Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Then again, that could work in my favor. What better way to gain attention, to let them know I’ve arrived, than to have a captive audience when I walk in?
Truth was… I was hoping to get in early. I wanted to find her. Aurora. I watched her fall asleep next to me. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. When I finally let myself drift off, I thought I’d be waking up with her right where I left her. I didn’t. She fucking bounced.
Never in my life have I had a chick just leave. I’m usually the one doing the running out. Is this how they feel? Cheated out of something? I have no idea. I shouldn’t care that she didn’t stick around, but fuck if it doesn’t sting the ego a little.
I know she had a good time. I made sure of it. And I know she ain’t got nothing to compare it to either. Which means I’m the best she’s ever had. I just need to find her and remind her how fucking good it was. Because I’m not done with Aurora, not in the slightest.
After the world’s quickest shower, I get dressed and jog downstairs, planning on making a hasty escape from the house. Luck was not on my side, though.
“Connor, where do you think you’re running off to?” my mother asks.
“School, Ma. You know, that shite education you insist on me having?” I kiss her cheek.
“Come and eat. You can’t learn on an empty stomach and no child of mine is going to school hungry.” Tugging at my arm, my mother pulls me towards the kitchen.
“I’m fine. I’ll get something on the way, Ma. I’m gonna be late.”
“Since when do you care about being late for school?” This comes from my father, who is sitting at the head of the dining table.
“Since it’s the first day, Da. First impressions are everything, remember?” I raise a brow, throwing his own words back at him.
My father isn’t someone who usually tolerates my smart-ass mouth. Right now, I don’t give a shit. We’ve been butting heads since he decided it was time to move. I had a life in Boston, one I fucking loved.
“Get going then. Don’t wanna hold you up on your first day,” he says, waving a dismissive hand at me.
I turn and walk right out the front of the house. My cousin Kenny is waiting for me, leaning against his bright-red Ferrari. “You’re late,” he says, looking up from his phone.
“I know.” I open the passenger side door and toss my bag onto the floor of the car. “You didn’t have to pick me up.”
“And let you work your way around New York Prep alone? You’d end up dead within minutes,” he says.
I laugh. “Doubtful. I was at your party. There were nothing but bored, rich brats spending their da’s money.”
“Maybe, but there are other families, prominent families you do not want to cause shit with,” he tells me.
I already know that. My father made sure I was briefed on who exactly I’d be attending school with. There are two rival families with kids enrolled at NYP. The Italians and the Russians. The Valentinos and the Petrovs.
And then there’s us, the O’Malleys . Let’s just say I’ve been ordered not to make waves with the others. School is supposed to be neutral turf. As long as they stay the fuck out of my way, there won’t be any problems.
“You didn’t catch the Valentinos at the party?” Kenny asks.
“Dante and Orlando? I saw ?em. Not sure what the big deal is.” I shrug. They looked like little punks to me.
“They rule the school. Keep your head down and your mouth shut,” Kenny says. “Trust me, the family does not want a war right now.”
“I’m well aware of what the family fucking wants,” I grunt.
Kenny weaves in and out of traffic, causing the rosaries hanging from his mirror to swing around as he goes. I wouldn’t be surprised if that crucifix broke off and hit one of us in the face.
The reason my father moved us out here was to clean up, but they’re also planning something bigger for New York.
Something the other crime families aren’t going to like.
At all. They’ll all be calling for war when word gets out what we’re up to.
By then, it’ll be too late. Everything will be in motion.
The order this city has known for so long will no longer exist.
“Just stay away from the Valentinos and Petrovs. I know how partial you are to pretty blondes, but you do not want to go there,” Kenny says. “Besides, there’s plenty of other fish at this school for you.”
I don’t bother replying to him. There is one particular blonde I plan on tracking down as fast as I can. My cock twitches at the thought of finding the little runaway.
As Kenny parks next to the rest of the other “my daddy has money” cars, all eyes stop and stare in this direction. “What the fuck is everyone staring at?” I ask him.
“You.” He smirks. “You’re new meat. Like I said, plenty of fish looking to willingly swim onto your hook, if you know what I mean.”
I laugh at his stupid euphemism. “Let’s do this,” I say as I round the front of the car.
“Actually, I know I said I’d give you the tour and shit, but I gotta run. Coach is gonna have my ass if I’m not in the locker in five,” Kenny says. “Catch you at lunch.” He runs towards a building in the opposite direction of where I’m currently heading.
I don’t need anyone to hold my hand. I’m capable of finding my way through a fucking school. A loud bell rings out and everyone starts scattering off in various directions. Great, now I am late.
Taking my time, I find my way to the student services office. I need a schedule. I need a map and shit. And then I need to find my way to my first class. Tracking down Aurora will have to wait.
I don’t even know if she goes here. I should have asked Kenny, but my gut told me not to. Some things are worth keeping to yourself, and I have a feeling that girl is one of those things.
I push through the doors and walk up to the student services desk while plastering on my best smile. Which my mother says will either get me into trouble or out of it, depending on who I’m using it on. “Hi, I’m Connor O’Malley. I need to pick up a schedule.”
“Connor, welcome to New York Prep. You didn’t get everything emailed to you?” the woman behind the desk asks me.
“Sorry, ma’am, I don’t think I did,” I tell her. Which is probably a lie, but who the fuck has time to check emails?
“It’s okay. Give me a minute. I’ll get everything printed out for you, Connor. Take a seat,” she says, nodding to the row of single chairs by the glass wall.
“Thank you,” I reply before walking over. The moment I sit down, the door opens. I don’t bother looking up. I don’t know anyone but my cousin. But then I hear a voice. Her voice, and that has my head snapping up straight.
My eyes travel from her feet, up the back of her legs. The hem of her skirt stopping mid-thigh. I don’t need to see what’s underneath it, though. I already know. That’s a picture I won’t be forgetting in a hurry.
“Miss Valentino, I can’t change your class. I’m sorry. There just aren’t any others with vacancies,” the lady says to Aurora. I don’t need to see her face to know it’s her, but I do need to check my hearing.
Did she just say Valentino? As in, the Valentinos? The ones I’m supposed to be staying away from?
Fuck me. Another streak of bad luck and it’s not even lunchtime yet, seeing as the one good thing I’ve found in this city is the very definition of forbidden fruit.
I stand from my chair and walk over to the desk, stopping right behind her. Close enough that I know she’s aware of my presence. She’s just doing her best to ignore it. I can see it, though. Her chest rising and falling hard. Her cheeks flushed.
“There has to be something. Do I need to call my lawyer?” Aurora says, which has me laughing. Who the fuck calls their lawyer over a class schedule?
“Miss Valentino, I’m sorry, but there really is nothing I can do. But please, have your father call me if you must,” the receptionist says.
“Fine. I’ll have to suffer through it.” Aurora huffs and spins around. Her brows go up, and her palms land on my chest, pushing me backwards. “Have you ever heard of personal space? Jeez,” she growls— yes, she fucking growls at me.
My hand reaches out, locking around her wrist before she can get away. “Hold up. I could use a friendly face to show me where my first class is.” I smile at her, even though she’s glaring at me.
“What about this?” She waves a finger around her perfectly made-up face. “Says friendly?”
“Here you go, Connor. Welcome to New York Prep. I can have someone come and help you out for the day if you’d like,” the receptionist asks while handing over a pile of papers.
“Oh, no, that won’t be necessary, ma’am. Aurora and I are old friends, aren’t we, mo mhuirnín ?” I grin.
“I don’t know you,” Aurora spits out. Looking over my shoulder at the receptionist, she smiles. “I’ll show him to class, Miss.” She twists her arm until I have no choice but to let go and then proceeds to storm out of the student services office.
I catch up to her in the hallway. “I didn’t take you for a scaredy cat, kitten.”
Aurora stops dead in her tracks. She turns on her heels with her hands firmly on her hips. Her head tips back and those red fucking lips, the same red as on the soles of her shoes, pout. “I. Am. Not. Scared. Of. You,” she says, annunciating each word slowly.
“Then why are you running away? Again?”
“Ever thought maybe I just don’t like you?” she asks.
“Nope, you like me plenty. More than you should actually,” I tell her.
“You’re a cocky asshole. I don’t like you,” she says.
“You liked me the other night. Need a little reminder of just how much you liked me, sweetheart?” I look past her and spot a closet. That’ll do.
“Don’t even think about it. I don’t know what kind of girl you think I am, but I am not the kind you drag into a janitor’s closet. What’s your first class? I’d like to be done with this encounter now.” Aurora extends a hand towards me.
“First, I wasn’t going to drag you into a dirty janitor’s closet. Second, my first class is AP Math. And third, we are far from done with this conversation,” I tell her, leaning in until my lips press against her ear. “I can still taste your innocence on my tongue and I want more.”
Aurora’s breath hitches. She takes a step back and shakes her head.
“I didn’t take you for being smart, but whatever.
It’s over there,” she says, pointing to a door to our left.
“Oh, and my cousin Dante is in that class. You should tell him everything you did to me the other night. He’d love to hear it. ”
“You think I won’t?”
“Oh, I want you to.” She smiles sweetly. “Nothing like having someone else do your dirty work for you.”
I laugh. “See you round, mo mhuirnín !”
“Connor, if you see me in these halls, and there are actual people around, you do not know me. We’ve never met. And if you go around suggesting otherwise, I’ll make sure every girl here knows exactly how… disappointing you were in the sack.”
My lips tip up. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I don’t kiss and tell.” I lift one shoulder. “I don’t need to.”
With that, I turn and walk down the hall, which isn’t easy with a hard-on. The fact that she’s a Valentino should have me staying far the fuck away from her. My head knows that. But fuck, I want her even more now. I can see why Eve caved with that damn apple.