Page 4 of Soulless Rivalry

Fall was making itself known on Longfield Island and maroon leaves were dressing the ground. It had rained all night, which explained why it was still damp and caused dirt to stick to my hands.

“You’re in my way, freak,” my cousin Batista spat without even sparing me a glance.

He strutted confidently towards the open gates followed by his snickering younger sister, Viola.

Batista and Viola were the only dark spots of my experience at the Academy. They were vain, stupid and incredibly vindictive little bitches. They made sure to make my life difficult both in and out of the house.

Thankfully, I had mastered the art of avoiding them over the years, and we rarely ever crossed paths at school—unless they purposely tried to fuck with me, of course.

I glared at their retreating forms until, eventually, they disappeared amid the trees and bushes leading to the castle.

That’s when a soft hand fell upon my shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Mia’s voice sounded almost sorry.

“Yeah. Don’t worry.” I got up and dusted myself off, despite my left knee throbbing. It would bruise for sure.

My eyes fell on my favorite cousin.

Her blond hair came down to her shoulders, much like our mothers’. It was smooth and straight, softly swaying with the light breeze overtaking the island. She wore one of her signature headbands; this one was a deep shade of red, matching our uniforms. Her hazel eyes shone bright as she gave me a little smile.

“Don’t pay attention to those morons,” another voice echoed next to us, where Lorenzo, her twin brother, stood staring at the gates. “In a few years, he will probably get shot in one of his father’s clubs while snorting coke from a stripper’s ass crack, and that spoiled bitch will be forced to marry some eighty-year-old pervert. Being a mafia princess is only fun for so long.”

I snickered, “Is that how you put up with the fact that they’re family and we’ll probably never get rid of them?”

“Basically.” He shrugged.

A smile tugged at my lips as I rolled my eyes at him. We didn’t talk more as we each grabbed our bags from the SUV that had driven us here and made our way towards the castle.

This was our third year at the Academy and after that we only had one more before graduating. Then adult life began.

Despite meaning well, Lorenzo’s words left somewhat of a sour taste in my mouth. Because as much as they were true for Viola and Batista, they also were for us.

Lorenzo would end up taking over his father’s side of the business as enforcer, and Mia would be getting engaged as soon as her diploma was in her hands.

There was no doubt in my mind that my grandfather would use me to forge alliances as soon as my studies were over, too. That’s all I was to him, a means to an end. He’d given me the finest tutors and all the materialistic comforts life had to offer, he would for sure expect to get something in exchange.

I tried being grateful; getting to study wasn’t something all girls born to a crime family could brag about. Most were married by eighteen and popping out kids within a year.

I shuddered at the thought.

“Everybody decided to come back early this year,” I remarked as we walked.

The closer we got to the great entrance, the eerier the atmosphere got. I loved it.

The sound of leaves crunching beneath my feet, the smell of earth and rain, the shadow cast by the clouds over us.

People were gathered on the stone steps leading up to the building, talking and laughing among friends, recounting their summer vacation and just mingling.

The weather was cold, but I was used to it from years spent in New York.

“Yeah, we’re probably not the only ones trying to escape home as much as we can.”

“Poor little rich kids,” Mia added under her breath, self-deprecatingly.

I kept quiet as we entered the great hall. People greeted her with a nod or a smile and she answered in kind.

Everybody loved Mia. She had the sweetest soul and the kindest heart and didn’t let how powerful and rich her father was get to her head. Lorenzo wasn’t as appreciated as she was by our peers, though; he was mostly a nerd and a little bit of a snob, too. He hated our world with a passion, the mere idea that he would have to take part in the family business someday was enough to give him a panic attack.

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