#13

The billionaire"s bodyguardswalk me out of the ballroom through the fire exit, and they"re quick to let go as soon as the doors swing close behind us.

"Mr. Adrianov asks that you wait for his call, Ms. Pearson."

I stumble back a step upon hearing what they"ve called me, but they"re already walking back to the ballroom before I can say a word.

Fear assaults my senses as soon as I realize I"m all alone, and I run as fast as I can until I"m out of the stairwell. My heart pounds frantically against my chest as I find myself back in the lobby, and there"s this tiny part of me that"s already drowning in despair.

This is the end, isn"t it?

Aaron has to be looking for me right now.

And he"ll find me before the Devil can.

Nausea threatens to claw out of my throat as I make my way out of the hotel and take the bus back to the dorm.

You"re okay, Sheena. You"re okay. You"re okay.

I nearly jump out of my seat when my phone starts to ring, and my fingers curl against my lap. "Hello?"

"Is it true?"

I don"t know whether to feel disappointed or relieved that what I"m hearing from the other end is Paola"s voice and not the Devil"s.

"Sheen? Can you hear me?"

I clear my throat and force myself to concentrate on Paola"s words. "Sorry, what was that again?"

"Have you seen Tara"s Instagram story? I want to know if it"s true—-"

"I...I don"t know. What did she post?"

"She has a video of you being escorted out by security from some party you supposedly gatecrashed—-"

"It"s true," I admit stiltedly.

"And?"

"What do you mean "and"?"

"I know you, Sheen. You"d never gatecrash a party without a valid reason, so that can"t be the whole story. There"s more, isn"t there?"

The conviction in Paola"s voice means the world to me, and I realize that while I may not be lucky with most aspects of my life, I sure hit the jackpot in the friend department.

"Thank...you." My voice catches in the end.

"Oh, Sheen." Paola"s voice fills with worry. "What"s wrong?"

How do I even begin to answer that?

Tara wanting to turn me into some social-climbing psycho I can care less about, but...I"ve just bumped into the man who threatened to ruin my life while the other man I asked help from turns out to be a billionaire I don"t think I can or should trust.

Those are just some of the things that aren"t right about my life, but I also know I can"t talk about any of it to Paola and risk having her involved in my mess. And besides—-

"Can we just talk later?"

"Oh, um, sure. Take care of yourself, do you hear?"

I"m getting this feeling that Paola thinks I"m in a hurry to end the call because I don"t want her to hear me bursting into tears, but it"s not like I can tell her the truth—-

"Hello, Sheena."

Like the fact that I have the Devil on call waiting, and oh God...

It"s my first time to hear his voice - his real, undisguised voice purring into my ear, and the sound of it has my knees wobbling as I hop off the bus.

"I"m sorry I had you thrown out of the ballroom like that."

I want to know why he"s done that, obviously, but right now there"s something else more pressing that I want to know about.

"It"s really you then?" I whisper. "The Devil?"

"Yes."

Hearing him admit this so easily has me walking really, really fast, and still keep walking even when I realize it"s a subconscious attempt to run away from reality.

Sasha Adrianov is the Devil.

Isn"t that too crazy to be true?

"I know you have a lot of questions," he says quietly, "and you can ask me anything you want, and I"ll answer all of them. But right now, let me ask the questions first."

"W-What kind of questions?"

"First of all, I need to know if you"re alright. Has he hurt you in any way?"

I almost answer him outright, but I hesitate in the end because things have changed...now that I know who he is.

"Sheena?"

Hearing him say my name so normally like that makes me bite my lip and take the longer and darker way back to my dorm. It"s not a particularly scenic route, but at least I know there"ll be fewer people likely to see me crying if I do end up breaking down.

"I need to know why you"re doing this," I say jerkily. How can I trust him if it turns out that what"s life and death for me...is nothing but a game to him?

"This isn"t the time—-"

"I don"t trust you, okay?" He"s a billionaire, for God"s sake. What good reason can he possibly have to keep risking his life to help people like me?

"You don"t trust me as Sasha, fine. But you trust me as the Devil...don"t you?"

Oh God.

Why is this man so good at twisting things to his advantage?

"Just think of me as the Devil for now, Sheena. We need to take things one step at a time, and right now, if you need to forget who I really am so we can move forward, then just think of me as the Devil. Can you do that for me? Please?"

I think...it"s that "please" that gets me.

It"s the Devil being polite as always, and it"s that, above all else, that makes me realize Sasha Adrianov is still the Devil I trust...even when it"s also possible that he"s a billionaire who happens to think it"s fun to occasionally play Batman in real life.

"Can you, Sheena?"

I take a deep breath. "Alright."

"Then answer my question earlier. Are you alright?"

"I"m...fine, I guess."

"Did he try to hurt you in any way?"

"He...didn"t have a chance to. I ran away as fast as I could."

"I have men tailing Bronn," the Devil says curtly, "and they"ve been instructed to keep him from ever getting close to you. They"re also in regular contact with the team of men I have watching over you 24/7."

It says a lot that I"m not even the slightest bit surprised to hear any of this.

"The only reason the two of you ended up in the same place is because you chose to take a job without having me vet it first."

I knew that would come back to bite me in the butt sooner or later.

"I"m sorry. I...I promise I"ll do whatever you say—-"

"Do you mean that?"

The way his voice suddenly hardens makes my stomach cramp.

"Why do I have a feeling you"re about to ask me to do something crazy?"

"That"s not the answer to my question."

Crap, crap, crap.

I"m tempted to turn and look around me. I just have this really bad feeling that wherever I am now could be my final resting place if things go south, and well...

The good news is that this part of the university has always been considered rather isolated, which makes it an ideal spot for students wanting a secret place to make out.

The bad news, however...is that the nearest school building is a good ten minutes away, which also makes it an ideal spot for killing girls like me.

"What"s it to be, Sheena? Do you trust me enough to do what I say without question?"

The cramps gripping my stomach worsen when I think about all the scary things he could ask me to do. But at the end of the day, there"s only one answer I can give him.

I almost say "I do" but catch myself in time. "Y-yes," I say instead. "Whatever you want me to do, I"ll do it—-"

"Then listen to me very carefully."

God, oh God.

"Bronn has been following you for some time now. He"s going to make his move at any moment—-"

Oh God, it"s so, so hard to breathe.

"And we"ll let him."