Pretty Sinner (The Oligarchs)

“Thank you, Mother.”

With that, we got off the phone. I stood staring down at the floor processing for a while, trying to read between the lines of what she’d said. Kaspar was dangerous, that was obvious, but there wasn’t much else there to parse through.

Which suggested Maeve didn’t know much else about him.

That was surprising. Maeve knew everything about everyone. She made it her mission to know the things that shouldn’t be known and went out of her way to collect rumors, stories, outright lies, and whatever else she could get her hands on.

Information was her game. The other Oligarchs used strength of arms and money to fight amongst each other, but Maeve practiced something much subtler. She was the spymaster, the thief in the night, the dagger in the back beneath a full moon. Maeve employed targeted assassinations and smear campaigns, and never went to war.

War was a boy’s game, she always said. War was for children, and we weren’t children.

I left the library stairwell and headed out into the night, walking slow. Kaspar was a problem, but I couldn’t decide how big of one. Penny seemed to find him more obnoxious and annoying than anything else, but it was the way he looked at me that set my spine tingling.

Like he knew something that he shouldn’t.

Kaspar was dangerous and smart. If Maeve said so, then it was true.

Only I had to decide how smart, and how dangerous.

And if he needed to be eliminated.

Or if I needed to move up my timetable.

I should’ve stabbed Penny in the throat in the middle of the night and been done with all this. My reasoning felt thinner and thinner the longer I went. Maeve wanted me to send a message, but that could be accomplished very easily with the right amount of blood.

No, I was dragging my feet for another reason.

That bothered me. For as long as I’ve known Maeve, I’ve only ever wanted to make her proud. Nothing else mattered—not boys, not school, not any of the myriad little silly things most girls my age thought about.

For me, it was Maeve and Maeve alone. I wanted her approval. I craved her attention.

Killing Penny would give me all of that and more. Killing Penny would make Maeve happy.

So why didn’t I just strangle the girl and be done with it?

I wandered into our dorm and trudged up the steps. My mind was spinning around that problem and I didn’t notice that the door to our room was open until I pushed it open and felt no resistance.

I stared in at Kaspar as he stooped over Penny’s dresser, his hand shoved in her drawer.

His eyes slid over to me.

He should’ve looked embarrassed. I caught him in the act of touching Penny’s things—her underwear, by the look of it, which was creepy as all fucking hell—not to mention the fact that he’d broken into our room. Anger started up my throat, but I choked it back down, fighting to keep myself calm.

Maeve always taught me that a calm mind made better decisions, and I needed my wits right now.

Kaspar straightened slowly. He tilted his head, frowning like I was the one interrupting him.

“What are you doing?” I asked, trying to keep my tone smooth.

“Going through Penny’s things.”

“I see that. Why?”

“Because she won’t answer my calls, and I want to know why.”

I let that hang in the air. This madman was so crazy that he couldn’t imagine why someone might not be interested in playing his little game.

“Have you considered that she just doesn’t like you very much?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then consider it and get the fuck out of my room.”

He didn’t move. Kaspar was a big guy, easily twice my size. His fists could smash through my teeth if he decided he wanted to squash me like a bug.

I forced panic away. I wouldn’t let it drag me under.

Suddenly, his face changed from the slightly annoyed to the mildly curious. He leaned against her bed and crossed his arms.

“Maybe you can be helpful.”

“I don’t think so.” I opened the door wider. “Please leave before I start screaming for help.”

“I doubt you’ll do that.” He gestured with his head, beckoning me closer. “Come in here and talk to me.”

I hesitated, but I was tempted. I needed to know Kaspar if I wanted to size him up as a threat, but going into that room and trapping myself with that snake was a terrible idea.

I stepped past the threshold but left the door wide open. It was my one nod toward safety. If Kaspar minded, he didn’t show it.

I sat down on my bed and crossed my legs.

“What do you want to know?”

“Does Penny have a guy in her life?”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Does she have family issues?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Is she gay?”

I snorted and shook my head. “No, and it’s insane you’d even ask.”