rush down my spine from when I made eye contact with Mason.

The shivers quickly up and vanish when he pulls me closer and locking eyes with me, he says, “It’s hard to believe you’re Ste…”

I shoot up out of the chair before Falcon can finish his sentence, and grabbing his hand, I pull him behind me as I rush from the restaurant.

Making sure there’s no one close to us who can accidentally overhear, I stop and spin around while hissing, “Can you please keep it a secret? I don’t want anyone here knowing who my mother is.”

Falcon actually looks stunned by my sudden actions. “Why?”

I glance around again, just to be sure, and taking a step closer to Falcon, I whisper, “Can you imagine what the other students will do to me if they found out I’m your employee’s daughter?”

Falcon leans a little closer, and whispers, “Oh yeah, I didn’t think about that. So we’re going to keep it a secret?”

“Yes.”

The fleeting feeling of relief from thinking Falcon understood where I was coming from disappears the second the corner of his mouth lifts. “Nothing in this world is free. You better up your game at being my assistant if you want me to keep my mouth shut.”

Ass.

“Why do I have to be your assistant?” I ask, a miserable feeling sinking into my gut.

“Because I say so,” he says. When I notice the tiny golden flecks in his deep brown eyes, I realize how close we’re standing to each other.

I quickly take a step back to put some distance between us while my traitorous cheeks begin to glow with embarrassment. “That’s not a reason,” I mumble.

“In my world it is.”

Not wanting my secret getting out, I let out a miserable sigh and ask, “What do I have to do as your assistant?”

“For starters, I like my coffee without salt.”

My eyes dart up to Falcon’s and seeing the gloating look on his face, I can’t stop myself from scowling. “No salt.”

“Give me your phone.”

“Why?” Reluctantly, I pull it from my pocket.

Falcon doesn’t answer me but instead takes it from me and proceeds to dial his own number. Handing it back to me, he says, “When I call, you answer. If I request something via text message, you do it. It’s as simple as that.”

I scrunch my nose as I grudgingly program his number into my phone.

“Layla.” Hearing him say my name has me forgetting about the phone, and my eyes rushing to meet his. The serious look on his face throws me for a loop and dries all the spit from my mouth. “I might find your sassy attitude entertaining but watch what you say to Mason. He has a short temper, and you don’t want him losing it.”

Understanding the warning, I nod. “Okay.” I’m not going to argue about that. I find Mason scary, and if Falcon is taking the time to warn me, I figure I should listen.

“Get your butt back into the restaurant and eat. I don’t want to hear I’m starving you.”

Falcon leaves me standing with my lips parted and eyes wide.

He actually sounded caring.

Yeah… right.Chapter 4FalconGetting up from the desk I’m occupying in the library, I struggle to suppress the grin as I walk to where Layla is standing on her toes, stretching herself as far as she can to try and get the book I requested.

I come up behind her, and reaching up, I grab hold of the book. Layla glances up at me from over her shoulder, and for a moment her eyes widen before her face sets into the scowl I’m getting used to seeing on her.

“Seriously, Falcon, you could’ve just done it yourself in the first place. I have assignments to finish, as well.”