Page 8 of Soulless Rivalry

I knew what he was waiting for me to say and I despised him a little more for it.

I hated myself even more for giving him something to hold over me.

I ground my teeth and closed my eyes, deciding the only way to go was putting my pride aside.

“Please. I—Please don’t say anything.”

A lone tear made its way down my cheek and I was too tired to wipe it off.

It wasn’t from sadness exactly, it was from so many things. Helplessness, anger, and my hurt pride.

My words were only met with silence, though.

I didn’t dare open my eyes to look at him because I didn’t want to see the satisfaction on his face, knowing he’d won.

But then he said, “I won’t,” and my eyes snapped open in surprise. “I won’t say anything, because knowing that you’re nothing but an imposter is enough for me. But you owe me, Ayaari. And Korolovs always come to collect their debts.”

He didn’t wait for an answer as he side-stepped me, always so careful not to touch me, and started walking back to the castle where our dorms were situated. Bringing a trembling hand to my face, I let out a ragged breath before angrily wiping away the couple more tears that had escaped.

It was a disaster.

“I missed you so fucking much!”Briar exclaimed, hugging me tight.

I usually wasn’t the hugging type, but there were a few people for whom I could look past that: Mia, aunt Matilda, and Briar.

I would have added mamma to that list but she wasn’t the hugging type anymore… if anything, I was the one coming close to begging her for a sliver of affection nowadays.

“I missed you too. How was summer at the Di Domenico mansion?” I smiled and sat down on her bed after she finally let go of me.

Briar and I were roommates in our first year at the Academy, since all first years had to share a dorm. She tried befriending me almost immediately but I had trouble letting her in. Growing up in a household where you were constantly put down even ifyou got the best grades and were basically a violin prodigy was hard. I easily grew wary of people and didn’t have any friends except for Mia and Lorenzo before coming to the Academy. Viola and Batista had always made sure of that, spreading rumors about me and making my high school years a living hell.

Briar was the epitome of Miss Popular, much like Mia. She was beautiful, with long curly brown hair and light brown skin. People were naturally drawn to her natural softness. She also was a rising ballet star, which made her my cousin Viola’s greatest rival. I actually started warming up to Briar when I learned that.

But it wasn’t until she got drunk one night and spilled the beans about her family life that I decided maybe we weren’t so different.

She was the granddaughter of Giuseppe Di Domenico, one of my grandfather’s greatest allies, but just like me, she was a bit of a pariah in her circle. Her father had decided to marry outside the Life, which in turn had him ostracized from his family.

Briar actually had a pretty normal childhood, much like me, but her parents died in a car crash when she was fourteen.

Her grandfather took her in, against the rest of her family’s wishes. They never truly accepted her, since her mother was black and crime families were apparently all racist cunts.

Yet, no one in her family would dare make her life hell like my cousins and uncles did to me, because she meant everything to her grandfather.

Sometimes I just couldn’t see how he and mine could be such great allies. Briar’s old man loved her; he’d never seen her as a bargaining chip that he inherited against his will.

“Pretty boring, just me and Grandpa doing s’mores in the backyard and watching movies.”

I smirked. “Yeah? He’s loving the retired life, isn’t he?”

“He is,” she sighed. “A little too much, actually. He’s going to Vegas with Titto this week.” She rolled her eyes. “Even though the doctor said not to drink too much or eat anything too sweet for his diabetes.”

I smiled at how mundane this conversation sounded. Like her grandfather was just a grumpy old man with health issues and not a dangerous—although retired—don.

“How was your break?” she asked and my smile immediately dimmed a little.

Shrugging, I looked away. “Fine. Hung out with Mia as much as her dad would allow it, and practiced in my room most days. Oh, and aunt Matilda convinced her husband to let me go with Mia and Lorenzo to their house in the Hamptons for a weekend. It was fun.”

I picked at my skirt, unable to look up into her eyes. I knew I’d see pity there and I couldn’t stand it.

---