“Why did he say my dad owes you?”
Angelo scrubbed a hand across the scar on his cheek and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. He’s a dead man.”
Nico nodded in agreement, licking his lips as his gaze traveled up and down my body. Dante burned a hole through me with his eyes while Stefan stripped me naked with one look.
The four of them walked away.
“Hey! I think I deserve to know what that was all about.”
Dante snickered with his back to me. “Go back to the party, Miss Vianello. Your father is looking for you.”
ChapterTwo
AVA
Someone was following me. As I rushed across campus, an eerie chill crept down my spine. It was too dark to see more than shadows, but I heard footsteps drawing closer.
I power walked down the street, still wearing my job interview clothes. Black dress pants paired with a white blouse and a Balmain blazer with gold buttons. Cute and sophisticated, not too flashy. Expensive enough to blend with my new coworkers.
While I was on my way to Low Library, my cell phone dinged with a new text message from my dad. He wanted to know if I could get extra tickets to graduation, which was an odd request. We didn't have any family to invite.
And as I glanced down to reply, I slammed into a muscular chest, my shoulder breaking the fall. He grabbed my bicep and pulled me toward him as the phone slipped from my hand and hit the ground.
My heart nearly stopped beating when I looked up into his big blue eyes.
No fucking way!
Nicodemus Luciano.
He had short blonde hair, faded on the sides and longer on the top, an angular jaw, high cheekbones, and long, dark eyelashes.
Beautiful.
On Saturday night, his brothers killed a man because he touched me. And now Nico was on campus, bumping into me.
This was not a coincidence.
After the party, I asked my dad why he would owe someone money without mentioning the attempted rape. He said not all investors make their money back and that he was just another loser who wanted to take his pound of flesh from me.
Scrubbing a hand across his jaw, Nico gazed at my body as if mentally stripping off my clothes. I couldn't help but stare at the black ink on his fingers that spread down his hand like vines.
"What are you doing here?"
He studied my face for a moment and licked his full lips. Then he let go of me, so he could bend down, pick up my broken phone, and hand it to me with a smile. “See ya around,passerotta.”
I lifted a curious eyebrow at him, wondering why he would call me a little sparrow in Italian, a term of endearment. We didn't know each other well enough to have nicknames.
Before I could respond, Nico turned his back to me and continued down College Walk. I stood in the middle of the street and watched him walk away, wondering when I would see him again. And why he seemed so confident.
* * *
After I got home from the library, someone knocked on my door. Another loud bang filled the silence in the room. My apartment building was anything but quiet. This place always had a party or something going on seven days a week. For that reason, I spent most nights at the library.
I slid off the couch and flung open the front door.
A tall man with dark hair, dressed in a black suit, stood in the entryway with a small box in his hand. "Miss Vianello?"
I bit the inside of my cheek. "Yes, that's me."