Treachery

Luca

Slowly packing up my empty notebook - because who can take notes when they’re worried about facing off with Satan? - I glanced down at the front of the classroom to watch Clayton having a whispered discussion with Professor Stewart.

The fact that he looked concerned told me that he hadn’t been able to manually change the senior assignment. The fact that Professor Stewart’s eyes narrowed as he whisper-hissed a curt response to Clayton’s question told me that there was no way in hell I was getting out of working with Ta

Defeated, Clayton glanced up at me and nudged his chin toward the back classroom doors, a silent message for me to wait for him so we could talk.

With heavy steps, I stomped out of the room, making it perfectly clear that I already knew what he would say and that I wasn’t happy about it.

Although I should have given a shit that Professor Stewart would notice my behavior, I was too irritated to care.

My fingers kept a death grip on the strap of my bag as I stormed from the classroom to wait in the hallway.

Clayton met me by the door a few minutes later, apology written into the expression of his face.

“It was a no go,” he said, an arm reaching out to catch me around the waist and pull me toward him.

“Stewart said the assignments were computer generated, completely random, and every student is stuck with whatever senior they were assigned. I couldn’t get into the program to attempt to manually change it. They have this particular project locked down tight.”

The universe hated me apparently.

Melting against his strong chest, I breathed in the scent of his cologne, wishing like hell that it would jumpstart my heart.

I should have wanted Clayton, should have been thrilled to be dating a man that was walking into a bright future, but still there was only a tiny burst of speed in my pulse to be near him. Nothing like what I felt anytime Ta

What the hell was wrong with me? How was I going to work side by side with a man I wanted, but at the same time hated?

“Thanks for trying,” I finally answered.

Clayton kissed the top of my head, finally letting me go enough that he could look down at my face.

“He’s not that bad. And I doubt what he did at the bonfire will happen again. Ta

The only thing that would make me feel better was to be assigned to another senior partner, but considering that wasn’t going to happen, the only option I had was to call Ta

Saying goodbye to Clayton, I walked out of the building into the bright sunshine and took a seat on a bench beneath a tall maple tree, its leaves a brilliant array of color now that we were edging into the fall season.

Winter would be coming soon, the temperatures dropping as quickly as the leaves from the trees.

Pulling my phone and the slip of paper with my assignment from my bag, I dialed Ta

At the sound of the first ring, my heart jumped into my throat, anxiety riding my body so hard pain shot across my muscles and bones.

“What?”

A deep tenor voice cut across the line in answer, a

My first instinct was to hang up, quit the class and possibly change school just to escape the asshole who couldn’t be bothered with a polite greeting when answering his phone, but I’d be damned to give up my future over a man who enjoyed treating people like crap.

If Ta

I’d fight back.

Because, seriously, fuck that guy.

“Hi, Ta

A huff of breath blew over the line before, “Be here at six tonight.”

The line went dead after that. I pulled the phone from my ear to look at the screen, my eyes blinking several times as I processed what happened.

Apparently, Clayton had been wrong. Ta

That made two of us, and even though I wanted to call him back and refuse to show up at his place at the time he’d demanded, I thought better of it.

Starting a battle with him was a bad idea on its own, but to do it while having to work with him on a project I needed to ace in order to keep up my perfect GPA was just plain stupid.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to work with him, but I’d figure something out.

Pushing up to my feet, I headed toward my dorm, definitely not thinking about what I would wear to see Ta

Right.

That’s the lie I told myself.

. . .

I arrived at the Inferno mansion a few minutes before six. Punctuality was one of my brags in life, a habit I adhered to thanks to having been raised in the South.

Being early or late was considered impolite, and even being here with time to kill awoke my mother’s admonishing voice in my head about my upbringing and ma

Normally, I would have hung back and busied myself on my phone in order to pass the time until I was due to arrive, but I knew ma

Dressed in a pair of ski

The doorbell inside chimed as soon as I hit the button, my foot tapping with nervousness and impatience while I waited for someone to answer.

As soon as the door swung open, a man I didn’t recognize stared down at me with the scent of pot smoke wafting out from behind him. I locked eyes with him and wondered who he was. How it was possible that every man I met in this damn place was absolutely gorgeous?

I remembered from my comparative religion classes in undergrad that Satan was believed to present himself as the most beautiful man in existence. I had no doubt that was true. Ta

Taller than me by several inches, he had broad shoulders and a trim waist, the white shirt and loose jeans he wore doing nothing to hide his athletic physique. With dirty blond hair that was a mess around his face, and brown eyes flecked with gold, he glared at me as if a

I gave him the friendliest smile I could manage.

“Hi. I’m Luca Bailey. I’m here to see Ta

The guy grunted out a laugh and swung the door open wider, his body spi