Page 14 of Ruthless Royalty

I nod, keeping my face neutral. “Yeah. He was in my way.”

Connor laughs, a deep, booming sound. “You’ve got balls the size of his arrogance, lass, I’ll give you that.”

“But you might want to watch your back,” Mihai says, leaning forward. “Giovanni doesn’t take kindly to people telling him what to do, much less women.”

“I’ll manage,” I say with a shrug. “There’s no way I’m bowing to a bully.”

Nikolai smirks, clearly amused by my defiance. “Just don’t get yourself killed. I’d hate to lose my favorite stepsister.”

Marina rolls her eyes. “You only have one stepsister, Nikolai.”

“Exactly,” he says, giving me a wink.

We finish lunch with no more talk of the incident, and I head to my next class, trying to push the morning encounter out of my mind. However, as I walk through the halls, I can’t shake the feeling that Giovanni is watching me, waiting for his next move.

After classes, I head back to my locker, hoping to avoid any more confrontations. But as I round the corner, I see him there again with a lazy grin on his face.

“Back for more?” he asks, his tone mocking.

“This is my locker, in case you forgot, genius.” I stop a few feet away, crossing my arms.

“And what do you know, mine is right next to yours,” he says, rapping his knuckles against the metal locker.

I sigh and open my locker to stuff in the textbooks I won’t need for tomorrow. “I’m just trying to survive in this place, Giovanni. Leave me alone and I’ll promise not to even look your way.”

He steps closer, his eyes boring into mine. “Survival here means knowing your place. You don’t get to challenge me without consequences.”

“Challenge you?” I say, my voice steady despite the fear bubbling inside me. “I asked younicelyto please move so I could get to my locker and you just had to be an ass about it.”

His gaze rakes over my body, and a shiver runs up my spine when he smirks. Then, without another word, he turns and walks away, leaving me standing there with my heart racing.

This is going to be harder than I thought. But I won’t let him, or anyone else, intimidate me. If I’m going to survive Willow Bridge Academy, I need to be strong. Stronger than I’ve ever been.

I take a deep breath, steadying myself. This is just the beginning. But Connor’s words from this morning come back to me: I’m not here to bow down. I’m here to make them kneel.

GIOVANNI

From where I’m sitting on the steps of the main building, I can see everything that happens in the courtyard. And I have a perfect view of the new girl, Chiara.

The new bane of my fucking existence.

Her presence is like a pebble dropped into a still pond, sending ripples of curiosity and unrest through the crowd. She’s not exactly blending in, and that’s the first thing that unnerves me.

Most people here know better than to step out of line, but Chiara’s walking around with a kind of fearless confidence that’s almost... refreshing. It’s the same kind of recklessness that gets people in trouble, and I can’t help but be intrigued by it.

It doesn’t help that she’s goddamn beautiful, either. Dark curls I want to wrap around my fist, big green eyes, pale skin, red lips, and a fucking body I want underneath me. Those thigh-high boots and that dress yesterday … Fuck, she’s going to be trouble.

I hate that I can’t do anything just because she’s Dmitri Mikhailov’s step-daughter.

A group of my own guys, including Mihai and Con, are standing nearby. Mihai’s looking over at Chiara with a smirk,clearly amused by the way she’s handling herself. Con, as usual, is in full flirt mode, trying to chat her up from across the courtyard.

“Hey, Gio,” Mihai says, noticing where I’m looking. “Heard you got into a fight with Chiara yesterday.”

“More like a disagreement,” I reply, keeping my gaze fixed on Chiara. “She’s not like the others here; they know better.”

Mihai agrees with a chuckle. “And we all know you don’t like people who think they’re above you.”

“Above me?” I scoff. “It’s not about being above or below. It’s about respect, and she’s not showing any.”

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