Page 38 of Obsessions of the Heart

“Okay.” I faced them with my best we’re-in-this-together smile. “Now, you need to explain why you’re pulling the triplet trick on everyone and why the hell you and the Riccis have such bad blood.”

“The Riccis…” Ravi started, but he then looked to Rion.

Rion shifted on the table, finger tapping on his knee as his sharp tone explained, “It’s more or less a rivalry thing. Our firms are competitors—same field, different pond kind of deal. This school brings in the best money can buy, which means we were bound to run into them here.”

Ravi pulled his legs in to sit criss-cross style. He faced me, eyes gleaming with excitement. “Both our families want us to prove ourselves and make a name for our families over the others. It's part of the reason we’re keeping our triplet status a secret, giving us an edge over them.” He winked at me, and I gave him a small smile of appreciation before turning to his brother.

“Then why…” I rubbed my head, fumbling with the right words to say until I spat out, “Do you think they’re going to harm me if they find out we’re close?”

Roux’s cold, hard gaze met mine. “Yes. These guys have big money, and they can make illegal things go away like nothing.”

Shaking my head, I responded, “Then doesn't that mean we can’t be friends? If they catch on, they’ll use me like you said.”

Rion shook his head, putting both feet back on the ground as he leaned forward. “Not if we approach this carefully. Since it seems like you’ve already made friends with Cinzia and Elio, us making friends with you will keep them in balance. Plus…” He cocked his head and gave me a rare smirk. “They think it's two against one, so they’ll believe they have the advantage even if we spend more time together, but you’re right. You’ll need to make up some excuses to meet with us for a while.”

I narrowed my eyes on Rion. “I don’t like lying.”

His chin went up as he looked down at me. “And you don’t think they’re lying to you?”

Damn it! He had me there. I did think they were keeping things from me, but I also got that feeling from the triplets too. It had to be this whole rivalry thing, which had nothing to do with me. I slumped into the couch, trapped between not wanting to lie but also wanting to hang out with these boys. I knew which urge would win in the end, but I still felt a little guilty about it.

“We wouldn't ask you to do this, Rin, if we didn't think it was necessary. The world here is much more vicious than you think.” His hand curled around mine. “We just want to keep you safe. We need to keep you safe, but we also need you in our lives.”

My eyes flew open at his words, and for a second, all their gazes had an edge to them, something that wasn’t right, something that looked… dangerous. Obsessive. I blinked, and it went away, the three of them patiently waiting for my response.

I ignored the warning bells inside of me for the first time. “Fine. Fine. I agree.” They blew out a collective breath in relief, but I didn't want to let them off the hook just yet. “But you need to remember that even if I’m your age, I’m only a freshman here, so you need to give me some good excuses, Mr. Juniors.”

Ravi laughed to the sky, but Rion just stared at me in an unsettling way. Roux got up, grumbling about ordering some Chinese, and when I leaned back to tell him what I wanted, he waved me off. “I already know you want orange chicken.”

I stilled for a second before a giddy feeling began working its way through my chest. I stumbled over my next words. “Well, if they don't have—”

He was already around the corner when he replied, “Then get fried rice with chicken. Yeah, I know.”

I turned back around. “How?”

Ravi and Rion looked at each other before turning to me. Ravi giggled out, “Cuz we know you, Rin. Even though we’ve been apart, I’m positive I could guess a million things about you and still get most of them right.”

I rolled my lips into my mouth to keep from smiling too wide because I knew I'd made the right choice. I was going to trust these boys again, and this time, I would prove to them that I was worthy enough to not be left behind.

Chapter 14

Staring down at my phone, I had two missed calls and ten unread texts, all of them from Cin. By the time I got to the last one that demanded I call her in the next ten minutes or else she was going to do “some illegal shit” to track me down, my eyes had widened. I definitely couldn't have that. The guys would kill me. Looking down at the time, I realized it was two minutes away from the deadline, so I called her.

The phone hadn’t even finished its first ring when her voice screeched, “What did he do to you? I’ll track him down like the dog he is and—”

I quickly interrupted. “Cin. Cin! Nothing is wrong. Nothing bad has happened. I’m all good.” I couldn’t keep myself from laughing at the end because she really was about to go on a warpath.

Heavy breathing was all I could hear until she cleared her throat. “Then tell me where you are, and I’ll pick you up.”

“What's going on? Can I talk to her?” Elio’s urgent voice came from the background, but Cin shut that down real fast.

“Yeah, no. You're the reason we’re in this situation. You handed her over on a silver platter to him.” The way she emphasized the last word, I knew she was sending Elio dagger eyes right now, and I bet he was sending them right back.

Thank god the guys and I had gone over what I was going to say. I took a small breath, making my voice as carefree as I could make it. “Cin, that's not necessary. He was about to take me back to the dorms. I’d just gone to the bathroom when I saw your text and knew it was an emergency.”

“If everything was really fine, why didn't you answer any of my calls and texts earlier?” Her tone was a little accusatory, but I let it roll off me.

“My phone was in my bag, and I didn’t hear it vibrate over the music playing in the coffee house.” At her inhale, I continued. “It was a good talk, and he helped me figure out the direction I want to go in while I’m here.”

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