The words hung in the air, heavy and terrifying. This was as close to a confession as I was going to get.
"Then why are you here?" I asked quietly. "Why go to college, study literature, pretend to be normal when you're part of something so terrible?"
He turned, and the vulnerability in his expression took my breath away. "Because I'm trying to be different. Because I've spent my entire life watching my father and brother destroy people, and I refuse to become that. Because the only way to change a corrupt system is from the inside, and I'm trying to gather enough evidence to bring them down."
I almost dropped my coffee. "What?"
"You heard me." He moved closer, sitting on the edge of my desk now, close enough that I could smell his cologne cedar and something darker, more complex. "I've been documenting everything for the past three years. Financial crimes, witness intimidation, evidence tampering. Everything I can access without tipping them off. When I have enough, when I have something airtight, I'm going to the FBI."
This couldn't be real. It was too convenient, too perfect. Adrian Blake, the white knight trying to save the world from his evil family? It sounded like something out of a novel.
Unless it was true.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.
"Because I need you to know who I really am. Because I'm tired of people looking at me and seeing Marcus or my father. Because…" He reached out, his fingers brushing a strand of hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear. The touch sent electricity through me.
"Because from the moment I saw you, I knew you were different. And I don't want to lose you before I even have you."
My breath came faster. He was so close now, his blue eyes searching mine, his fingers still lingering near my face.
"Adrian, I don't"
"You don't trust me. I know. You'd be stupid to trust me, and you're not stupid." His hand dropped to his side. "But I'm asking you to give me a chance. Let me prove that I'm not my family. Let me show you that not everyone with the Blake name is a monster."
I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to believe him so badly it hurt. But Sarah's voice echoed in my mind: The most dangerous predators are the ones who make you feel safe.
"I need time," I said, echoing what I'd told Kai. "To figure out what I think, what I feel."
"Take all the time you need." He stood, creating distance between us, and I could breathe again. "Just… be careful, Emma. If my family is watching me and they always are then they're watching you too. Don't go anywhere alone at night. Don't trust anyone you don't know. And if you receive any threats, any messages, anything that feels wrong, tell me immediately."
"Why would I tell you? You just admitted your family might be behind it."
"Because I have resources to protect you that the police don't. And because despite what you may think of me, I would never let anyone hurt you."
The intensity in his voice made me believe him. Which was exactly why I couldn't.
A knock on the door made us both jump. Through the window, I could see Vanessa Montgomery, the blonde from the dining hall, her expression icy as she spotted Adrian through the glass.
"Shit," Adrian muttered. "That's"
"I know who she is." I opened the door.
Vanessa's gaze swept over both of us, noting Adrian sitting on my bed, the intimate atmosphere, the coffee cups. Her smile was razor-sharp. "Adrian, darling. Your father sent me to find you. You missed your morning call with Marcus."
"Tell him I was busy."
"Tell him yourself. He's on campus. He and Marcus just pulled up to the administration building."
Her eyes cut to me. "They're here to make a very generous donation. Something about a new scholarship program. I'm sure they'd love to meet your… project partner."
The way she said "project partner" made it clear what she really thought we were doing.
Adrian's expression went cold. "Emma, don't"
"Don't what? Meet your family?" I stood, grabbing my bag. "Actually, I'd love to meet them. It would be rude not to thank them for their generosity to the university."
His jaw clenched. "Emma, this isn't a good idea."
"Why? What are you afraid of, Adrian? That they'll say something you don't want me to hear?"
Vanessa's smile widened. "Oh, I like her. She's got spine. Come on, scholarship girl. Let's go meet the men who basically own this school."
Adrian grabbed my wrist as I moved toward the door. "Please. Trust me on this. You don't want to be on their radar."
"Maybe I already am." I pulled free gently. "And maybe it's time I met them face to face."
The walk across campus to the administration building felt like a death march. Vanessa chatted the entire time about the Blake family's history with Riverside, their various donations and buildings named after them, their influence over everything from curriculum to campus security.
"They practically built the new science center," she was saying. "And the Blake Student Center, obviously. And they fund about thirty percent of all scholarships here. Including yours, probably."
That stopped me cold. "What?"
"Oh, didn't you know? The Blake Foundation sponsors dozens of merit-based scholarships. They target students with specific profiles high academic achievement, overcoming adversity, family tragedies." Her smile was poisonous. "Students like you, Emma Chen. Sister died in a tragic car accident, single mother struggling to make ends meet, brilliant but poor. You're exactly the kind of charity case they love to support."
My scholarship had come from the Blake Foundation?
No. No, that couldn't be right. It had been the Riverside Merit Scholarship, not.
But Vanessa was right. I pulled out my phone, searching through my email until I found the scholarship letter. There it was, in small print at the bottom: Funded by the Blake Foundation for Academic Excellence.
They'd been controlling me from the start. The scholarship, the placement in Adrian's class, even coming to Riverside at all had any of it been my choice?