Francesca.
She’s the only girl I’ve ever met who made me doubt my appeal. She never looked at me with interest or stars in her eyes, but with disdain and disgust. It was mind-blowing how she could make me feel like a cunt when no one else could, despite my status.
Now, years later, I can’t get her out of my head. She got under my skin without even trying – it’s infuriating. I feel like breaking something every time I think of her.
I haven’t seen her since that party, and I’m grateful for it. I don’t know if I’d be able to control myself around her.
But, the other day I heard a rumor…
I heard her family has been embroiled in a scandal. A scandal so big it brought the Esposito family to their knees. They’ve been left with nothing. How the tables have turned.
It’s a good thing I haven’t seen Francesca in years.
She’s certainly beautiful enough to tempt me, but she’s too smart for her own good. She knows my weaknesses, knows where I come from. I don’t doubt she’d use them against me if given the chance. So, I just won’t let that happen. Ever.
“Hey, man!”
A boy I don’t recognize slaps me on the back, and I manage a smile in return.
It’s strange, having everyone know your name after years of being a nobody.
Since Bruno Bernardi adopted me, I’ve enjoyed the luxury of being rich, but something changed in me when everyone started calling me their leader.
Now, I want more – I need to be adored by all. I need to make them all submit to me. The bigger the challenge, the better.
So, I’m not surprised when I walk into the university the crowd of students in the hallway chants, “Julian! Julian!”
I just smirk at them and take a swig of liquor from my flask that I always carry on me. It used to belong to my father.
There’s nothing to stop me from running this place like my own. Not with Bruno’s status.
And not with Leonardo Brambilla out of the way.
He’s dead now – I bloodied my hands with his murder. This university is mine for the taking. And, if anyone gets in my way…
Well, they’ll regret everything.
But I still can’t get that one girl out of my head… Francesca. Everything’s different now, and with how much my life has changed, I can’t help but wonder what Francesca would think if she saw me now.
When I enter the study, Miss Ricci looks up at me with wide eyes. She pushes her cat-eye glasses up the bridge of her nose as she regards me with a hungry expression.
I’m not stupid. I know what she wants from me, and it has nothing to do with my schoolwork.
“Yes?” she says as she leans back in her chair.
I can’t help but glance around the room at all the expensive things that Miss Ricci has collected over a lifetime of hard work. Hard work of being a plaything for students, and having their rich parents pay her to shut up about it.
“I’ve heard about Leonardo,” I say as I lean against her desk, relishing how guilty she looks for having hidden this from me.
She swallows hard and tries to recover herself.
“No one knows anything yet. It’s just a rumor.”
“Well, you better hope that it doesn’t become fact.”
“You seem to know more about Leonardo than you’re letting on.”
She narrows her eyes at me with suspicion.
“That has nothing to do with this.”
She forces herself up from her chair and makes a show of dusting off the front of her skirt.
“We should get started on your math homework,” she says as she pulls out some papers from a drawer in her desk.
However, I’m not stupid either. She’s trying to distract me, but it will not work.
Carelessly leaning against her desk, I take the papers out of her hands and feed them to the paper shredder next to us. She glares at me.
“Stop, Julian.”
“What was that?” I say with a satisfied grin.
“That’s enough,” she says in a voice that is trying to be firm and commanding, but falls short because of the fear behind it.
“I want to know what you’re hiding from me.”
She runs a hand through her brown hair and tries to appear composed, but I can tell her heart is racing.
“I can’t get into this right now. I have a class to teach.”
“Well, I’m not leaving until you tell me everything.”
She glares at me as she thinks of how to respond. “Since when do you care so much about what happened to Leonardo? I thought you’d be happy to see him gone.”
I shrug. “I don’t care about him. I just want to know what you’re hiding.”
“Just leave, Julian. I’m not telling you anything.”
She says it with such finality that I can’t help but be surprised by the force of her words.