Sempre (Sempre 1)

“But what about—?”

He didn’t let her finish. “I’ll handle this. Don’t worry about doing anything today. Just rest.”

2

“I need a favor.”

Carmine stepped past his father, refusing to acknowledge he’d spoken. The scent of freshly brewed coffee was strong in the kitchen as Vincent cleaned the sticky mess from the floor. The knees of his newest Armani suit were soaked with juice, and Carmine got a tiny bit of satisfaction from that fact.

“Are you ignoring me now, son?”

“Oh, are you talking to me? I thought you didn’t have time for me this morning.”

Vincent stood. “I certainly don’t have time for your attitude, but I do need a favor.”

“Of course you do.”

Vincent pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to him. “Ask Dia if she’ll grab this stuff after school today. I’d do it myself, but I know nothing about things teenage girls need.”

Carmine laughed. “I don’t think Dia knows shit about teenage girls, either.”

“She knows enough,” he said. “Just do it.”

Carmine shoved it into his pocket. “Whatever. Is it for the ninja girl? Who is she, anyway?”

“Do you honestly care?”

“No.” The word came out before he gave it any thought. He wasn’t sure what to think.

“Then it doesn’t matter who she is,” Vincent said. “But she needs things, so don’t forget to ask Dia.”

“I heard you the first time,” he said. “It would’ve been nice to have some warning you were bringing someone here, though. Where’d she come from?”

Vincent poured some coffee into his silver travel mug. “I thought you didn’t care.”

“I don’t.”

“Then again—it doesn’t matter,” he said. “All that matters is she’s here now.”

“Whatever.”

“Whatever,” Vincent mimicked him, shaking his head. “It’s nice to see the money I paid to send you to Benton Academy made you more articulate.”

Carmine shuddered at the mention of that place.

He’d landed in trouble the year before—trouble that could have ruined his life—but his father had pulled some strings to get him out of it. He hadn’t exactly been forgiving, though, and had shipped him to a boarding school across the country for a semester. Carmine swore the moment he was on the plane heading home that nothing like it would happen again, but it was a lot easier said than done. He never went looking for it, but trouble found him every time he turned a corner.

continued up to the third floor, the stairs ending in a large open space. A window lined the back wall, in front of it stood a table with two plush gray chairs. The other three walls held doors leading to bedrooms, but the area itself was packed full of bookcases. Hundreds of dusty books lined the shelves. Haven stared in shock, having never dreamed of seeing so many before.

“Our library,” Dr. DeMarco said. “It doesn’t get much use and I imagine it still won’t, considering Antonelli said you couldn’t read.”

Haven could feel his eyes on her, but she remained quiet and didn’t meet his gaze.

A door opened nearby and a boy stepped out from one of the bedrooms. He was tall and lanky, with shaggy brown hair. Dr. DeMarco turned to him. “Dominic, this is, uh . . . She’s going to be staying here.”

Dominic eyed her curiously. “Hey.”

“Hello, sir,” she said, her voice shaky.