After we reached the school grounds, he walked me to my first class without saying a single word to me. Everyone kept staring at us as we walked the halls of Holy T. Some girls looked green with envy and others were just throwing curious glances our way.
Everyone must be wondering why their “king” is walking a peasant, by their standards, to class. In this place, it doesn’t matter that my mother was a world- renowned supermodel, that I carry the Nicolasi name and that my grandfather practically owns this city. Lucan made it clear that I was not welcome here and apparently, in this academy, his word is law.
He usually sits next to me during Lit class, but he didn't come in with me today. He just walked me to the door and then left. —Where did he go? And why do I even care?
Ugh, this is what happens when you let the devil in.
My annoying thoughts about the whereabouts of a certain blonde asshole are interrupted by my cousin Valentino. He walks towards us and takes the seat right behind Fallon.
For someone that claims to loathe the very existence of Fallon, he sure loves to be near her.
I know he chose that seat because of her. There are at least six empty chairs and he chose the one behind her.
Fallon & Val — who would've thought? My girl is loud, sarcastic, funny and I say this with all the love in the world. She's kind of a gigantic nerd. She stays at home on Friday nights and watches reruns of The Big Bang Theory with her cat, a cat she named Eyre. She also loves reading the classics, books that basically no one our age reads.
Oh, did I mention she owns a pet snake? I shiver just at the thought of that ugly ass thing she calls Petunia.
Gross.
She’s perfect, but not everyone sees her as I do.
On the other hand, Valentino is the silent type. He wears only black and his wardrobe consists of high-end brands only. He’s the quarterback of the football team but I never see him with the jocks. He’s always by himself or with Lucan and his twin brother Lorenzo.
What I did notice is that he always carries a journal and a pen with him. I’m curious about that, maybe one day I'll care enough to ask him about it.
I look at Fallon sitting beside me and she’s so stiff that she looks like she’s not breathing. Valentino joining this class triggered her. I wish I could do something to take that look away from her pretty eyes. I recognize that emotion staring back at me every time I look at my reflection.
It’s grief.
Mr. Gonzalez has been calling on us one by one to go up to the front of the class and recite our poems. One of the botched Barbie look alike is next.
“My beauty is rare and so is my hair,
When I enter a room everyone stares,
I’m one of a kind,
No one compares…
This girl cannot be serious. I tune her out before I lose a brain cell listening to her so-called poem. Once she’s done, she takes the empty seat next to Valentino.
Seriously, these girls are like the plague.
“Hey baby, I’ve missed you.” — Valentino is now writing in his journal and is paying no attention to her. — “Are we still on for tonight?”, she purrs before grabbing his bicep and turning him towards her, so she has better access to his mouth.
I look away from them before I throw up my breakfast and find Fallon concentrating very hard on the board in front of her, with a murderous frown on her face.
Shit.
20
Venti
THE PRINCIPESSA CAN SAVE HER FUCKING SELF
“You don’t know what you’re capable of until you have to do it.” – June Osborne
LUCAN
That kiss.
That fucking kiss.
Why can’t I get it out of my head? I’ve kissed plenty of bitches before, but there’s something about her that feels… right.
Andrea.
My enemy and a threat standing in the way of me keeping my world safe. The girl with so much sorrow in her eyes and so much fire in her heart. As much as I try to remember that she’s my task, I still can’t get her out of my system and that’s fucking dangerous.
She’s the sweetest poison and I wouldn’t mind drowning in her.
If I allow myself to own her— mind, body, and soul. There’s no going back. I’ll lose myself in her.
I received my task — her. Tommaso made it clear that I was to get rid of Demetrio’s kid. The family made it known that they won’t accept a bastard that knows nothing about our dealings to lead them. Benedetto knows this and still, he’s pushing Andrea on all of us.
For me to become the capo of the three founding families…I must make sure Andrea Nicolasi goes back to New York for good.
Just the thought of her being five hundred and eighty-five miles away, doesn’t sit right with me.
Ring, ring, ring…
I pick up my phone from my nightstand and I’m surprised by the caller. It’s midnight, this is unusual for her. I pick up on the fourth ring. “What’s wrong?”, her future is being dictated by men and she might go rogue.
“We need to talk, come down.” That’s all she says before ending the call.
Something is definitely wrong.
I leave my bed, walk to my window and there she is. She ditched her bodyguard, again. She has a bad habit of doing that and one day she will find herself in a fucked-up situation with no one to save her.
I leave my room and head to my family’s garden where Arianna is waiting for me. I find her sitting under the gazebo, staring up at the stars with a worry expression on her face.
I’ve known Arianna since we were kids. She never shows emotion, I don’t even think she has any. Some call her an ice princess because of her cold exterior and sometimes bitch personality, but today that’s not the case.
I’ve never seen her this way before.
She looks almost broken.
“Did I ever tell you the story behind my middle name?”, she says while still looking at the night sky. I don’t bother answering her question since I’m sure she doesn’t care what I have to say. She just needs someone who will listen to her.
We have a full moon tonight and it’s could as fuck. Still, I stay because this is a welcome distraction.
There’s something melancholic and almost sad about this night.
“My grandmother used to tell us tales about her own grandmother, Antonietta Parisi, and how she was a dreamer that lived in a poor village back in Italy. She had dreams of coming to America and making a life for herself, where everyone had equal opportunity to succeed and women were treated just as the men were. Her papa had other plans for her. He was a greedy man and a selfish father, so much so that he sold his only daughter to the highest bidder. To a criminal, Giorgio Parisi, who turned out to be a sick and sadistic bastard that raped and abused her and even went as far as to make money off her body by selling her. She was his possession, so no one dared to question him. Years and years of abuse hardened her soft heart to the point that she turned cold and lost touch with reality. Her heart wasn’t filled with childlike dreams and hopes any longer. It was just a useless organ beating in her chest.”
Her voice trembles and her body is shivering.
What’s the point of this story? I’m freezing my balls off.
“One cold December night, she gave birth to fraternal twins, a boy and a baby girl. They were the product of her pain and abuse. She named the little girl Luna. Do you know what happened to sweet baby girl Luna? – Giorgio, satisfied with his male heir, found no use for the baby girl, so he suffocated her and left her in the middle of the woods. If the lack of air didn’t kill her then the wolves certainly did. Filled with despair, Antonietta followed him to where he had run off to with their infant daughter, but she was too late. He murdered the baby.”
“They silently walked back to their cabin and she waited for him to fall asleep and in a fit of rage, she lost it and killed her husband that very same night right before hanging herself off a tree. The baby boy was found later by Giorgio’s
brother and he and his wife raised him as their own. No one ever found the body of baby girl Luna and boy grew up to be just like his father and so did the next generation after him.”
Arianna’s voice shakes with anger now. Long gone is the sadness that surrounded her just a couple of minutes ago.
“The Parisi men only conceived male babies, until I was born. So, my mother named me after the lost Luna, she was the last Parisi female until us.”
Shit, imagine being named after a girl that was murdered by her father and then was eaten by wolves. Yeah, the story is tragic but come on Arianna’s mom has always been a cold bitch and this only proves it.
“Just like baby Luna, I too was born on a cold December night under a full moon. – Did you know full moons have been associated with odd insane behavior including suicide, fits of violence and illegal activities? Some also say that children born on full moons are born cold and heartless because the Roman, goddess of the moon, Luna, would ride her silver chariot across the dead sky and steal the babies' souls.”
She is laughing now; the sound is strange coming from her lips. Arianna never laughs.
“Every time mama was angry with me; she would tell the story of how when I was born, I didn’t make a sound and my frail skin was so cold. She believes the moon goddess must’ve stolen the soul from within me and that is the reason why I am heartless and unfeeling.
A monster.
“And you know what Lucan? I think so too. That’s why I have a proposition for you.”, She is back to staring at the sky.
“I’m listening.” I’m genuinely curious about what she has to say, nothing good will come out of this conversation.
Of that I'm sure of.
“I know Andrea is your job, your task is to run her out of town back to New York.”, she goes straight to the point. I’m about to ask how she found out when no-one, but the Volpe boss and I know, but she desperately interrupts me. — “Please, just listen to me.” —For the first time since I have known Arianna, she has tears in her eyes, and she is trembling. — “I’m running out of time, dad just sold me to the highest bidder and from this day forward my life is not my own.”
Even though she’s my rival for the title of Capo, I can't refuse to help her. She’s family even if it’s not by blood. “What do you have in mind?” I know this alliance will end in disaster but at this very moment, I am all she has got.
“In this life, people will lose their morals and sell their souls to the devil for the right price. I asked around and offered money to Valeria Turner’s employees at Valentina Co.”, she sighs and looks ashamed, but also desperate. People do stupid shit when they don’t see a way out of a shitty situation.
“I know just the thing that will break her and make her leave town for good.”
If I were any other kind of man, I would help her and leave Andrea out of it, but I’m no prince and the principessa can save her fucking self.
“I’ll help you get out of the arranged marriage but only if you tell me everything you know about Andrea Nicolasi. Every single detail that might help me get rid of her so I can complete my job and become head of the three families”, I tell her with finality.
“You should know about what really happened to her mother.” She gets lost in thought once again with a frown on her beautiful face. And I know that from this moment on everything will change.
Arianna proves just how cold-hearted and soulless she is when she reveals Andrea’s hidden truths, and it is everything I need to break her spirit.
Maybe even her heart.
I have always been ruthless in the name of the Holy Trinity but if I go through with this there is no going back.
I will be just like my father.
Even worse, but I have no choice.
21
Ventuno
COWARD
“Men do stupid things for women.” – Sansa Stark
ANDREA
Today is my second training session and I find myself waiting for Rian in the Nicolasi home gym. The home gym is in the left wing of the mansion and it is huge with all kinds of fighting and exercise equipment.
I hope this day goes better than the last. He beat me until I almost passed out from the pain. My muscles still ache since the last time I was alone with him —and let’s not forget the Irish bastard shot at me.
Rian is supposed to teach me one-on-one combat today and he was not happy about it. How do I know this? Well, the asshole was bitching all throughout our last session about how princesses should stay in their lane.
Misogynistic jerk.
In the meeting with all the other Holy Trinity brats, Benedetto explained how if I wanted to be head of three crime families, I should know how to handle a gun and defend myself against any threat. He doesn't know I've taken self-defense classes ever since I was almost kidnapped by one of my mom’s crazy fans when I was ten years old. I was in Central Park with mom and I asked her for a cherry ice cone. I still remember how badly I wanted that ice cone because I couldn’t stand how horrible the heat was that summer day in New York. She turned her back for a second and someone grabbed me. If it weren’t for some random bystanders that got in the way of the man that was trying to take me away, lord knows what would have happened to me. From that moment on, she made sure I could protect myself in a situation where she wasn’t there with me.
I would be lying if I say this life doesn’t excite me, I always gravitated towards danger. I guess that’s why every time I’m in the same vicinity as Lucan, my eyes always find him.
I won’t even go there.
He’s so not the guy for me.
I close the gym doors behind me, and I find the place empty. —This guy better not bail on me now. — I’m waiting for Rian to appear but there’s no sight of him. It’s way past the time we agreed on. From what I’ve observed in the amount of time I’ve been here, he’s up with the fucking chickens.
I don’t even think he sleeps.
I let my gaze wander around the room, and I can't believe they even own a fighting cage. There are guns, knives and all kinds of weapons hanging from the walls like trophies. They most likely keep it as souvenirs after they off someone. Seems like something Enzo, the sicko, might do.
I am in the middle of stretching when the gym door opens. “Finally, what took you so…” — Why is God testing me today? It isn’t Rian standing in front of me, it’s Lucan.
So besides him being a gigantic asshole, I should add stalker to his résumé. His mouth twitches and his eyes twinkle with mischief. “What the hell are you doing here?” — He's made it clear that he doesn't like me so why the hell is he always everywhere I’m at?
“Nobody gets to kick your ass but me, principessa.” A sinister smile forms on his face.
“Oh, please I could take you any day.” Shit, bad choice of words.
“Oh, baby I am counting on it.” He grabs the hem of his shirt, pulls it over his head and now stands bare-chested before me. “But beg for my cock on another day. Today we fight.”
Fuck. Me.
I've never seen a guy as hot as this one and I've been around plenty but no one like him. Lucan is too damn beautiful in a rugged and manly kind of way. He doesn't even try, and he looks completely fuck-able.
He radiates baby daddy energy that's for sure.
“Look, asshole I don’t have time to waste and I’m expecting someone so get lost.”
He completely ignores me and walks towards the fighting cage. Once he's inside he leaves the fence door open as an invitation for me to follow.
Yeah, no.
Pass.
“You’re a lot of things, Andrea but I never took you for a coward. Your new dog is indisposed at the moment.”
I ignore the jab towards Rian and focus on one word.
Coward?
He did not just call me a coward.
“What did you just call me?” I might be a lot of things, but a coward isn't one of them.
“You heard me or are you deaf too?”
Out of nowhere he throws something in my direction.
I catch it as a reflex, and I inspect the item in my hands. A mouthguard.
He’s looking for a fight.
I insert the mouthguard in my mouth and head to the fighting cage. “Let’s go then.”
He smiles while shaking his head like he finds me amusing. With a last glance in my direction, he turns around and begins to stretch his muscles and crack his fingers.
I climb into the cage and close the door with a loud clang.
He faces me with an eager look on his face. “Let's make it interesting.” I don't like his tone. “If I win you have to do whatever I say for an entire day.”
“And if I win, you'll get lost and never bother me again because quite frankly love, I am getting tired of seeing your face.” I fire back.
“You know principessa, for someone as beautiful as you, you sure have one filthy mouth.”, he smiles. “Now, shut the fuck up and give me your worst.”
“That’s all you’ll ever get from me Volp…” I don’t even get to finish the sentence before I’m thrown back into the cage’s mattress.
This bitch.
This fucking bitch hit me.
I’m on my knees now and I touch my lips. I'm not surprised when I find blood coating my fingers. I don’t give him another chance to hit me because I grab his balls and squeeze until he falls to the floor right next to me. I use the element of surprise in my favor and quickly rise from my spot on the floor until I am looking down on him. “I don’t play fair love. Remember that the next time you put your unworthy hands on me.”
“You little bit—”, before he finishes his sentence my boot gets acquainted with his face.
That’ll teach him to never... fucking...ever call me a coward.
Because although I am out of my element, with a family I can’t trust and an uncertain future that involves crimes and lies, I won’t stop fighting.
Andrea The Beginning (Holy Trinity, #1) Page 10