2. Luna
TWO
LUNA
Luna wasn’t a morning person. Not in the slightest. Even when she was a child, she preferred to stay up all night when the house was silent and she could play alone. When the sun rose, she was forced to slap on a smile and become the perfect daughter to Reece and Eleanora Kingsley.
She was also forced to remember what happened the night before.
God, that was the last time she listened to Cecilia.
She rolled out of bed to get ready for the day—a start to the new semester. She’d spent most of her school years in all girls’ schools with Gianna, Blair, and Cecilia. The four of them met at a private elementary school and had stuck by each other’s sides ever since. It was only natural they would be drawn to each other considering their parents, except for Gianna’s, worked together at one point in the past.
When it was time for Luna to start applying to universities, she really only had one option: Grand Willow University. The same place her brother attended.
It was miserable having her brother breathing down her neck constantly, making sure she wasn’t getting into trouble. But Finn wasn’t always that bad. He stood up for her occasionally, and usually he was busy getting himself into trouble, so really, Luna was able to do whatever she wanted.
Not to mention that for the past three years of being in college, it was better to have Finn around than the devil himself.
Except now he was back.
Maybe she could transfer schools.
Luna huffed, burning her red painted fingernail while she curled her hair. It was tough putting makeup on with only one hand, but she got it done. She slipped on a soft white sundress, smoothing out the wrinkles, before grabbing her bag and leaving her room.
Voices were already coming from the kitchen. Gianna sat on a kitchen stool, her blonde hair perfectly curled and her jeans hugging her legs. There wasn’t a single trace of a hangover on her face.
“Good morning, sunshine,” she said with a bright smile.
Luna returned it. “I don’t know how you’re functioning right now.”
“I agree,” Cecilia said with a groan. “I feel like I’m dying.”
Her long black hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, a pair of leggings and an oversized T-shirt on. She held the cup of coffee up to her nose, waiting for her hangover to miraculously leave.
“It’s the Moretti blood in me. I actually need alcohol to function fully,” Gianna said, shrugging. “I want to know why you decided to leave suddenly last night.”
Luna stared at her, dumbfounded. “Are you seriously asking me that right now?”
“Okay, okay. But at least you didn’t see him, right?”
“No, I didn’t. And I don’t want to.” The lie slipped out before she could stop herself. If she had told them about the run-in, then she would be forced to explain the entire conversation and Luna wasn’t prepared to get into it this early in the morning.
“Well, good. At least the night was a little bit of a success.” Gianna smiled.
“You would have missed a fun night if you stayed in,” Cecilia said.
“Who would have missed a fun night?” Blair asked, walking into the kitchen. She opened one of the cabinets, pulling out some medicine and handing it to Cecilia. “Take some medicine and drink water. You’ll be fine.” Cecilia grabbed the pill bottle from her hand, swallowing two pills right away.
“Luna would have.”
“Right, because seeing the man you’re being forced to marry is so much fun,” Blair said with a snort.
Luna gave her a big smile. “Thank you, Blair.” She turned back to Gianna. “Do you know how Finn would have reacted if he knew I was there last night? He’s already going to lose his mind when he finds out Valerio is back.”
Gianna rolled her eyes. “Your brother is too tense. It’s not like he can do anything about Valerio.”
Luna huffed. No, he couldn’t. It just meant their petty little attacks on each other would start up again, both trying to prove they were better than the other.
“Finn could kill him.” Blair took a sip of her coffee, an eyebrow arched.
Gianna gave her a sarcastic smile. “Just like you could kill Allister?”
Blair shot her a dirty look. “I can and I should.”
“Let’s go before we’re late,” Luna told them. A second longer and there would be a fight brewing between the two of them.
“Cecilia, go get dressed,” Blair told her.
Cecilia narrowed her eyes. “I am dressed.”
“Oh,” Blair said. She plastered on a fake smile. “You look great.” Blair’s short skirt and matching light pink blazer complemented her title as being one of the top students of her class in the pre-law department. Not a single strand of honey-colored hair was out of place.
“Are any of your classes in the King building?” Luna asked before any bickering could start.
Gianna nodded. “I’m headed that way.”
“I have a meeting so I’ll join you,” Blair said.
“Ugh, so I have to walk to the science building all on my own?” Cecilia asked, standing.
“You’re the one who decided you wanted to go into medicine,” Gianna said.
“I’m sure Augustus will be waiting for you,” Luna told her with a small smirk. “Maybe this time he’ll have a box of donuts instead of the lips of someone you made out with at the club.”
She rolled her eyes. “Even worse. And that was one time. I didn’t know they knew each other.”
“Let’s go. I can’t be late,” Blair said, clapping her hands.
“God forbid Allister get there before her,” Gianna said.
“Exactly,” Blair said, giving her a bitter look.
Luna shook her head, grabbing her tote bag and entering the elevator to go down to the lobby with everyone else. The sun warmed her skin as they walked outside. The sky was a bright blue without a single cloud to be seen. The trees were blooming and bright green, the summer plants and flowers still blooming. The rest of New York City looked nothing like this, but Grand Willow University was outside of the city. The founders found it necessary to keep the private school on neutral acres of land as an attempt to keep civility between all the influential students and their families. That was the only way students could attend the school; otherwise, every day would be a bloodbath.
Even though it was farther from the city, the campus itself had more than enough amenities for students: apartments, cafes, restaurants, clothing stores, bookstores.
The girls’ apartment wasn’t far from the actual campus, so the walk didn’t take long. In no time they were saying goodbye to Cecilia, who groaned while walking to the science building.
Luna couldn’t focus in any of her classes for the life of her. Her mind constantly replayed the night before, how Valerio had put his hands on her as if he could, how he just spit out that annoying word, not caring who heard or that it wasn’t true.
She practically ran out of the lecture hall when her last class ended, starving after missing breakfast that morning. She and the girls would be going to a restaurant on campus once they finished, but there was still another hour until then. With the list of books her professors required for the semester, she thought it would be smart to get them ordered before the rush swept through.
Surprisingly, the library was busy for the first day, but it would die down eventually. Most of the students that came to school only did it because their parents forced them. They had trust funds and future businesses they would be inheriting no matter what, so they showed up the first week and partied for the rest of the semester, living off of their parents’ money.
“The books will be delivered to your apartment in a couple of days,” the woman behind the counter told her. Her glasses hung low on the bridge of her nose, her hair perfectly wrapped in an updo that Luna wouldn’t have known how to do herself. “It also looks like the payment will be taken out from the card on file.”
She nodded, giving the woman a smile. “Thank you for your help.”
Her dad probably wouldn’t blink at the cost of the books, so Luna threw in a couple extra for her own personal reading. It was the least he could do.
She walked farther into the library, desperate to find a way to spend another forty minutes. Most of the tables were taken, so she found herself in the fiction section, losing herself in the tall bookshelves filled with multiple editions of books she had never even heard of. She ran her finger across the spines, feeling every indent and crack in them.
The library smelled old, comforting in a way. It felt lived in like most of the books were, and Luna couldn’t help but smile. She wasn’t a book nerd by any means, but she enjoyed the craft enough to want to study it.
“ Wuthering Heights ? I would have pegged you for a Pride and Prejudice type of girl.”
Luna’s eyes widened as she turned around frantically. Valerio leaned on the bookshelf opposite of her, his arms crossed over his chest. She caught the way his eyes trailed her body.
“What are you doing here?” Luna asked.
“Looking at books.”
His voice was nonchalant. Valerio moved to the bookshelf beside her, skimming the books as if he cared.
“As if you read.”
“Of course I read. I keep up with all of those smutty books you buy at the bookstore. I have to say, Luna, some are far too scandalous for a girl like you,” Valerio said. She hated the smirk on his face.
“So you follow me around?” she asked, her voice hard.
“No. I was in Italy,” he said, shaking his head. “I had you followed and it was reported back to me.”
Luna’s mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”
She tried to move around him, falling short when Valerio grabbed hold of her arm, pushing her back against the shelves. “You should have answered my calls and texts.”
“I don’t owe you anything,” Luna bit back. “And your number is blocked.”
“I’ll get a new number.”
“I’ll block that one too,” she said, crossing her arms. “Can you move back? You’re invading my personal space.”
“I like having you so close to me,” he said, stepping even closer. His chest pushed against hers, allowing her to feel the rigid muscles he held under his plain white T-shirt. His body emanated too much warmth for Luna’s already burning body.
“Well, I don’t,” she snapped.
“How were your classes? Anyone I have to take care of for bothering you?” he asked, changing the subject.
Luna grinned. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t really call all the cute guys bothers. They were more of a distraction if anything.”
Valerio’s face fell in an instant. “Which classes?”
“I’m not telling you,” she said, acting innocent. “I deserve some eye candy this semester. Don’t you agree?”
“Are you trying to make me jealous?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.
Luna shrugged. “I’m not trying to do anything.”
“Let me remind you that I have nothing to be jealous of. You’re going to be my wife. With one bullet in those little boys’ heads, they’ll be taken care of. Wiped from the face of the planet,” Valerio said. His voice was darker, the banter completely gone.
Luna clenched her jaw. “I want a copy of that contract.”
“Why?” he asked. “Eager to fulfill it?”
“I’m going to find a loophole in it,” she said. “I know there has to be one in there somewhere.”
Valerio’s eyes narrowed for a moment before his face switched back to being emotionless. It was strange how often he was able to change his facial expression. It was even stranger how he was able to choose when he showed emotion and when he didn’t.
“Good luck with that,” he said. He leaned in, placing a kiss on her cheek. Luna’s eyes widened, her mouth dropping open. Her cheek tingled from where his lips had touched her, and for a tiny second, she imagined what they would feel like on her lips. She blamed the shock and exhaustion on that.
He pushed away, turning to leave before he stopped mid-step. “Oh, feel free to buy a couple more of those smutty books you like. My card is on your account; you might as well get used to using our money.”
Rage blossomed through her. She swore she could feel steam escaping out of her ears. She needed to find a way to expel the devil, and quickly, before his claws sunk deeper into her.