Page 35 of Dead and Buried

A humorless chuckle leaves her as she leans her head back against the couch and closes her eyes. “Once upon a time…”

“What the hell is this? A bed-time story?” Cain snaps.

Viv peeks out at him through one slitted eye and he closes his mouth, rotating his wrist to tell her to get on with it. “Once upon a time there was a king and queen who wanted nothing more than to have a child. They did everything they could to get pregnant, but the queen couldn’t have a child without the help of a very professional and kind medical team.” Nox chuckles at that and receives a glare from Viv. “When they welcomed their child into the world, it was thefool princess. Born on April first, her life has always been one big joke. The princess’ parents loved her dearly.

“Tragically, the queen died in a carriage accident through no one’s fault. What day, you ask? Why, of course, it was April first, the day of the princess’ sixth birthday. This marked the start of the cosmic joke that was her life.

“The king loved his daughter dearly as best he could on his own. All the king’s captains and all the captains’ soldiers helped mold the princess into the strong, slightly psychotic fool she is today.” This time, Zane receives a glare when he snorts.

“On the eve of the princess’ seventh birthday, the first man was sent from the neighboring kingdom to take her from this earth. Between the ages of seven and nine, twenty-three attempts were made to end the princess’ life. The king was terrified, as were all his men. Suddenly, a white knight on a brilliant steed”—she glances at Cain—“That’s you, by the way, birthday boy. Anyway, the knight came and slayed the evil kingdom, rescuing the princess without ever even knowing she existed.”

“Birthday?” Nox mutters with his brow furrowed.

Cain’s shoulders curl in and he looks uncomfortable, but Viv just ignores them. “The princess stayed trapped in her tower, watching over the movements of the mighty knight who rescued her. The princess was content in her gilded cage until she overheard the king making plans with the evil wizard to gift her hand in marriage to him. So, the princess made her plans. She escaped in the dead of night, making it to the knight’s vast academic castle, where she felt free for the first time in her life.”

“So you stalked him?” Nox asks.

Zane points at him, giving Vivseelook. Viv growls at him, “Fine, yeah. I stalked him for nine fucking years. I’m pathetic. I get it.”

Cain frowns. “Nine years? I was a rookie then.”

Viv nods. “You were the key player in taking down the Moretti crime syndicate. Did you know Vanessa Moretti, daughter of the don, married Donatello Rossi?”

Cain shakes his head. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Viv looks away. “Everything.” She pauses for so long I don’texpect her to start talking again. “Vanessa and Donatello had a daughter. One Viviana Marie Rossi. When my mom died, the Moretti’s were devastated and blamed the don of the Rossi family. What better way to get back at him for the death of their princess than by taking out the Rossi princess too?”

Zane’s brows furrow and I know he’s putting things together. “But that would make the leader your grandfather.”

Viv snaps her fingers and points at him. “Knew I was forgetting something. Parents used a surrogate. Mom’s egg, Dad’s swimmer. All biologically theirs, but good old nonno1 and nonna2 Moretti claimed I wasn’t their daughter’s child since someone else birthed me. Damn, that was an important part of the story too.”

Cain pinches the bridge of his nose. “I don’t understand.”

Viv rolls her eyes. “You got the Moretti family arrested and saved my life. I became a creepy stalker and came here to meet you. Nice to meet you, my name’s Viviana Rossi, runaway mafia princess extraordinaire.”

“What the fuck is wrong with her?” Cain asks, pointing at her with an incredulous look on his face.

“Oh…yeah, that’s kind of my fault.” Nox raises his hand. We all turn to look at him and he shrugs. “Gave her some painkillers. That fucker broke her rib.” Z looks down at Viv, who’s now snoring.

“So is everything she said true? Well, obviously not the parts about the wizard and me being a knight,” Cain clarifies.

I shake my head. “The evil wizard part is true. Well, the wizard part isn’t, but the evil part, yeah. She slipped and told me her real first name when we met. That’s what we were arguing about on sleepover day. She told me why she ran away. I didn’t know she was a fucking mafia princess.”

Z looks down at Viv with adoration in his eyes. “She said she’s psychotic. I told you she was just like me.” He looks at Nox accusingly.

Cain turns and walks away with that blank expression he gets when he’s feeling too much. He’s gone for a few moments before he comes back in with a pillow and blanket. “Let’s lie her down. She needs some rest. We’ll talk more tomorrow after school.” He sets thepillow at the end of the couch. Z and Nox carefully lay her down on her left side as Cain gently lays the blanket over her.

Nox sits down on the floor with his back against the couch. “I’m staying here with her. I’m worried she’ll puncture a lung or something if she moves too much.”

Z shakes his head. “I should stay too.”

Cain grabs the back of Z’s collar. “You have no medical training. Go to sleep so you can keep an eye on her tomorrow.” Z doesn’t fight him on it, just throws a pitiful look over his shoulder as Cain pulls him from the room.

Crouching down before her, I tuck her hair behind her ear and brush the strands from her face. Her hand reaches out and grabs mine. Tucking it under her face, she sighs. “Chocolate,” she mummers under her breath.

I smile at that. I’ve been bringing her chocolates to most of our tutoring sessions. She stopped falling for the buy one, get one free excuse the third time I tried to use it. The only time I didn’t bring her something was the session right after the sleepover. Her face fell, but she tried to mask it by jumping right into work.

I made sure I had something to give her every time after that. The last time it was a little hockey rink keychain with a little puck dangling from the ring. She smiled brightly at me and put her keys on it right in front of me. “Night, Viv.” I whisper, leaning in to kiss the corner of her mouth.

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