𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐓 | 𝟏𝟖+

TWENTY-SIX

A L Y S S A

"Ain't no price on my loyalty, no shit, got me right where you wanted, baby. Could I be more obvious?"

. . .

"You're going to Hell."

I snort and shake my head at Zai's words. "Because I sucked him off in a classroom?"

"Exactly!" she screeches and shakes her head, quickly getting ready for school. "But continue, what else happened?" she asks, wanting to hear everything that happened with Roman.

I tell her everything, already dressed and ready to go to school. My dearest friend is in a rush because she slept in and forgot to set an alarm.

I already hold her bonnet she wears under her hijab. She puts her hair up in a bun, and then takes it from my hand, sliding it on.

She then takes her blue-colored hijab and puts it on, pinning it in place. Her white dress with blue flowers reaches to the ground and looks amazing on her.

"Thank you," she grins when I offer her bag.

We both exit our apartment and start heading toward our campus.

"You're getting in such a mess with Roman," she says, shaking her head. "I can only hope this doesn't end in a disaster."

Yeah, me too.

"I really like him," I confess, and worry my bottom lip with my teeth. "I really do. And I think about him when I'm not with him. I want to talk to him all the time and stop myself from spamming him with texts each night."

Zainab stops walking and turns to look at me, her lips parted in surprise.

"So, operation: revenge on Matteo..." she trails off.

"I don't think about it anymore," I confirm. "I had the chance to tell Matteo... and I didn't. I don't want to share this with him, because he'll ruin it."

Zai nods. "Okay, we'll just find another way to make Matteo regret ever cheating on you. Like... replace shampoo with bleach or hair loss product! Or put itching powder in his underwear and clothes," she continues, and I snort out a laugh.

"One of your ideas will do, I'm sure," I chuckle.

On our way to get coffee, we run into Valentina and Dante. The latter seems tired and moody, which isn't typical of him.

He's also spending less and less time with us at home, which would be normal for Alessandro, but not for him.

"You good?" I ask him, and he nods, sending me an assuring smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answers.

Valentina seems a bit out of it as well but doesn't seem to want to talk about it, so I just keep my mouth shut and we all get our coffees.

I go through the motions of class for the entire day, excitement building up for the past few hours because I know I'm going to see Roman.

For the past two days, I've been meeting Roman in his office after his working hours.

Just like right now, I knock first and then enter, seeing him sitting behind his desk, already looking at the door as if he was expecting me.

His intense gaze never fails to bring a blush to my cheeks.

"You're always right on time," he says and already pushes his chair backward so I can sit on his lap.

I do exactly that, my arms going around his neck on their own accord.