Page 38 of Black Ledger

Throughout the process, I was convinced I wouldn’t get picked, but surprisingly, all of us moved on to bid day with Kappa Xi as our first choice.

And surprisingly, we all got in.

Things moved quickly after that. All of us moved into a big brownstone house with thirteen other Kappas and started our pledge quarter at UChicago. There wasn’t much hazing, and even the stuff we did have to do was nothing compared to the Bratva’s Gauntlet.

I still had scars from that.

Chapter Nineteen

Xeniya Morozova

Age 19

Itapped my pencil on my desk in my Abnormal Psychology class. I had my laptop with me, but I preferred to write notes by hand. It helped me process and memorize the material. Abnormal Psych was not part of my major, but I had to take fifty non-cybersecurity credits, and I thought it would be useful to study the human brain.

My study mate, Chadwick Holloway, the governor of Georgia’s son, sat by my side, and, of course, he went by Chad. As the stereotype suggested, Chad was conventionally attractive and confident to the point of arrogance. He was also far too touchy for his own good, but I was trying to be a normal girl, so I didn’t say anything.

Old Xeniya would have punched him… But I was learning civilians didn’t punch people for the slightest infraction.

Plus, it felt good to be the center of a “normal” guy’s attention. I didn’t have to worry that he might threaten me with a knife or a gun if I pissed him off, which had happened on far too many occasions as a member of the mafia.

No. Chad was normal—so tediously, boringly normal.

So I flirted back, because what harm could come of it?

Rachelle, my sorority sister, sat on my other side. She leaned in and said, “Do you think all serial killers have antisocial personality disorder?”

I shot her a glance out of the corner of my eye, trying not to let the professor notice us talking. I knew many, many killers who didn’t have a personality disorder. It was just part of their job. And I had killed multiple times, and I didn’t think I had antisocial personality disorder. But I couldn’t say any of that, so I settled on, “Probably not all of them.”

The next thirty minutes of class passed with very few interruptions, and when the professor dismissed us, I gathered my notebooks and backpack. I swung my bag over my shoulder and turned to say goodbye to Chad. I had to rush to my next class all the way across campus. Well, technically, it was my lab, which lasted four hours and ended at 9 p.m.

I preferred late classes because I liked to stay up late. I rarely went to bed before 3 a.m., and now that I was in college and could make my own schedule, and I made sure none of my classes were before 11 a.m.

“Oh, your necklace,” Chad said, leaning in and fixing the chain, which had gotten stuck under the strap of my bag. As he did, he stepped in close to me, his fingers intentionally grazing first the column of my neck and then the upper curve of my breast.

I stilled beneath his touch. Was I supposed to feel something? Because he was basically caressing me, and I felt nothing.

The hair on the nape of my neck stood up, and for some reason, it felt like someone was staring at me.

I glanced around, but found nothing. It was just my hyperactive imagination.

I swallowed, forced a tight smile, and turned back to Chad. “Thank you.” It came out breathless and far raspier than I intended. It sounded sexual. The absolute opposite of what I meant. “I have my lab.” I looked over my shoulder as if my lab were standing right behind me.

Chad’s fingers were still hovering over my chest. “See you tomorrow at study group.”

“Yes, tomorrow.” The muscles in my shoulders were stone-tight, and I rolled them to release the tension. The movement caused my breasts to bounce. His eyes locked onto them like a predator honing in on its prey. “Anyway, I have to go, or I’m going to be late.”

“Of course,” he said, running two fingers along a strand of my hair. Right. He was still touching me.

“Well, then, bye.” And I ran out of there as fast as I could.

Rachelle bounced on the balls of her feet, running after me, and hit me in the shoulder. “Oh, he is so into you.”

I know. I sucked in a slow breath. It should have felt good, but it just didn’t. I’d only found two guys attractive in my life, and unfortunately for me, they were both in the Bratva and worse… they were brothers.

Brothers.

Oh, God, I was going to hell.