Page 20 of Pretty Lethal
“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t apply that instinct elsewhere. Have you considered working with Hawk and Kai?”
Wilder snorts. “I can’t sit behind a desk, running board meetings or listening to up-their-ass clients all day like Hawk, and I’m not regimented enough to follow orders like Kai.”
“You don’t have to be either of them to be useful at Nocturnal Enterprises. I truly think you could be an asset on one of Kai’s teams, helping to rescue people like Hadley who are trapped in vulnerable situations.”
He stares at me as though he wants to believe me but just can’t accept what I’m saying at face value, and it breaks my heart a little to realize Wilder has never truly believed in himself or had anyone who believed for him.
I make a silent vow to show him his true worth, to make him see what I see—this man who is undeniably loyal, fearless, capable. The man I fell head over heels for four years ago and who I continue to fall deeper in love with every day I’ve been back in his life.
However, Wilder isn’t going to believe anything I say. I need toshowhim, push him, challenge him. So instead of lamenting about how incredible I think he is, I lean closer and lower my voice. “If you do some actual work for the next hour, I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Really?” he purrs, one side of his lips quirking in a sexy-as-hell smirk. His gaze drops to my mouth and his tongue flicks out to run along his lower lip. “How so?”
I shrug a shoulder, not having actually worked that part out yet. “I guess you’ll have to do your work in order to find out.”
He smirks, tilting back in his chair and pulling his books toward him. “What are you working on anyway? It’s the first day back, you can’t possibly have papers to grade already.”
“Just a little side project I’m working on,” I respond vaguely, avoiding eye contact as I angle my books so Wilder can’t see what I’m reading. Of course, the asshole grabs one from the stack and begins to flick through it.
“Why are you reading up on the college’s history?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Just curious.”
I can feel his eyes boring into me, but I studiously ignore him as I continue to stare at the book lying open in front of me.
“What are you up to, Emilia?” he asks in a sharper tone. When I don’t answer, he figures it out for himself. “You’re looking into the King’s Elite, aren’t you?” he hisses, leaning in close so no one at the surrounding tables can overhear our conversation.
“I’m just looking to see if there’s any mention of them in the school’s history.”
He searches my face for a moment, clearly angry although also curious. “And?”
I shake my head. “Nothing yet.”
“You need to stop looking into this, Em. I don’t want you getting mixed up in any of this.”
I slam closed the book in front of me. “It’s a bit late for that, Wilder. I’m already involved.”
“You don’t need to go making a target out of yourself. So far, they haven’t done anything all that bad, but I don’t know what they’d do if they knew you were digging for information.”
“They have you tailing some girl,” I whisper yell at him. Wilder physically flinches. It was a job he was given the day he went to meet his entire family, right before school finished for Thanksgiving, and even though he questioned why at the time, Robbie made it clear it wasn’t a job he could refuse.
Wilder came home from that dinner absolutely furious, saying he no longer gave a shit about getting to know any of them, a sentiment he has repeated every time we’ve had this conversation.
“Have you…” I trail off, but he knows what I mean.
“I saw her walking across campus this morning and followed her to her morning class, but that was it.” He rubs his hand along the back of his neck. “She seems like a regular college girl. I dunno what they are hoping I’ll find.”
I grimace. “Just do what they’re asking for, for now. Maybe you can try talking to Robbie again this week.”
He shakes his head. “Robbie isn’t going to listen, and honestly, I’m fucking done with all this bullshit. I fucked up, I know that, but I’m not interested in getting to know those people. They might be family by blood, but they’re notmyfamily, and I realize that now.”
I give Wilder the sweetest of smiles. I’m proud of him for even wanting to get to know a family that has basically denied his existence his whole life. And while I wish he’d never gotten himself involved in this King’s Elite, I understand why he did.
“We’ll figure it all out,” I promise him, hoping it’s not a promise I’ll have to break. “Now, stop procrastinating and work, or no rewards for you.”
He smirks. “Yes, Miss Harrison.”
Holy damn, my name has never sounded so dirty.
