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“You can call it whatever you want.”
“Enzo.” I tried to break free, but then realized he was right. I owed Luca Gallo his pound of flesh. Though knowing Luca, he would never take it. He was one of the good guys. “I can walk on my own.” I yanked my arm away from him.
Enzo pushed the door open and pulled me inside. Every seat in the place was taken, which was fine by me. I was okay standing way in the back. Maybe I could get through the next six weeks without Luca noticing I was in his class. That could happen. There were so many of us.
“There’s a couple of seats in the first row.” Enzo offered me his hand.
“Omigod, what? No.”
“Let’s go.” Enzo took my hand and walked me all the way to the front.
Adrenaline pumped through me so hard, I felt like I might pass out. Slowly, I lifted my gaze and forced myself to look at the man standing on stage by the podium. He was taller than I remembered. His enigmatic presence still held the same power over me. Even from a distance, his raw energy lured me in and threatened to never let go.
Please don’t remember me. Please don’t remember me.
I repeated the mantra as I lowered myself into the seat. And then the worst happened. Luca scanned the room quickly. His gaze swept through the front row and kept going. For a second, I thought he hadn’t noticed me. But the way his smile fell and his eyes narrowed, I could only assume he knew I was here. He hadn’t forgotten about me and all the terrible lies I’d told about him.
CHAPTER2
A Big Fat F
Donata
“Can I come in?” Enzo knocked on my bedroom door for the fourth time this morning.
I was still mad at him for making me sit through an entire hour and fifteen minutes of Luca’s lecture. Of course I knew I had done a disgusting thing to him. I was a kid when that happened—a kid obsessed with her teacher. Had that changed? I’d like to think so. I was grown up now, almost of drinking age. Was I still obsessed with him? Yes, but after the fiasco from high school, I had kept my word and not stalked him anymore.
Except for the one time our senior year when I had a bit of a relapse. Why did I feel this way about him? Every time he was near, I felt like we were meant to be together. I felt like he belonged to me. I felt in love. I glanced up for a beat and stared at the ceiling before I caved into what I wanted to do.
For the past three hours, I had been working on the assignment Luca gave our class last Friday. But instead of the class work, all I wanted to do was a few searches online. I missed his face. I hadn’t realized how much until last week when we were in the same room again.
“You can’t be mad at me forever.” Enzo stood at the foot of my bed.
“Yes, I can.” I typed another sentence on my essay.
“I’m sorry I was so hard on you. You were only fifteen and incredibly spoiled. If anything, we should be blaming Signoria Vittoria.” He winked at me.
“I’m not spoiled.” I looked up at him through my eyelashes.
“That’s exactly what a rich, spoiled girl would say.”
“I’m not a girl either. I’m a twenty-year-old woman.” I sat up a little straighter in bed.
“Okay. So you are.” He ambled around and lay next to me. “What are you working on?”
“Cogs homework. It’s due today before class.” I typed another sentence. Every time I thought of the assignment Luca had given us, I couldn’t help but picture him in his three-piece suit, the stubble on his cheeks, and that sinfully low voice of his. “I’m in love with him.”
“No, you’re not.” Enzo chuckled. “He’s the first guy to say no to you. That’s all. I’m sorry for what I said. You don’t have to go to his class. It was a dumb thing to make you do.”
“Well, actually, I do have to. I deferred this class last year. If I don’t take it now, I’ll fall behind. It’s fine. I have five more weeks, and then we’ll move on to the next mini seminar. I don’t even care if I get a B in this portion of the class.” I shrugged.
“Are you really still a virgin?” Enzo leaned forward to look me in the eye.
“It’s not a big deal.” I shoved him away from me.
“But, freshman year in high school, we had that pact to lose our virginity. All the crazy sex games after that were your idea.” He looked at me expectantly, even though he hadn’t asked a question.
“I lied about the whole thing. I was the only girl in the group. I wanted you guys to think I was cool. But Aunt Vittoria warned me about sex. She’s always seen it as a political tool. I got scared. I don’t even understand why. It wasn’t like having sex with someone meant they could take over for me as Don.”
