Playing With The Mafia Prince

I screwed up. I’ve made a lot of decisions in my life that have led to this moment, this absolute horror, and sure, maybe I do deserve to be suffering through this. But please. God, goddess, Satan, whoever’s out there, please save him. -The Beginning- First stop of the day was breakfast with Alex and Devyn, as usual. Alex took us to this place called ‘The Mills’ and we picked up a couple of croissants, muffins, and OJ, then started walking around Broadway as we ate. We fell into step with one another naturally, with the familiarity that came with over a year of friendship. “So, how come you didn’t invite your new roommate to come with us?” Alex questioned through a mouthful of his croissant. I wrinkled my nose at his lack of manners. For my third year at Columbia University, I decided to move out of the freshmen residence hall and into a new dorm. My old roommate and I weren’t particularly close, so there wasn’t really any love lost. Besides, my new place was a lot cheaper. God knows I could use all the money I could spare. “She had an early class,” I explained. “Otherwise she would’ve definitely come.” “Is she as bad as you thought she would be?” “No, actually, she is pretty sweet. I think my mom would have a heart attack if she saw her, though,” I told Dev with a grin. “Why?” I stifled a laugh at the thought of my mother’s reaction to the tattoo and silver hoops all over Valerie’s face. She would doubtlessly be horrified. Without them, though, I’d say Val would have had an innocent appearance with her heart-shaped face and big hazel eyes. Her looks really reflected her personality; warm and sweet once you got past the rough edges. Alex and Dev started talking about an assignment they had for a literature class that they had both decided to take. They were a year older than me, so I didn’t get a chance to share that many classes with them. We had different majors too; while Alex and Devyn were English majors with their own concentrations, I was studying political science, hopefully on my way to law school. Letting my eyes drift around the busy street, I felt myself once again in awe of the wonder that was New York City. There was a sort of music, a chaotic rhythm, that all of the pedestrians were dancing to. Folks milling about with their friends and families, savoring the moment, others in a rush to reach their destination, knowing that time waits for no man. The easy chatter between sellers and buyers as they called out to each other to have a great day and even the normally unpleasant mix of body odor, car exhaust, and cologne that lingered in the air, created an energy that I desperately wanted to be a part of. Even halfway into the first semester, it was hard to believe that I was truly back. Spending the summer back home in Sterling, Virginia with only my mother and my sisters, had me returning a bit off balance. I was happy to be back, of course, but I hated leaving my family in the tight situation they were in. Just as I brought my cup of juice to my lips to take a sip, my observing gaze landed on a familiar man. I got a good view of his unmistakable profile; long, soot black lashes that cast shadows over high cheekbones, a cutting jawline, and dark curls that glinted in the sun. He was wearing a cream colored sweater that complimented his tanned skin, and the blue jeans he paired it with were stylish and well-fitted. The word perfect crossed my mind. “Is that Matteo?” Devyn asked curiously, standing straighter to get a good look over the heads of people in front of her. I averted my eyes quickly to hide the fact that I’d been staring, but it was too late. Alex had noticed. I gave my friend a side glance and found him narrowing his green eyes at me. My face warmed under his accusing stare. Luckily, Dev was too occupied trying to wave at Matteo to notice anything else going around her. “I don’t get why you bother,” Alex said. His voice was uncharacteristically tight. Dev surrendered her efforts with a sigh when it became clear that Matteo was too busy with his little posse to see her. Their group sauntered down the street like they owned it, which, admittedly, they might’ve, and students as well as city dwellers moved out of their way. No one wanted to get on the bad side of the infamous frat boys. They were members of the most exclusive and powerful fraternity in any college in the US: the CSN. Although, it’s seen to be more of a secret society than a fraternity, just because Columbia university didn’t know enough about them to recognize them officially. Nobody outside of it knew what CSN even stood for. Only the rich and powerful were allowed into that group. Every college guy wanted to be them, and every college girl wanted to be with them. I thought the whole organization was classist and disgusting. “Jealous, Alex?” Dev cooed at Alex, brushing her twists out of her face. In the soft morning lighting, her dark skin glowed in the most enviable way, Senegalese twists impeccably perched on her head. I’ve never seen her look anything less than her best since we met in my freshman year. I couldn’t blame the guys who kept throwing interested smiles at her when she passed. “Me? Jealous?” Alex scoffed again, this time it sounded more forced. “What the f**k would I be jealous about?” Dev hummed, pretending to think. “Let’s see.. Maybe because Matt’s unbelievably rich, popular, good-looking, powerful-” “Okay, Dev, we get it. You’re in love with the dude,” he interrupted her. She stopped ticking things off of her fingers to glare at him. I couldn’t help but agree with Alex, even as Dev launched into her typical denials. She’d done a bad job of hiding her crush on Matteo. “Ever since your dad married Lucas’s mom, it’s been all, Matteo this, Matteo that. Please, f**k me, Matteo.” Alex made a high pitched impression of her that made me laugh. Lucas was Matteo’s insufferable best friend and right hand, who also became Dev’s step-brother last year. While Matteo was all thoughtless grace and easy charm, Lucas was this big ball of obnoxious and negative energy. We’d had a few run-ins back in freshman year when I had been too stupid to know better to keep away. “f**k you? Nah, I appreciate the offer, but boys aren’t my scene.” I jolted at the sound of Matteo’s voice behind us. I watched Alex’s face start to resemble the stop sign a couple feet away, before we all whipped around to face the subject of our conversation. There they were, the CSN, in all of their presumptuous glory. How did they even get behind us? Dicks. Matteo had a brow arched, amusement glittering in his strange eyes. They were golden, so light, that they seemed to hold a ray of sunshine captive within them. Only, there was no warmth in them. Instead, there was something that had made me wary of him since day one. His boys howled with laughter at the expense of my best friend, and I glared at them. I was about to say something when Dev stepped forward. I expected her to defend Alex from their mockery, but she shot Matteo a shy smile instead. “Hello,” she greeted, using the sweet tone of voice that she reserved for boys she wanted to impress. “Hey, sis.” A flicker of disappointment crossed Dev’s face when Lucas was the one who responded. “You never told me your friend had a crush on Matt.” Dev laughed it off, but my glare intensified. Alex flushed darkly, obviously too embarrassed and afraid to say something to them. We’d heard the stories of what they did to people that they didn’t like. Everybody knew the twisted pranks they played, and the humiliation that their victims had to endure on campus. Rich, entitled boys like them were one of the biggest problems in the city. Fuck that. “Yeah, Devyn, why didn’t you tell him? I’m sure Lucas would’ve loved to know if there was any competition he had to worry about.” The words were out of my mouth before I could think twice. Big mistake. Mama always told me I needed a filter. The boys laughed harder, except for Matteo and Lucas. Matteo was looking at me with furrowed brows, like he was trying to figure something out. He wore that same expression every time we crossed paths in the class that we shared. I’d been partnered up with him at least three times this semester, and he could never be bothered to remember who I was. “And who the f**k are you?” Lucas glared down his nose at me, shaking his blond hair out of his face. I crossed my arms against my chest, refusing to be frightened by this spoiled pompous ass who thought he could make fun of Alex. “Emma,” I snapped. “Emma,” he repeated, spitting my name out like a curse. He turned to his friends. “Do any of you know who this is?” They shook their heads and shrugged. Lucas looked around the street, asking again, louder, if anyone knew who I was. He was trying to belittle me, but I wasn’t going to go down that easily. When he got no response from anyone, he returned his gaze to me, his blue eyes filling with disgust as they gave me a once-over. “Just as irrelevant as I thought.” Okay, that stung. “Luca, chill,” Matteo said. Despite his words, the amusement on his face was obvious. He had these innocent, unassuming features that made it hard to reconcile him with the man that everyone in New York f*****g City feared. Fuck him. “Aw, come on, Matt. Don’t ruin my fun with it.” “It can and will beat your ass if you don’t get the hell out of my face.” I wanted to knock that sneer right out of him. Dev gasped. There was a chorus of ‘ooh’s from his friends, and out of the corner of my eye I could see people beginning to hover around us, like they thought something interesting was about to happen. Well, if the people want a show, I’ll give them a goddamn show. “The f**k did you just say to me?” Lucas made a violent move towards me, but suddenly Alex, along with a couple of other people that I was too furious to identify, came between us, holding the angry blond back. “Truth hurts, baby blondie. Get over it.” My lip curled in distaste and I stretched up to the tips of my toes to be able to look at him over the heads of people in front of me. “You’re f*****g asking for it now,” he snarled, pushing against the guys who were holding onto him for dear life. “I’m begging for it, you rich s**t. Whatcha gonna do?” Alex grabbed my arm and pulled me back behind him, gently but firmly. His cool touch on my burning skin distracted me long enough for Lucas to swing at me, barely missing by a few inches. My life flashed before my eyes. I love you, mom. Goodbye, world. “Luca,” Matteo’s soft, velvety voice somehow cut through all the chaos that had erupted around us. Everyone froze at the authority and weight that his tone carried. He was clearly someone who was used to being obeyed. Lucas stopped attempting to murder me, and I let out a quiet sigh of relief. “Asshole.” I muttered, loud enough for him to hear. The blonde brat twitched but ignored me. Alex tried to hide an exasperated grin, his hand still clamped around my wrist. Lucas’s friends started dismissing everyone gathered around us, and Matteo approached me casually like his buddy hadn’t just tried to assault me. “You’ll forgive my friend, won’t you? He’s had a rough morning.” I wondered if he actually thought anyone would ever buy that. Seemingly sensing how unimpressed I was, he upped his game, shooting me a wide smile. His dimples popped out, and Dev sighed dreamily. I still didn’t react. His good looks and charm caused me to be more suspicious of him than admiring. He was almost too perfect to be real - not in a good way. “Just stay away from her.” Alex jerked his head towards Lucas with a glare. “WHO THE f**k DO YOU THINK YOU’RE ORDERING AROUND, YOU PIECE OF-“ Lucas’s roaring was abruptly cut off by a guy’s hand that clamped down on his mouth. Even the rest of the boys looked pissed now. I guess ‘disrespecting’ their leader was a line no one could cross. Alex swallowed visibly, his grip on me tightening, but he didn’t back down. Matteo’s expression didn’t change at all. “Are you alright?” He asked me. “Peachy,” I said through clenched teeth. With one last smile, him and his friends were gone, and I was left wondering how the hell I could go to the class I shared with him after this. I was so caught up in these thoughts that I hardly noticed Alex was still gripping me until Dev cleared her throat, not so subtly looking down at the place of contact. Alex let me go immediately. He blushed. I blushed. Dev smirked. Oh, bother. I was bombarded by Valerie as soon as I got back to my dorm that night. My roommate had been lying in my bed, impatiently awaiting my return. The second I stepped over the threshold she pounced. “Is it true?” There was an excited gleam in her eyes. I kicked off my shoes and slid out of my jacket. “Is what true?” She groaned, aware of the fact that I knew exactly what she was talking about. She rolled off of my bed towards where I was undressing to get into my pajamas. “Did you get into a fight with Lucas Suarez?” I pursed my lips. Just the sound of his name was enough to have my blood heating up all over again. I gave Val a non-committal nod, and she squealed unexpectedly, high fiving me. You’d think I told her I got an A on my exam, not got into a fight with a man twice my size who had a thousand times more power and influence than a f*****g scholarship kid like me did. “I let you out of your cage for one day, and this is what happens.” She feigned disappointment. “What can I say?” I grinned, even though I was exhausted. “I don’t socialize.” She agreed with a laugh but was unable to say more on the subject because her phone rang. “Hello?” I brushed past her to go rummage through our mini fridge in search of the ice cream Val had bought. I found it, along with two plastic spoons, a few napkins, and chocolate chips. Our favorite pick-me-up snack, which I knew we both needed tonight. “I don’t care if she was dying, baby. I told you I don’t want you talking to her anymore.” My roommate’s high voice remained soft, even with her anger, as she glared down at the floor. I padded over to my bed and climbed in, gesturing for her to follow along. “I am tired of arguing with you over this, alright? I have class early tomorrow. I’m going to bed, Amy,” she said shortly, and ended the call. She sat beside me with a huff, accepting the spoon I offered, covering us both with my duvet. It was green, incredibly soft and comforting. My middle sister, Nora, had bought it for me as a going away gift in my freshman year of college. I ran my fingers over the material, missing my family. I hoped mom hadn’t been lying to me when she said that she’d managed to give the men their monthly p*****t. Otherwise, we were in deep s**t. “That looked rough,” I remarked. Val scooped up some ice cream and shoved it into her mouth. “Don’t even ask.” She sighed. “I love Amy. She’s my girlfriend. Of course, I love her. But she can be so-” My roommate did some frustrated hand gestures in the air. ”She can be so naive sometimes. She thinks that just because she has people’s best intentions at heart, everybody feels the same.” I nodded with a shrug. “My youngest sister is like that too. There’s nothing you can do other than to make sure you have your girl’s back. Let her keep her innocence, her good heart- God knows we need more people like that- but make sure no one takes advantage of it.” There was a brief pause in which we each ate our snacks, lost in our own thoughts. “I never imagined I’d be rooming with Socrates,” she chuckled, shooting me a lopsided grin. “Well, Socrates don’t like no slobs, so you need to do something about that mess you call a bed.”