CHAPTER 1
Jo
“Molar!” Laius, whom I clung to like a baby, at the far edge of the bed, as far away as possible from Tirone, yelled, and a tall, long-haired man darted into the room in no time. “You and Fort take Jo to the Boiler and stay with her until I finish.”
That didn’t sound like a place I wanted to be. “Boiler?” I asked with a faint voice, my head still swimming.
Laius gave me a small smile. “It’s the…laundry roomout back. Don’t worry, you’ll be safe there.”
“You can’t meet Enzio alone,” Molar said.
“Yeah, we’re coming with,” Fort emphasized.
Laius rubbed my hand. “Someone’s gotta stay with Jo until I come back. She’s not feeling well.”
“I can do it,” Tirone said, and the nausea hit hard, threatening to throw me unconscious. No. I couldn’t be alone with him. Not again. Never again.
“Yeah?”
“Sure. Just show me the way.”
I bolted upright, pulling Laius closer. “No, please. Don’t leave me.”
“I’ll be right back. I just have to take care of the Lanzas, baby.”
“Then I’ll go alone,” I said, lurching out of bed.
He rose with me. “What’s wrong, baby? I told you Rex is cool. No need to worry.”
“You’re not feeling well, Miss Meneceo.” I could hear the rigid mockery in Tirone’s tone along with his footsteps approaching me. He wrapped an arm around my waist, and I flinched so hard my knees gave. “Jeez.” He, and his father steadied me with their arms, and my body went stiff like a rock. “See what I’m talking about? What if you pass out? Someone has to be there to take care of you.”
Fuck you.“Can you just send a prospect?” I beseeched Laius, too desperate to care about the suspicions I had to be triggering in his mind.
“You seriously trust a prospect overme, Miss Meneceo? Ouch.”
“Ty,” I put all the strength I had left in a stare, “enough.”
Laius narrowed his gaze between us. “How the fuck do you know my boy, Jo?”
“She’s my English teacher,” Tirone answered for me. “You never told him?”
“I never knew he was your son,” I said quickly, whimpering, asking for forgiveness Laius didn’t know I needed. “His name is Tirone Wisely, and he told me his father was dead.” My head spun toward Tirone. “I never knew you were his son.” I should have known, though. I should have fucking known. They were so alike, the eyes, the darkness… How could the only way to get over the man who broke my heart be falling for his father? Was that the only kind of man I could be in love with? It was like I was destined to fall only for Lazzarinis that shared the same psychotic gene pool—and incredible sexiness. “And Iused to beyour teacher. Not anymore.”
“I know what this’s all about.” Tirone’s voice took a dark edge.
Was that how Laius found out how much of a fucking dirty bitch I was? How I, his girlfriend whom he loved and she loved back, was the predatory teacher that slept with his son when he was seventeen? I shook my head, reflexively, tears springing from my eyes. If Laius was ever to know what Ty and I had, it couldn’t be like this. It couldn’t be now. Tirone couldn’t be that sick and vindictive to speak the truth now. Right?
“You hate me because—”
“Ty, please. Not now.”
“He has to know sooner or later. Might as well be now.”
Laius pulled me toward him, away from Ty, as if he sensed it, as if he knew it all. “What the fuck is going on?”
Tirone smirked at me, and I just closed my eyes, willing my head to shut down so I could pass out, or better yet, die and end everybody’s misery. “You hate me because…I dropped out on you.”
A burning sigh moaned out of me, and I opened my eyes, almost thankful to the asshole. “You were a brilliant student, and you wasted it all.”