Ruthless Princess (Mafia Royals 1)

Uncle Chase looked at me again, his expression curious, and then a slow shake of his head told me all I needed to know. His blue eyes crinkled at the sides with a sad smile as he crossed his arms.

Our secret.

It would be fine.

It was only two weeks.

We’d been enemies for over a year; no way two weeks was gonna shift a year’s worth of hurt.

It was impossible.

And yet, my stupid heart beat, “Maybe it isn’t.”

Chapter Ten

Junior

“You excited for your parents to leave town?” Ash asked a few days later when we were on campus sitting outside and chugging our coffees before class.

I snorted into my cup. “I have never seen my mom pack so many swimsuits. If I see one more bikini, my eyes are going to start bleeding just like my soul every single time Dad grabs her ass.”

Ash burst out laughing. “Yeah, not gonna lie, I can’t see brooding Phoenix Nicolasi grabbing your mom’s ass without Tex chopping off his hand. I mean, sure they’re married, but I swear his eye still twitches when they kiss.”

I grinned, and then my smile fell because I was once again reminded that my mom was Tex’s sister, and yet she wasn’t off-limits to my dad, and even then, he obviously ignored that glaring problem of dating within the Families.

“When do they leave?” Ash asked, jarring me out of my pity party. I’d been feeling off since leaving Serena’s bedroom.

All I’d wanted to do was turn around, pull her into my arms, and kiss every inch of her body.

Chances were she would have probably kneed me in the balls since the morphine had all but evaporated from her system, leaving her pissy all morning, but it would have been worth a try, right?

“Bro!” Ash waved a hand in front of my face. “What’s with you?”

“Nothing,” I snapped. “And they left this morning.”

Another reason I was actually going to class instead of skipping—I needed every excuse in the book to stay on campus until I had to go to Serena’s.

“Nice.” He put on his sunglasses and waved Claire over. She was texting and walking, typical.

When she finally looked up, she grinned and skipped over to us. “Hey guys, you done for the day?”

“One more class, and then I’m done,” I announced and prayed to God that Serena wasn’t going to show up for it. Ever since me stealing her panties and our brawl on the lawn, she’d avoided our shared class. I called it an answer to prayer.

Claire scrunched up her nose, then looked back down at her phone and grinned.

“You cheating on Ash already?” I teased.

She rolled her eyes. “Hilarious.”

“Dude.” Ash shoved me.

“Hey!” I held up my hands. “Maybe learn how to please her properly, so she doesn’t stray.”

“Ash, don’t take the bait.” Claire shoved her phone back in her purse. “And I’m actually texting Annie. She’s really sweet, and I thought it would be cool if we all hung out again.”

Ash’s jaw clenched even though his eyes gave nothing away. “Do you think that’s the best idea? Partying with them is one thing, setting them up and trying to figure out if they’re out to get us, is one thing, but braiding each other’s hair?”

“Girls don’t actually do that, Ash.” She patted his head. “Sorry to disappoint you, but we also don’t dance around in our underwear and have pillow fights.”

“Why are you telling such a sad story?” Breaker interrupted, taking a seat at the same picnic table and tossing his bag on top.

Claire sighed. “Breaker, you have two hickeys—that are visible, at least. I think you’ll make it.”

“That are visible,” he repeated with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes. “And Ash, think about it, how else are we supposed to get close and get them to trust us? So far Sergio hasn’t found anything on any student except the one that—”

I jerked my head in a no motion.

Claire pressed her lips together in a line like she was irritated and then kept talking. “All I’m saying is it’s not the worst idea to go hang out or something. Maybe we can all go get pizza? Drinks? Something, anything.”

Ash’s face dropped to a frown. “What’s wrong with all of us hanging out without them? Are you like, unhappy, or something?”

Breaker and I shared an uncomfortable look while Claire gulped and looked down. “No, I love hanging out with you guys, it’s just… sometimes a girl wants… normal.”

Ash flinched like he’d just been slapped.

“And that’s my cue.” I stood and prepared to take my leave. “See you guys later. Let me know what the plan is, and for the record, I’m good with normal or crazy, all right?”

I left before they started fighting.

I hated that Claire had a point.

Almost as much as I hated that it looked like Ash’s feelings were hurt. She didn’t understand that he was trying to protect her as much as he could.