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“Just fuck her already so I can finally tell Vittoria the good news. In my day, I would’ve taken care of this already. I don’t understand what the holdup is.”
“Is that so?” I sat back and let my gaze wander back toward Donata’s beautiful face, while Uncle Jimmy went through his entire plan again with me.
On and on he went about how my marriage to Donata would put our family front and center. We’d had the same conversation once a week since he came to me six months ago. If by chance, I missed his call, he would visit me in person and then things would get worse for me. The sight of his face was enough to make my stomach roll. I hated everything he stood for. I hated the way he spoke of Donata as if she were cattle. I hated that I had to sit here and listen to him assume that he and I were the same.
I wasn’t about to take advantage of an innocent girl just because he wanted me to. That had been our deal. I wanted Donata to come to me of her own accord. I closed my eyes and smiled as I thought of all the hoops I’d put in place to make her fall for me. She had already said she loved me. But I knew that wasn’t true. How could it be? She didn’t even know me.
My uncle’s voice droned on, on the other end of the phone. I let my hand fall to the side so I wouldn’t have to hear his jabbering anymore. After another beat, I just let the phone drop to the floor and rose to my feet.
“Don’t play the game, Donata.” I sat next to her and stroked her wet hair. “Nothing good can come of our union. You should know that. Last chance.”
CHAPTER7
Such a Good Girl
Donata
The following Friday, I was relieved when Enzo got stuck in biology lab and couldn’t even walk me to Luca’s lecture. My stomach had been in knots since I woke up this morning to a brand-new message from Professor Gallo.
Professor Gallo: Good Morning, Ms. Salvatore
Really? That was all he had to say after he treated me like a brat in the very public restroom of a swanky restaurant? He carried me out of there like some drunk girl. In his defense, there was a chance I overdid it since I couldn’t remember much of anything from that night. Well, I remembered puking my guts out in the toilet. The rest was all a blur. One thing was for sure though, Luca and I didn’t have sex.
I knew that because as soon as I woke up naked in my bed, I texted him.
Me: did you take advantage of me last night, you perv?
Professor Gallo: if I had been inside you, you would know for sure.
My cheeks burned hot every time I read his message. Why did he affect me like this? I hated that after all this time, I was still willing to do whatever he asked. The worst part was that now I knew how it felt to be in his arms, like to really be held in his arms. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before. He made me feel protected, as if time and space didn’t matter.
I stopped in front of the auditorium and glanced down at my phone again, re-reading the assignment he had for me today. A flutter in my chest got bigger and bigger until it made it hard to breathe. I could walk away now and never come back. But then what? Not graduate from school. Go through the whole trouble of switching to NYU, just because I couldn’t handle a simple task?
Leaving New York wasn’t an option. Enzo needed me here. He needed a friend. And if I were being honest, I wasn’t ready to let Luca go. Even if his intentions were far from noble, I was already hooked on his daily doses of attention. A simple good morning had fueled my entire day. Luca was trouble. But what choice did I have?
“It should be illegal to look that hot and then be so freaking smart.” A woman around my age peeked inside the door then turned to her friend.
“I want to lick him,” the friend mumbled, then laughed.
“God. Same.”
They both chuckled, as if they had told a really funny joke. With a deep breath, I pushed the door open and found my seat in the first row, right in Luca’s line of sight from the podium. I glared at him with all the contempt I could muster. He, on the other hand, acted as if he hadn’t seen me, just like he had done the last two lectures. For a moment, I wondered if maybe all his talk was just that, talk.
He was a professor at an Ivy League school. Sure, we grew up in a mafia world that put us all above the law, but still, even I knew there were certain lines we couldn’t cross. That was it—the phone, the assignments, the spankings—all of that had happened outside of class. He was bluffing. In this room, he couldn’t touch me.
I took off my coat and placed it in the seat next to mine, then I placed my computer on my lap. With my gaze fixed on the large screen, I was the epitome of a good student ready to learn.
Professor Gallo: your assignment is due before the end of class.
The message popped up on my screen a second before he addressed the rest of the students. “More than half of you made it back. Congratulations.” His gaze shifted over to me. “As a reminder, today’s assignment is due at the end of class.”
He pointed his clicker and began the presentation. I got lost in the baritone of his voice and that easy way he had of explaining complex ideas. Luca truly loved teaching. This place was where he seemed most at home. The women were right. It should be illegal to be this hot.
I sat back in my seat.
Professor Gallo: do it now
His new message startled me. How could he keep up with the lecture and still text me? I opened the phone then looked to the left and right of me. I was the only one in the first row, and with the lights dimmed all the way, I had some semblance of privacy. Not that privacy was Luca’s concern.
