All Chapters of THE DEAN'S ASSASSIN : Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

Aria (POV)The air in Lecture Hall 402 smelled like old oak, expensive cologne, and systemic arrogance.It was a cold November morning at Saint Jude’s University. Outside the tall gothic lancet windows, the first slate-gray snow dusted the quad, but inside, forty graduate students sat in hyperventilating silence. Everyone was waiting for Professor Elias Voss.I sat in seat 1B. Front row. Center-left.I didn't open a notebook. I didn't position a pristine iPad with a sleek stylus like the trembling girl to my right, Sienna Cole, a girl whose worst trauma was probably a second-place ribbon in high school debate. I just sat back, my hands folded loosely over my knee, wearing a high-collared black cashmere sweater that hid the thin, silver surgical scar running from the base of my throat down past my sternum.Twelve years ago, people in custom-tailored suits tried to burn my world down to ash. They renamed me, buried my family in an unmarked grave, and thought the quiet girl with the brok

Elias (POV)My heart was pounding like a sledgehammer against my ribs.I had my left arm clamped tightly around Aria Kane’s waist, pulling her back into the pitch-black shadow of the velvet alcove. Her back was pressed firm against my chest. She was tall, supple, and shockingly solid not a trembling flower, but a coiled spring made of steel and silk.My hand rested against her ribs. Even through her heavy coat, I felt her breathing. It was slow. Measured. Forty beats per minute.The woman was in absolute control while hiding three feet away from the university Dean."Elias?" Liora’s heels clicked across the stone floor of the archive. The beam of her flashlight swept across the rows of books, illuminating the very desk where Aria had been standing seconds ago.I felt Aria’s head tilt back slightly against my shoulder. Her scent filled my nostrils, thick and intoxicating. She leaned back, pressing herself harder against me, her hand slowly moving down to rest over mine on her waist.He

Aria(POV)The Grand Ballroom of the Saint Jude’s Alumni Hall was a masterpiece of gilded corruption.Crystal chandeliers hung from six-story ceilings, casting warm golden light over three hundred guests dressed in tuxedos and haute couture gowns. Classical strings played softly from the balcony. Waiters in white gloves moved through the crowd with silver trays of champagne.These were the elites of the institution. Judges, senators, defense contractors, and senior academics. The very people who signed the checks that kept the Board's black budget thriving.I stood near the grand staircase, a glass of untouched champagne in my hand.I wore a backless dress of emerald silk that swept the floor, cut low enough at the front to be elegant, but high enough to conceal the top of my scar. My dark hair was swept up in a sophisticated chignon, exposing the long line of my neck.I looked like royalty. I felt like an executioner."You look breathtaking, Ms. Kane," a deep voice said behind me.I t