Page 3 of This Thing of Ours

Gabby whipped her head Marco’s direction. Her mouth fell open, but for the life of her, she couldn’t get any words out.

He glanced her direction, a frown marring his brow. “What?”

“I, um…” What could she say? Not, that he’d freaked her out by starting a conversation with her. That would be rude. “Um, nothing.” His lips compressed, and she hastily continued, “School’s good. I only have one more semester after winter break until I graduate.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything. Then, just when she thought their titillating conversation was at an end, he asked, “You have plans for break?”

Why was he asking? He’d never been interested in anything about her life before. “Um, no… Not really. I mean, not other than the usual Christmas stuff.”

He nodded again. Gabby waited and waited, but this time he remained silent. And before she could think of anything else to add to their first ever one-on-one conversation, he was driving through the gates of her parents’ property, veering right, off the main driveway, and pulling up in front of the guesthouse.

She unbuckled her seat belt, opened her door, and stuck one foot out before twisting Marco’s direction. “Thanks.” Even though she hadn’t wanted to be driven home, manners dictated she thank him for doing so. After all, she was sure he hadn’t wanted to drive her any more than she’d wanted to be driven.

He nodded and grunted some noise of acknowledgment, and she took that as her cue to leave. Getting out of the car, she slammed the door. Then, having no willpower, watched as he drove around the horseshoe driveway back toward the exit. She even still watched as he pulled out of the gate. In fact, she didn’t look away until she lost his car from view.

And the crazy thing was, unbeknownst to Gabby, Marco had watched her through the rearview mirror the whole time, too.

Chapter Two

“Whoa. I don’tthink so, buddy.” Gabby slammed the back-passenger door, looking over the top of the car at Ricky. Her bodyguard-slash-driver looked like a character from Men in Black. Black suit. White shirt. Black tie. He even had on the same kind of sunglasses Tommy Lee wore, with lenses so dark, it was impossible to see his eyes to read their expression.

“I’m walking you to class.”

His tone held a note of finality. Gabby hated it. He was but one of her two bodyguards. Leo wasn’t much better, but he was older and tried to be more tolerant and patient.

“You don’t need to walk me. You can see the door to the building from here, and I’m going straight to class.” No, she wasn’t acting childish. Already a social outcast, unable to have any close friends, it was bad enough having a guard and a driver. The last thing she wanted was for her classmates to see the “royal” treatment.

Ricky’s lips compressed as he slammed his door. “Orders from the boss, I’m not to let you out of my sight.”

Her jaw dropped. “You’re not thinking of sitting in on my class?”

He folded his arms across his chest. “I’ll wait outside the room.”

She reminded herself that after winter break, she had only one more semester until she graduated. That calmed her. Somewhat. “Look, I already promised Nico I wouldn’t do anything foolish, but I’ll make you that same promise. I’m going straight to class, and when it’s over, I’ll come right back to the car.”

He turned his head toward the language and arts building. It was across a small quad, but the door was in plain sight. She saw his jaw tick, and she could only imagine what was going through his head.

He must have reached a decision because he turned back to her and gave her a tight nod. “If you’re not back in an hour, I will come looking for you. Don’t make me regret this.”

Gabby hiked the strap of her messenger bag higher on her shoulder. “I won’t.”

She felt his eyes on her the whole walk to the door and only when she was safely behind it did she release a breath of relief. Her guards made her feel claustrophobic. She should be used to them as they’ve been around for as long as she could remember. The teen years had been especially grueling, always cramping her style and making it hard to keep friends. Not that her situation was conducive to close friendships. As the daughter of a mob boss, her life was very private outside The Family, so it sucked she’d never even had a sibling close in age to hang out with. After Nico, her mother had been told she couldn’t have any more children. Gabby had been a big surprise, ten years later. Thank God for cousins. She had plenty of them. Unfortunately, they only came around during big holidays.

She took her usual seat at the back of the class. The professor hadn’t arrived yet, and people stood or sat in groups, chatting. She pulled her laptop out of her bag and hit the on button just as a body plopped into the seat beside hers.

Blond-haired and blue-eyed with a cute dimple that appeared when he smiled—as he was then—and a body that had girls following in his wake like the Pied Piper, Derek should have made her heart pitter-patter, her eyelashes flutter, and her breath quicken. But he didn’t. And not for his lack of trying.

They’d first met at the start of class six weeks prior, and since then, he’d been relentless. She should give in and agree to the date he’d been asking her for, but she couldn’t. No, couldn’t was the wrong word and implied she physically wasn’t able to. She should say wouldn’t—as in, she didn’t want to. He was all wrong. Too blond. Too blue-eyed. Too damn happy. Her heart beat to a different tune. One with dark hair and eyes and a surly disposition.

“Did you finish your essay?” Derek asked, leaning closer to her from his chair.

She would graduate with a BBA in General Business. Her dream was to open her own trendy clothing boutique. And while Gabby knew her father would set her up in her own shop, she wanted to do it on her own. Wanted it to be hers. Something she worked hard for and achieved with money she earned. The job she would get right out of college would be something she got on her own, too. And it would be from her merit and not her last name.

Pulling her essay up on her computer, she said, “Not yet, but I got half of it finished last night.” It wasn’t due until Friday, and as it was only Monday, she had plenty of time to get it done.

Her eyes still on her computer screen, she heard Derek sigh. “I haven’t even started it yet. Hey, you want to get together later today at The Grind and work on it?”

The Grind was a coffee shop just off campus and a popular place for students to converge. They served trendy coffee and to-die-for pastries. In fact, just thinking about their lemon tarts had her stomach grumbling.

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