Chloe (Made Men 3)

“No way. He is …” Elle drifted off. “He wants something, but I’m not going to find out what it is. I know exactly who Nero Caruso is, and ‘nice’ is the last word I would use to describe him.”

“Yeah, but aren’t you just a little curious?” Since today was a dream day free of Cassandra, she wondered how Elle didn’t seem the least bit interested. “I know I am.”

Chloe couldn’t help it. She had always found Nero beyond handsome, and she could live vicariously through Elle. The way he had looked at her friend, with his piercing green eyes, had shown her something definitely was there, and if she could see it, then Elle should have definitely felt it. Chloe was the one who didn’t like people around her.

“No, I’m not,” Elle told her defiantly.

Well, that was the biggest lie if I ever heard one.

After that, the rest of the day went on rather quickly, and they found themselves back at Chloe’s Health class for the last period of the day.

“Stay here and wait for me. We’re not going to try to be bold just because Cassandra isn’t here. Clearly she’s the ringleader, but you know just as much as I do she is not the only one who likes to ruin our lives.”

Chloe nodded her head. “I know. I’ll wait right here.”

“All right. Catch you later.”

Going into the classroom, she took her seat in the back, hoping Elle would make it to class safely, even though they were having a great day so far. Like Elle had said, they weren’t going to take any chances just because the witch of Legacy Prep wasn’t there.

When class started, a strong feeling came over her. She couldn’t quite place exactly what it was. Looking up from her desk, she glanced around the room, the feeling becoming more unsettling by the second.

Getting nervous, she started digging her nails into her palms. Focusing on her hands while she stared at them seemed to help. Slowly, the unnerving feeling began to dissipate… right up until the end of class when it returned to her full-force.

Quickly, she again glanced around the room, once more expecting to see the devil’s eyes staring at her. When her eyes stopped roving, she found a different pair watching her, instead. They might not have been pure evil, but they were black as night.

Unable to hold the gaze for even a moment, she averted her eyes and went back to digging her nails into her palms.

Quit being silly, she tried to talk herself into having imagined it. No one had ever cared to look her way unless they were calling her a freak.

Feeling like she was just being paranoid, she looked back up at him, only to catch Amo blatantly still staring. It was harder for her to move her eyes this time, but thankfully, the school bell saved her.

Brrring.

Turning over her hands, she saw the little droplets of blood appear.

“You ready?” Elle appeared out of nowhere, seeming a bit disheveled.

“Yeah. You okay?”

“Uh, yes, why wouldn’t I be? Okay, let’s go!”

It was almost like it was in slow motion when Elle’s hand reached out and almost grabbed hers. She had to look away from Elle and down at the floor as she pulled her hand up to her chest.

“I’m sorry, Chlo—”

“It’s okay. Let’s go.” Chloe didn’t wait for her to lead the way this time. Instead, she walked right past her and started the journey to her car.

That was the closest anyone had been to touching her in a long time, making her realize she was never going to be able to stand human contact. A thought had never been so sad to her until now.

Her hand felt like it had almost been burned by the close encounter, and she took a look at it to see the little red marks she had created from Amo staring at her.

Chloe had been right to call him a beast three years ago. He just grew into it more and more each day.

Twenty-Five

A Deal Was Struck

The moment Sebastian stepped up to their lunch table the next day, you could see the rage radiating off him. “Have you heard why Cassandra isn’t here?”

Even though his rage was directed at Elle, Chloe was too scared to breathe.

When Elle didn’t answer, he only got angrier.

“Well, she was suspended. Do you know why?”

Again, Elle didn’t even look at him.

Closing her eyes when his hands came up, Chloe’s instinct was to think he was going to strike her—she expected it—but she didn’t expect the sound when he hit the table, instead. It was so loud it caused pure silence in the cafeteria.

“I am talking to you, waitress!”

Elle finally looked at him, clearly terrified for her life.

“Now, do you know why?” Sebastian was losing it by the second. “Do you?”