“What kind of rule is this? You’re not even fat!” Lake’s voice had risen, causing a few students to turn around and look back at them.
Smiling at the lookers, Adalyn waited until they turned their heads back to minding their own business before she turned hers back to her friend. “It doesn’t matter if you’re physically fat or not; you’re just automatically fat if you have to have chicken nuggets in the middle of the night. The rule is real. Ask Maria if you don’t believe me.”
Lake just stared at her, blinking for a minute, trying to digest the shit Adalyn had just spewed.
“Okay, let’s just get back to the topic. Can you keep your best friend’s secret? The one who was there for you way before your boyfriend ever was?” Adalyn’s eyes bore into Lake’s, ready to judge her if she said no.
“All right, fine, I promise to keep your secret. But this better not get me in trouble with Vincent.”
“It won’t if you don’t tell him,” Adalyn assured her before leaning in closer to whisper softly, “I actually met him yesterday. He may or may not have pulled me into a closet at the casino hotel—”
“He did what?”
Adalyn bit her lip, wishing she could have thought this through. “He, you know … pulled me into a closet.”
“Why did he do that? Did he hurt you?” Lake began to really worry.
Adalyn was going to have to be careful since she did want to keep the secret of him stealing the ring from Lucca. “No, he didn’t hurt me. He just wanted to talk.”
“You don’t pull someone into a closet just to talk.”
It was really hard to lie to her BFF, but … LIE.
“Well, he did.”
“Okay, then, what did he want to talk about?” Lake clearly wasn’t buying it.
“He just wanted to get to know me, I gues—”
“Really, Adalyn? You expect me to believe that? Why tell me this secret if you’re not going to really tell me?”
“Because …” She paused, taking a deep breath, wondering if she should reveal this part. “I need you to keep me away from him. He’s bad news, and I know it. But … you know how I get when they’re hot, bad, and hot.”
“You said he was hot twice … Oh God, you like him.” Lake’s wariness was only getting worse.
“No, I don’t. I said I think he’s hot, not that I like him. I actually think he’s a sexist jerk, and I don’t know why I find him attractive, anyway.”
“Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.”
“What? Are you okay?” Adalyn was beginning to worry something was wrong with Lake.
“That’s how Elle felt with Nero, how I felt with Vincent, and how Chloe felt with Lucca. You see where I’m getting at?”
She gulped loudly, and the hairs on the back of her arms stood up. “Oh, no.”
“He’s Lucifer’s son … a Luciano … and you’re a Caruso,” she whispered. “God help you.”
A story had been told for Elle, Lake, and Chloe, and now it was like she could feel the book of the rest of her life opening, but it didn’t have her name on it.
It held the name: Angel.
The question was: did she want to jump in it? If she did, it was almost inevitable they would crash and burn due to his last name. The families hadn’t mixed blood as far as she knew … ever.
Five
A Nice Name … For an Unfortunate Girl
Shifting his weight to his right foot after standing there for so long, he checked his watch to see how much longer he had to endure this torture. Fuck, this is boring.
A buzzing noise had him reaching for his phone in the back pocket of his jeans.
“Do you mind?” he asked the man beside him, who had been watching him like a hawk all day. Tom was supposed to be showing him the ropes, and even though the Caruso was trying his best to hide the fact that he was watching his every move, it was obvious to a man like Angel.
“Sure.” Tom nodded, giving him the go-ahead.
Walking a bit of distance away to keep his conversation private, he answered the phone with a “Yes?”
“How is it?” a voice similar to his asked.
“Slow.”
“I wouldn’t say that. You’re at a college, surrounded by hot girls. You were always the lucky bastard between us.”
Angel’s voice went low. “You mean lucky enough to be the one chosen?”
“Yeah, well, there is no fooling Lucca Caruso. Your name might be Angel, and out of the two of us, others might think you are one, but we both know you’re the evil twin.”
Angel smiled, knowing his twin brother Matthias was right. They’d had their fun ever since they were born, letting everyone think Matthias was the strongest, smartest, and meanest one, but in reality, it was him.