Soulless Devil (Sons of Valentino #3)
kylie Kent
Chapter One
She’s here again. Sitting in the same spot. The desk piled high with open books as she relentlessly writes handwritten notes on a notepad. It’s been the same for the last seven nights in a row. For hours at a time, she has people coming and going from her table. She’s tutoring them.
I watch her from my little darkened corner on the top floor, looking down through the glass wall to her table beneath me. I’m pissed that I can’t seem to shake this feeling. I don’t even know what to call it. When I saw her seven nights ago, I thought I was having a heart attack. Pain ripped through my chest. The longer I watched her, the more that pain seemed to morph into a foreign sensation.
The overwhelming need to protect her. To make sure she’s safe. To keep her.
Which is a ridiculous fucking thought. I don’t keep people. Especially girls. I have my family, my mom, dad, brothers. I don’t want anyone else in my life. I don’t need anyone else to watch over to ensure they don’t end up six feet under. I don’t need more funerals to attend. This life sees enough death without adding girls like… that to the mix.
I’ve never even spoken to her. I know her name is Olivia, and I’ve heard people call her Livvy. And I know she’s fucking smart, probably smarter than me. Which is saying something because I’ve never met anyone smarter than me.
Sounds conceited but it’s not. It’s just the truth. A fact. And you can’t argue facts. They aren’t biased. How do I know she’s so fucking smart? I may have planted a listening device under her table. How the fuck else was I going to learn shit about her?
It’s Saturday night. I should be out partying it up with my twin brother. Luca’s the yin to my yang and our school’s star quarterback. Unless you’re family, you probably wouldn’t know who’s who when we’re in the same room. The only identifiable difference is the ink under our shirts.
Livvy yawns and stretches her arms above her head. I need to either get out of here or man up and talk to her. I’ve never found it hard to approach girls. Usually, I can just point and curl my finger, call them over to me. Again, not conceited when it’s been proven time and time again and the outcomes are always in my favor.
However, something tells me that’s not going to work for Little Miss Prim-and-Proper down there. I know I should walk away. It’s the right thing to do. She wears fucking cardigans and skirts down to her knees. Her strawberry blonde hair is always tied up in a mess, piled on top of her head, often with a pencil in it.
I’ve never been good at doing the right thing, which is exactly why I find myself strolling out to the café and ordering her a caramel latte. Her drink of choice. Those listening devices are worth every cent. Just as I’m walking back into the library, my phone rings, blaring out “Hey Brother” from its speakers.
“Shit, sorry.” I offer the librarian currently glaring at me a polite smile before stalking back outside and answering the call. “Luc, this better be important. I’m busy,” I tell him.
“It is important. I need you to meet me at the gym. There’s a fight starting in twenty,” he says.
We’ve been running our own little lucrative fighting club for the past six months. It started out as us simply organizing others to fight. But that got old really quick, and Luca stepped into the cage. We’ve all had intense lessons from our Uncle Bray, who was an undefeated underground fighter in his heyday. We’ve both also been trained in every form of combat you can think of.
Our father, the current Don of the Valentino Crime Family, insisted we knew how to protect ourselves using our bare hands. That relying on guns, knives, was how people in our world got themselves an early ticket to hell. He’s not wrong. I’ve seen more than my fair share of fallen men. Some I knew well, while others I didn’t even know their names. Just that they were part of the famiglia.
“What the fuck, Luc? You weren’t supposed to be fighting this weekend,” I remind him.
“Yeah, well, plans changed. Are you coming or not?” he asks, as if it’s a legitimate question. One thing I would never do is leave any of my brothers hanging. Especially Luc. He’s my twin. We share a bond I don’t have with the older two, Theo and Matteo. We’re all close, but it’s different with Luc.
“Of course I’ll be there, but don’t expect me to have a fucking smile on.”
“The day you smile, Romeo, is the day I’ll run for the hills, because I know hell will be freezing over.” He laughs. “See you soon, bro.” The call disconnects before I can say anything else.
Walking back into the library, I head to the cranky old bat sitting at the front desk, the one glaring at me like I have two heads. “Evening, ma’am. I was wondering if you could deliver this to Livvy. She’s sitting on the second floor with a huge stack of law books in front of her.”
“I know who Livvy is, young man, but I’m not your delivery person. Go give it to her yourself.” She dismisses me with a wave of her irritated hand.
“Look, I would… but my brother just called. There’s been a family emergency. My sister was in an accident, and I need to head to the hospital. Livvy looked really tired, and I thought she could use this to get her through the rest of the night.” The lie slips from my tongue so easily. I don’t have a sister, but this lady doesn’t know that.