MARIA POV

“Are you sleeping at the dorm tonight? Timothy, you know that guy from math class?” Katie wiggles her brows at me slyly, “I heard he is carrying a massive rack, and I am not talking about his brains.” She smirks.

“You are so brash, Katie,” I laugh, shaking my head at her as we enter the coffee shop, right before we have to attend our next class.

“What?” She shrugs with a smile, “I am a very proud sexual woman. Anything that can give me an orgasm, I will have it.” She sends me a sly smile, sliding onto a bench, and I follow.

“And that comes in the form of Timothy. I mean, he can’t be that great, right?” I raise a brow at her sipping my coffee and placing my phone and laptop beside me.

“It’s all I hear about in the girl's locker room,” she smirks. Katie is also a cheerleader, and of course, she would have privileged information like this, as she calls it.

I shake my head at her. “This is senior year, our last year in college. Do you really want to spend it shacking up with different guys? Don’t you want to find the love of your life?” I raise a brow at her like I don’t have a whole different life being a mistress to a wealthy and dangerous man.

“I am 21, Maria, 21!!” She exclaims, her brows scrunched up, “I have my thirties to find a man to settle down with; for now, my greatest concern is money and orgasms.” She smirks, sipping on her drink.

She looks around carefully, pulling out a flask and throwing some alcohol into her mug.

I shake my head at her when my phone rings, calling my attention to it.

“V,” she reads out the caller ID, “who is V?”

“My boss,” I shrug, immediately picking up the call, as Vincenzo hates it when I ignore his call; even if I’m in the middle of class or some project, I have to pick it up and show up when he needs it.

“Hello,” I say into the phone, Katie making funny faces at me as she sips from her now spiked drink.

“The penthouse now,” his deep voice calls from the other end of the call, “I need you,” he whispers.

“Uhm, I have a class,” I try to tell him, my brows furrowed in a frown, my lips in a pout, hoping he would let it go.

“Don’t make me ask twice, Maria,” he says in a clipped tone, immediately ending the call.

I look down at the phone with a frown; that means come here immediately; I have no choice in the matter.

“I have to go.” I mutter, downing the rest of my drink and packing my things back into my backpack.

She pouts, “But we just got here, plus I thought you worked at night?” She raises a brow at me.

I look down at her as I stand up, thinking of another lie: “Well, the person who is meant to work now is sick, and I am the only staff close enough; I have to go.” I pout, pulling her into a side hug.

“Fine, but you owe me a party!!” She exclaims, shouting the words at me as I leave the cafe.

The breeze blowing in my hair I tuck a strand behind my ears, walking back to my dorm room to change first, as he always likes me dolled up.

I push the door of my dorm room open, and again, shock courses through me; a red box is sitting on my bed.

My heart pumps hard in my chest, my lips quivering, and my fingers shake as I move closer to the box. Is this another threat? Or is this from Vincenzo?

I calm my shaking hands, reaching towards the box and pulling it open; in the middle of the box is a small red teddy bear, a pink tie knotted around it tightly, on the side of the box, making my shaking hand drop the teddy on the floor in shock.

……

“Fake fangs tainted with blood!!” I yell, turning to Vincenzo, who is sitting in the living room watching me pace the room.

“And that was not some fake blood!! It was real!! Someone is after my life, Vin, and— I sigh, my heart pounding in my chest as our eyes meet with each other in a collision.

“What if it’s the men from Europe?” I frown, biting my lip, my eyes clouding over with tears. “What if they found me, Vin? What am I going to do?” I mutter, my lips quivering, and the tears finally falling, wetting my cheeks, letting my mascara run dry.

“They can’t find me, Vin; they will kill me.” My fingers shake, shutting my eyes and bending my head to the ceiling to stop any more tears.

He silently watches me pace the room, his rolled fingers in his mouth, and he erupts into a laugh.

“What the fuck, Vin!!” I tell him, turning to him, “Why the fuck are you laughing at a moment like this?” My fingers flay around matching him, our eyes locked in an intense look.

“Because you actually have nothing to worry about, my Cara Mia, these are all measly threats from my wife,” he shrugs.

“Your wife?” My eyes pop open in shock. “She found out about me? How?” I sit next to him, my racing heart reducing with every word he says.

“She knows about you, my darling mistress, and this is all just her stupid tactic to get you to leave me.” He rolls his eyes, and his fingers move to my face, grabbing a piece of my hair and curling it around his fingers.

“I will protect you, Cara Mia; never doubt that,” he whispers, coming closer and leaving a soft kiss on my lips.

I smile widely, my fingers clutching the collars of his suit. “Why don’t I head downstairs, grab a few ingredients, and prepare you a nice hearty meal, and you can eat dessert later?” I smirk.

He looks down at me, my nipples pointing out from my shirt. “I hope that dessert is you,” he whispers, pulling himself closer again. Our lips mesh with each other, capturing my tongue in his mouth. He separates from me, his eyes following me as I stand up.

“Don’t take too long; he misses you,” he points down at his trousers with a smirk.

“I won’t.” I whisper, moving to the elevator. I quickly head to the grocery store just a few buildings away, and humming to myself, I pass by an alley when strong arms grip my body and a bag is thrown over my head.

“Ahhhh.” I try to yell out, but hands cover my mouth, and I am hit on the head and submerged in total darkness.