Elite (Eagle Elite #1)(31)

“Choice?” I rolled my eyes. “You’re pretty serious and cryptic to boot, you know that right? What are you? Some kind of famous celebrity? A politician’s son? The President’s dirty little secret?”

At that he cracked a smile.

“…Hmm, that dirty little secret thing sure rings a bell. Don’t worry your pretty little head over anything, alright? Go do your homework and relax.”

Apparently I wasn’t going to get any answers. I grabbed my new bag and my purse and hopped out of the car. “Thanks for… everything.”

Nixon’s full lips curved into a smile. “My pleasure. Now go get some work done. I’ll send Chase over in a few.”

“Chase? Why?” I put my hand on my hip. Was I still under babysitting protection?

Nixon shrugged. “So no one bothers you, why else?”

“Why don’t you check on me yourself? Why send a minion?”

He barked with laughter. “A minion, huh?” He bit his lip, making the ring tilt to the side. Damn, I hated how sexy he was without even trying. “If I came and checked on you, I’d definitely be bothering you.”

“Annoying the hell out of me is more like it,” I shot back.

“Bye, Farm Girl.”

And there it was, the perfect ending to the weirdest day of my life.

“Thanks for that.” I flipped him off.

His response was to moo. Classic.





Chapter Fourteen Monroe was already in the room waiting for me.

“How was shopping?” She sat cross-legged on her bed filing her nails.

“Oh swell. You know, other than seeing crazy guys in suits with guns and then having the devil buy me a Prada messenger bag to replace my old one.”

Monroe grinned. “Come on, everyone knows the devil wears Prada.”

“Thank you, Monroe.” I glared. “That was really helpful of you. Why’d you bail anyways? Do you always do whatever Nixon says?”

She snorted. “Yes, and even though he’s the devil incarnate — and an ass — at least he keeps me safe.”

“From what? Hormonal college students? Ice cream cones falling on your shoes? I don’t get it, who are you guys?”

“Wanna watch a movie?” She blew her hair out of her face and began searching through DVDs like a madwoman.

“Okay, I get it. Touchy subject. I’ll just do an internet search on your last name.”

Her hand froze over the DVD collection, but she didn’t say anything. Maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal? I quickly got onto the room computer and typed in their last name Abandonato.

Holy crap. So not what I expected.

Their names were on everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything Abandonato Enterprises, LLC. They owned the school, like literally owned it. They owned the bank I just went to, the grocery store, the actual mall, the gas stations. And my favorite, not car dealerships — no, because that would be too normal. They owned car brands. A few foreign brands. Crap.

“And I thought the Mormons owned everything…” I said under my breath.

Monroe choked on a laugh. “Heard that, Boots.”

“What don’t you own?”

“Disneyworld?” she offered.

Very funny.

“Is that why you guys take so much security everywhere?”

Monroe peered over my shoulder at the screen. “We’re worth a lot of money. Our dad’s kind of paranoid, you know? He’s worth billions. Imagine if one of us was kidnapped for ransom?”

That made sense. Logically, I could tell myself that people would be afraid of power, but it still didn’t explain why the kid had asked for Nixon’s autograph.

“Are you guys celebrities or something like that?”

Monroe laughed. “Around these parts? Let’s just go with the something like that.”

A knock sounded at the door.

I clicked out of the screen and went to open it.

Chase stood there, hands in the pockets of his jeans. A tight sweater hugging his perfect body. I looked away.

“Hey, Chase,” Monroe called.

“Hey, Mo…” His eyes turned to mine. “Hey, Trace.”

“Nixon send you?”

“Yup.”

“You staying?”

“Yup.”

“You gonna say anything but yup?”

He placed his hands on the door frame and leaned forward, his lips about an inch from mine. “I’m not much of a talker. I’m more of an action sort of guy.”

“Bet you are.” I nodded. “Please come in, make yourself at home in our lovely prison.”

“It’s not prison.” Monroe rolled her eyes. “Nixon just wants to make sure you're safe, and although I could probably kick a couple asses on our floor, we’d be screwed if the football team decided to pull a prank on us.”

“And why would they pull a prank on us?” I asked.

“You’re the shiny new thing, who wouldn’t want to play with you?” Chase shrugged. “I know if I had the chance to—”

“—I think it’s safe to say I know where that sentence was going to end.”

“Oh yeah?” Chase plopped down onto my bed in the same manner Nixon had a few days past. “And how’s that?”