Page 41 of Rockwell Academy: The Twist

“What if they have already?”

Now I’m worried because if Luca is concerned, this man must be bad news.

“They haven’t. I watched them come in and they are so wrapped up in one another they never even glanced around the restaurant.”

“How will we leave without them seeing us?”

He jerks his thumb in the direction away from them.

“Through the kitchen. A little trick my father taught me if you want to avoid scrutiny.”

“That figures.”

I keep my face averted from the couple and inside of five minutes, Luca is pulling me through the industrial kitchen, ignoring the surprise on the faces of the staff and as we spill out into the alley beside the restaurant, I breathe a huge sigh of relief.

“Now what?”

He surprises me by swinging me against the wall, and before I register what he’s doing, his lips find mine in a frenzied attack that leaves me breathless.

It’s different this time. Now, we have more freedom to explore without possible eyes on us reporting back to my brother.

I kiss him back with more passion that I intended to because fuck the cheerleading dream, give me Voldemort any day of the week.

18

LUCA

Inever expected to cast eyes on Christian Duprey in a small town near Rockwell Academy. My blood ran cold when I saw him enter the building with a woman who is obviously under his spell and eager to eat up the shit he feeds her.

Every sensation I possess was on high alert as I observed him, and the most important thing right then was to leave before he recognized me.

Luckily, I excel at removing myself from situations that are extremely bad for my health, and I took full advantage of the moment as soon as we hit the air outside.

Throughout the meal there was only one meal on my mind worth having and as I devour Summer’s plump red lips, it’s as if I died and woke up in heaven.

Once was never going to be enough and I was right. We fit together in the most perfect way and I can’t wait to be her first.

It’s inevitable. I always get my way and popping the cherry of a rival family’s pride and joy is way up on my bucket list.

The fact she’s insanely beautiful and matches my energy perfectly is the icing on the cake. If it goes well, we could make it more permanent because God knows I need someone fightingin my corner. It’s okay being the eldest child of the Romano family, but a certain expectation weighs heavily on that title. I am expected to shadow my Uncle Lucian, who runs the business, and when I graduate there is a position waiting for me by his side.

It’s how I recognized Christian. He has been the subject of much conversation with my family. After what happened to me as a child, my family is hot on cults and has vowed to tear apart any that exploit vulnerable people. We are very good at what we do and The Serpent Society entered our radar when news reached my Uncle Lucian that a cult operating in the Midwest was responsible for a twisted initiation process. Kidnap, rape, murder.

A business associate of my uncle’s informed him he lost his son to this cult, who is now serving life for the rape and murder of a fifteen-year-old girl. That was enough to scent the bloodlust in Uncle’s Lucian soul, and he has spent several months investigating the founder of the cult, Christian Duprey. Now he’s here at Rockwell and by all accounts, another inductee is being primed to join his sick society. It will end badly for him because Frankie Majerio happens to value the new member in their sights and I wonder if this could turn out to be advantageous for both of us.

I pull away from Summer and stare deep into her eyes and, reaching out, press my thumb against her lips, cleaning them from my attention. Her eyes burn brightly as I whisper, “Leave your brother to me. The second they open the list for The Claiming, add your name and I will do the same.”

“What if I don’t want to be claimed?”

Her sexy voice betrays her words because Summer is giving out mixed signals. Her body has bent to mine like a flower toward the sun. Her breathing is erratic and her skin flushed,and those sexy eyes are loaded with desire. The soft smile directed my way tells me she’s as into me as I am her.

“Then you had better run fast angel because I’m coming for you, regardless.”

“Do you always get what you want?”

“Always.” I break away with the promise hanging heavy in the air.

“Come. We should leave. I have business to attend to.”

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