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As usual, the Vitiellos had an entourage of bodyguards surrounding the in wasn’t their style

The bodyguard on the staircase leading up to the balcony gave nition With the stiff dress shirt and slicked-back hair, I looked too much like one of those Wall Street brokers that frequented Vitiello’s clubs to blow cocaine up their noses

I danced with Mary-Lu butup to the VIP balcony Unfortunately, the angle wasn’t the best, so I could barely make out Marcella Vitiello The main reason why I knew she was up there were the many curious stares from the people on the dance floor

“Let’s go to the bar,” I shouted, growing tired of dancing

“I’ to the restroom,” Mary-Lu said, and I nodded absent- toward the staircase leading down to the main floor

Several people craned their heads to watch the spoiled princess of New York as she glided down the stairs in a boner-inducing dress My eyes were glued to her as she headed for the dance floor through the parting crowd She wore heels that had h and pointy, but she danced in them as if they were sneakers Every move, every toss of her hair, even every bat of her lashes was in perfect sync with the raphy Marcella Vitiello was pure perfection She knew it, and everyone around her better acknowledge it

And I despised her for it She lived a spoiled life, bare of hardships She’d never suffered the way I had Her father had put her on a throne, made her a princess without any achieve to the princess of New York

Her fall would be steep Fuck I’d ant nose

I let aze wander around the crowded club Apart from her brother, a kid whose resemblance to his father uards with her For once, her lapdog of a fiancé wasn’t at her side Trouble in paradise?

I s I should leave Even in disguise, the risk of being recognized by one of the Fa, but tearing myself aas hard

I stayed where I was for a couple irl didn’t need bodyguards or her giant of a brother to keep everyone at a distance Her gaze with those soul-suckingly cold blue eyes built higher walls than the Chinese emperors

Another toss of those black tresses and suddenly those blue orbs locked on mine, for less than a second, but my pulse sped up Fuck it The only tiaze had been her father’s but in a very different way The tables would soon turn I saze away After leaving the bottle and cash on the bar, I found Mary-Lu and exited the club with her

“What’s gotten into you, Mad? You look as if the devil’s after you,” Mary-Lu said as she sturace that Marcella showed off with ease

I got into the fucking Prius Earl had forced on et in as well before I hit the gas “Let’s go back to the clubhouse I’ve had enough”

She gave me a curious look but I focused on the street and occasionally the rearview mirror as we hastened away Marcella Vitiello had eyes that could freeze the blood in anyone’s veins while the rest of her body had the opposite effect

That night was the second tihts

Usually dancing alorked wonders on my mood It was my personal happy place, the medicine of my choice when I felt blue, but today it didn’t have the intended effect

I preferred things to go my way, to follow the plans I’d laid out meticulously for my future So far all of h school best in class, and had made it to the university of , I always finished it and when I finished it then I did it as one of the best Breaking up with Giovanni, even if it was the right choice, felt like a failure, like adiven up

“Why are you pulling such a face? I thought ere here to have fun,” Amo shouted over the sound of the music

My eyes sought the club for so to catch hts And then I spotted the guy who seemed completely out of place in this fancy Manhattan club, despite the standard outfit of dress shirt and dark slacks So here, as if he had to pretend he was so, but no one would ever suspect anything I had perfected my mask over the years Maybe he would too, eventually, or just stop doing what he hated