Page 68 of Sins of the Son

I hadn’t slept a wink all last night thinking about it. Tossing and turning, worrying about what dating would do to our friendship. Amara was firmly on Team Cesare. She thought we were perfect for one another, and I should go for it. I still hadn’t decided when I got to school and found this card tucked into my desk.

On the back was a simple message.

Meet me in the music room after school.

-C.

I hadn’t seen him all day. He wasn’t at school. Until I found the note, I thought he was avoiding me because he was embarrassed and didn’t want me to get the wrong idea about what almost happened. Maybe he had really been giving me space.

I got to the music room and frowned. Through the frosted glass window in the door, I could see the lights were turned off. I guessed it would make sense. We couldn’t really turn on all the lights. Then a teacher would know someone was inside.

My hand shook as I reached for the doorknob.

I hesitated.

The moment I entered this room, everything in my life was going to change.

Dating Cesare Cavalieri was a big deal.

There would be a ton of scrutiny and gossip not only from the mean girls at school, but from the horrible gossips in the village who hated my mother and blamed me for her sins. Then there were those who’d feel I was unworthy of dating an heir to the rich and powerful Cavalieri legacy.

I reached for my Gemini charm. I had gotten it at a bazaar a year ago and rarely took it off, ever since learning I was a Gemini down to my core, easily flipping between having fun, trusting and loving, to being stubborn, argumentative, and standoffish. At times, I was my own worst enemy.

I took a deep breath. Not this time. I controlled my fate, not the stars.

I would trust Cesare.

I reached down and opened the door. “Cesare? Hello?” I whispered, keeping my voice low.

“Over here,” came the muffled reply.

I headed toward the practice room in the back of the music room. It was a small, padded room with no windows that blocked out all sound so musicians could practice without outside noise interruptions. It also blocked out the musician’s music so class could be held while someone practiced.

“Cesare?”

A hand grabbed me and pulled me inside so roughly, my face smashed against the wall, splitting my lip. I jerked my head back as a pounding pain exploded behind my eyes, a warm gush of blood pouring from my nose. My hand flew to my face. The hard bridge bone was still intact, so as far as I could tell, it wasn’t broken.

The door had slammed shut the moment I was yanked inside. It was pitch black. All I could hear was the shuffling of more than one body and some heavy breathing. “Let me out of here!”

There was a metallic click, then a bright flame was held so close to my face, the acrid scent of my own singed hair filled the small space.

“Fuck, you broke her fucking nose. How’s she supposed to suck cock now?”

Cold, crippling fear squeezed my chest like a fist.

“So we fuck her instead,” said a different boy.

I didn’t recognize either of their voices.

“The plan was for her to suck our cocks and we take photos, to teach her a lesson about learning her place as the village whore. We weren’t supposed to fuck her. You want to tell Cesare you fucked her instead, that’s on you,” said the first boy.

Cesare?

I struggled to breathe through the sickening, metallic taste of blood as it oozed over my upper lip into my mouth.

Had they said Cesare?

No. No. No.

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