Page 43 of Prince of Malice

Someone who feels far too close than they should be has been plotting Dominic’s downfall and waiting for him to take the Rossis and Valentis down with him for far too long. Knowing the weight knowing this holds, I know I can only bear it myself in fear that letting Dom share the burden could be the final straw that breaks his back.

Despite my intentions, it still feels dishonest.

“So what now?” I ask him, trying my best to smile and hide my inner conflict.

Looking at me, something in his head clicks. Dots connect, and he grabs for the base of his shirt and starts to pull it upward, the lower half of his abs on display between his clothes.

Grabbing his hand and stopping him going any further, I freeze for a moment and can’t help but just stare at hi,. “I didn’t mean it like that.” It takes me slightly too long to remember that I’m still holding his hand and let go. As the fabric falls to cover his torso again, my trance seems to end as his body’s spell over me is broken.

“Then what do you mean?” he inquires.

“I kind of have a class I need to get to.” I have to admit it’s not exactly the end I would like to have in this conversation; it’s nowhere near as dramatic or romantic as we’re used to. Usually, when one of us leaves any conversation we have together, it’s because they’re being dragged away, storming off, or purposefully leaving with one last dramatic line. I guess that’s what our whole situationwill need to be if we want it to continue any further.

“Oh right, of course,” he replies, straightening out his shirt. “I’ll uh…I’ll leave you to it.”

Standing up and heading across the room to the door, Dominic goes to leave. I rush after him, taking hold of his shoulder and spinning him around on the spot so that we face each other.

“What is—” he starts to ask, but I interrupt his question with a kiss.

Wrapping his arms around my waist, he pulls me in closer. My hands hold either side of his face, keeping his lips against mine long enough for me to be satisfied.

Pulling away from his face, I let him go and smile. “Now you can go.”

“See you around,” he says. “And maybe I can come over again soon?”

“I’d like that. Just make sure no one sees you.”

Dominic nods in response, turning back for the door and walking out. As the door closes behind him, leaving me by myself, I am overtaken by my guilt again.

It feels so wrong to keep what happenedfrom him, but I don’t have a choice, and if I can handle this by myself, hopefully I won’t have to lie to Dominic for long.

My afternoon lecture seems to crawl by; the drone of my professor’s every word fades from my consciousness and becomes completely incomprehensible. My mind has wandered far from the topic of the lesson and returned back to everything that has happened in the last week. It’s all just so much to take in at once.

My father marries Sofia Rossi, the woman who was married to our family’s worst enemy not even a year prior. As our families merge, I am faced with my brand-new stubborn and asinine stepbrother, Dominic, a man who seems to be my opposite in every single way possible and who wants to start fights with me on sight for next to no reason. All of a sudden, however, after I’ve done nothing but fire back and taunt him, we kiss and soon devolve into a spiral of lust and spite.

Then once I learn that he’s in trouble andan entire family wants him out of the picture, a thought that only days ago would have me jumping for joy and begging to help in whatever way I can, leaves me terrified to lose him and trying to find any angle I can to help him.

What choices do I even have, though? My father won’t listen to any of my concerns and is even intrigued by the idea now, so he’s no help. The Rossis are just like Dominic in all the worst ways; all of them are too headstrong and self-reliant to handle this whole situation delicately.

I need to be delicate. I need to handle this quickly and simply make sure this doesn’t create any waves. I can’t have this rippling out into something bigger. I’m not even sure that I can handle this as it is, but I know I won’t be able to deal with something worse.

My hand twitches slightly, shaking the pen held loosely between my fingers, reminding me it was there in the first place and that I am in class and not just in my own head.

Shifting my eyes toward the clock on the wall, the minute hand taunts me with itsposition. I still have half an hour left of this mind-numbing hell.

Hanging my head, I lock my eyes back on the blank page of my opened notebook in front of me, giving up any hope of it being filled.

Collecting my belongings together, I stuff them all into my bag by my feet and prepare to leave early.

I stand up in the middle of the class—not caring what anyone, even my professor might think— and walk out the exit.

Breaking out into the open air, I stride away from the lecture hall and leave my class behind. I’ve never been one to leave or skip class before, only missing lectures when it was absolutely necessary. There isn't a definitive time crunch or ticking clock in this situation yet—at least not one that I know of—but I can’t focus on anything else. Every time I try to distract myself, whether it be with class, my family, or parties, my head always seems to come back to Dominic and the constant threat from the Grecos.

Somehow, I need to work all of this out and get it sorted. I need to take a walk. A long walk.

Listening to the rhythmic taps of my feet on the sidewalk, I do what I can to break my thoughts into manageable sections.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

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