Page 31 of Vengeful Mafia Prince

It sounded a lot like she was saying goodbye.

And I'll be damned if I let the woman I love walk out of my life that easily.

Chapter Seventeen—Elena

I stuff my hands into my pockets as I stride out on to campus. I'm trying to muster all the confidence I can, but the truth is I'm terrified.

It's been nearly two weeks since my confrontation with my father at his office, and I've been on edge ever since. The internship is officially done now, and I'm back to taking classes. I'm glad that I don't have to hang around the office any longer, where I could run into my dad, but I know it's only a matter of time before he comes back to show me exactly where I stand in the grand scheme of things.

I know he's waiting for me to come to him and apologize. It's getting clearer and clearer that I'm the only person in the world who could have gotten such leniency from him. Most of the people who go against him, even for a moment, are going to have to pay for it.

I'm his daughter, so I get a little grace.

Though I know it's not going to last forever.

As I head to the classroom, my shoulder catches another student. For the briefest moment, out of the corner of my eye, I think it's him—I think it's Giovanni. I know, of course, that's ridiculous because there's no way he would be here. There's no way he would show his face, not after everything that's happened. It's too dangerous, and he knows that as clearly as I do.

But still, my heart leaps as I look up—and find myself faced with some random guy, who's staring down at me with a confused expression on his face.

"Hey, watch where you're going," he mutters before straightening his coat and storming off. I barely have time to mumble an apology before he's gone. I'm still so shaken about thinking it might have been him, thinking it might have been Giovanni.

I need to stop thinking about him.

Whatever he's done to get inside my head, I can't seem to shake it off. Around every corner, I find myself looking for him, even though I shouldn't want him. I made my choice, that day at the cabin. I could have agreed to stay there with him, and I could have left this life behind. I could have walked away from it all and forgotten that I had ever even had this world to begin with.

But I know that's not how it works. Not with him. No matter what happens, I'll still always be the daughter of the man who killed his parents. I can't get away from that. It's a brand I wear with great shame. It's not one I would have chosen, not a chance in hell. No, if I'd known what my father did, if I'd known what he was capable of, I would have started asking questions a long time ago.

But I didn't.

I still can't quite believe that this is the man I've looked up to for so much of my life, the man who I wanted to emulate, the man who I wanted to prove myself to. I can still feel the sting of his words when he told me I wasn't doing well at the internship. Is it bad that even now, I long for his approval more than anything?

I travel on autopilot to my lecture hall and lean on the cold stone outside with the other students as we wait for the lecturer to arrive. I lift my hand to shield my eyes from the sun. It reminds me, too clearly, of waking up next to Giovanni that morning, stretching and seeing him there watching me.

How I wish I could just go back in time to that and lose myself there a little longer.

We file into the hall, and I take my seat at the furthest corner next to the door, as far from other people as I can possibly be. Even though I doubt any of them have any idea of what's really going on with me, there's still a part of me that fears they may figure it out. One wrong move and everyone turns on me, everyone knows the kind of traitor I am, and they make me pay for it.

Is it even betrayal if I didn't know I was doing it at first? If I had known who Giovanni was, then I would have stayed away from him. Of course I would have. I have to tell myself that, at least. I want to tell myself that I would have had the good sense to keep my distance because what kind of daughter would I have been if I had willingly gone into the arms of my enemy?

I manage to scribble down a few notes during the class, but I'm sure I'm going to have to read them again to make sense of a damn thing they say. I can't let everything that's happened get in the way of my studies. God knows I'll need something to fall back on if my father keeps up his stony silence with me for much longer.

I join the crowd heading back outside and sink down onto one of the stone benches in the center of the quad. It's a beautiful day, and I wish I had something to do with it, something real,not just sitting around and wondering what the hell is going to become of my life.

I can almost imagine Giovanni's voice in my ear, his lips grazing against my skin, suggesting that we find some way to pass the time together.

"You know, I have a few ideas..."

It's so vivid, for a moment, I can feel him here next to me. I squeeze my eyes shut and force myself back to reality.

You're losing it, Elena. Keep it together.

I get to my feet and head back to my room. I need to study. I have to make sure I haven't fallen behind anyone while I've been away on the internship. The last thing I need is for my father to have even more of an excuse to tell me to get out of his life.

If I even want to stay in it, to be honest.

I push that thought away quickly and step into my dorm room, the small, cozy confines of the space a relief from the rush going through my head.

I pull out my notebook and begin to copy out my notes, hoping if I do so they will actually go into my brain, at least a little. I want to clear my head, I want to get back to normal. I want to forget everything that's happened, and I want to return to the way things were before, before I met Giovanni, before all of this happened.

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