Sienna Hayes only wanted one thing: to escape the wreckage of her father’s debts and start over at Ridgecrest Academy, the elite school where she’s nothing more than the invisible scholarship girl. But blending in is impossible when her path collides with Luca Deveraux, the academy’s golden boy with a dangerous edge. Luca has it all—money, power, and the world at his feet—but behind his charming smile lies a storm he can’t control. When Sienna becomes the first person to see through his carefully constructed façade, their connection becomes impossible to ignore. But Sienna has secrets of her own—secrets tied to Luca’s powerful family and the debt that could destroy them both. As their worlds spiral closer, passion ignites, boundaries blur, and the line between love and disaster disappears. Will they survive the fallout, or will their forbidden love become the ultimate betrayal?
View MoreLuca's POV Mondays were a bitch.Mornings were worse.And early mornings, like this one? Downright cruel.I slumped against my locker, yawning so wide my jaw cracked. The weekend had been a blur—training, Sienna, dealing with my dad’s never-ending attempts to “connect”—but none of that prepared me for the hell that was the first day of the week.“Mate, you look like you got hit by a bus.”I cracked one eye open to find Ethan smirking at me, arms crossed over his chest. He was fresh, energized, annoyingly awake, which only made me scowl harder.“More like a truck,” I muttered, rubbing a hand over my face. “Didn’t get much sleep.”“Wonder why.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain dark-haired girl, would it?”I shot him a look. “Shut up.”“Ah, come on. You’ve been spending all your time with her. When’s the wedding?”I groaned, slamming my locker shut. “Piss off.”Ethan just laughed, but whatever comeback he had was drowned out by the usual Monday morni
I had never felt this out of control in my life.Not when my father walked out on us.Not when my mother sat me down and told me we’d have to move into a smaller house because things were tight.Not even when I started a new school, walking into the building knowing no one but Cassie, praying I wouldn’t drown in the unfamiliarity of it all.But this?The way Luca could completely consume my thoughts with just one look?The way his voice alone could send shivers down my spine?The way I wanted him, even though every single thing about him screamed dangerous?I was spiraling, and I had no idea how to stop it.Maybe I didn’t want to stop it.That was the thought that plagued me as I sat in the kitchen that night, pretending to eat my dinner while my mom and younger brother, Eli, talked about their day.I tried to focus.I really did.But my phone sat beside my plate, taunting me with its silence.Luca hadn’t texted.Not since he kissed me against that wall at school, not since he claimed
I wasn’t used to feeling this way about a girl.It was fucking with my head.The way Sienna got under my skin so easily, the way my body reacted to hers without hesitation—it wasn’t normal for me.But nothing about Sienna was normal.She was different.I could feel it in the way she kissed me, the way she looked at me like she was scared of wanting this but couldn’t stop herself.And I was completely screwed because I wanted her to want me.Not just for a night. Not just for the moment.I wanted everything.Which was why, when I pulled up outside her house later that night, I didn’t let go of her hand.I should have. I should have let her go, watched her walk inside, and left before I did something stupid.But I didn’t.She sat there in the passenger seat, Luca’s jacket still wrapped around her small frame, her bottom lip caught between her teeth like she was working through something.I wanted to lean over and kiss her again.To make sure she knew.But I held back.Instead, I watched
I wasn’t used to this.Not the hand-holding. Not the constant checking in. Not the way he looked at me—like I was something he wanted to protect, something he wanted to keep.And I definitely wasn’t used to the kissing.Because Luca kissed like he meant it.Like every touch, every movement, was a promise.It should have scared me.It did scare me.But right now, standing under the streetlights, our fingers still intertwined, I wasn’t thinking about fear.I was thinking about him.“Do you want to go for a drive?” he asked, voice low.I should have said no. It was late. My father would kill me if he found out.But the thought of going back inside—to the walls, the expectations, the rules—felt suffocating.So I nodded. “Okay.”Luca didn’t say anything. He just squeezed my hand and led me to his car.We drove in comfortable silence, the hum of the engine filling the space between us. Luca’s hand rested on the gear shift, close enough that I could reach out and touch him if I wanted.I wan
I needed to hit something.Hard.I should have been on the pitch right now, burning off the frustration, but training had been canceled last minute, and I was left with too much energy and nowhere to put it.I drove aimlessly for a while, winding through town with the windows down, music low. My hands gripped the wheel, fingers flexing. The tightness in my chest hadn’t eased since last night. Since her message.Not tonight.Two words that shouldn’t have felt like a punch to the gut, but they did.She had needed me—I could feel it through the phone, could picture her curled up in bed, wrapped up in whatever storm had been raging in her head—but she hadn’t let me in.I knew better than to push.Sienna was like that. Careful. Controlled. Always keeping just enough distance, always holding something back.And fuck if I wasn’t desperate to get past that wall.I pulled into my driveway and killed the engine, my knee bouncing as I sat in the quiet. The house was lit up, laughter spilling fro
Home had never felt like a sanctuary.Not really.It was a place where I existed, not where I belonged. A space I tiptoed around, careful not to be too loud, too much, too noticeable.I used to think every home was like this—silent, heavy, a place where love was measured in rules and expectations rather than warmth and affection. But after spending time at Luca’s house, I knew better.His home was alive.His mother was warm and affectionate, always checking in on him and making sure he had eaten. His father was the kind of dad who actually talked to him, joked with him, treated him like an equal rather than just a responsibility. Their home had this ease to it, like no one was afraid of saying the wrong thing.Mine was the opposite.My dad worked late most nights, coming home just long enough to eat, shower, and sleep before repeating the cycle. When he was around, he wasn’t unkind—just distant, like I was another obligation he barely had the energy for.My mother, on the other hand,
I knew something was wrong the second I saw her.Sienna wasn’t good at hiding her emotions—not from me, at least. She might have been able to keep everyone else at a distance, but I had spent too much time watching her, learning her tells.And right now?She was spiraling.Her shoulders were stiff, her gaze fixed on her food like it had personally offended her. Cassie kept shooting her worried looks, but Sienna wouldn’t acknowledge them. Her fingers gripped her fork so tightly her knuckles had turned white, and she barely blinked, like she was holding something back.I didn’t even hesitate. I grabbed my tray, left the lads at our usual table, and walked straight to her.Cassie noticed me first. She raised a brow but said nothing as I pulled out the chair across from Sienna and sat down.She still didn’t look up.“Hey,” I said, voice softer than usual.Nothing.Cassie sighed. “I’ll give you two a minute.” She grabbed her tray and walked off, leaving us alone.I waited until she was out
I should have told him to stop.The words had been right there, hovering on the tip of my tongue. I could have said them. I should have said them.But I didn’t.Because the truth was, I didn’t want Luca to stop. I didn’t want him to walk away.And that terrified me.I spent the rest of the evening avoiding Cassie’s knowing smirks and my own reflection. I didn’t need to see the flush in my cheeks or the way my lips were still slightly swollen from biting them too hard.I was losing control.And worse—I was starting not to care.The next morning, I wasn’t ready to face him. But, of course, Luca didn’t care about what I was ready for.I barely made it inside the school before I felt him behind me. It was a presence more than anything, this unspoken awareness that I couldn’t seem to shake no matter how hard I tried.“Are you planning on pretending last night didn’t happen?”I swallowed and kept walking. “It was just a conversation.”“Was it?”He caught my wrist and pulled me into an alcov
I was tired of waiting.Sienna had been keeping me at arm’s length for weeks, and it was starting to get on my last nerve. I wasn’t blind—I saw the way she looked at me when she thought I wasn’t watching. I felt the way she reacted when I got too close.She wanted me.She just wouldn’t admit it.Which meant I had two options: let her keep running or back her into a corner where she had no choice but to face this head-on.It wasn’t a hard decision.Training was brutal that evening. Coach had us running drills until my legs burned, but I welcomed the exhaustion. It was better than sitting around, thinking about Sienna and all the ways she was driving me insane.The lads were still lingering in the locker room when I finished up, laughing and giving each other shit like always.“Luca, man,” Ryan called out, tossing his towel at me. “You’re a moody bastard lately.”I caught it before it hit my face and threw it back at him. “I’m fine.”He smirked. “Sure you are. Let me guess—this has some
The bus stuttered to a halt, hissing as the doors creaked open. Sienna Hayes tightened her grip on the fraying strap of her duffel bag, her heart pounding in sync with the rumble of the engine. Beyond the scratched glass window, Ridgecrest Academy’s towering gates gleamed under the morning sun, an imposing symbol of everything she didn’t belong to.“End of the line,” the driver barked, his tone indifferent.She inhaled sharply, pulling her oversized hoodie tighter around her body, as if the fabric could shield her from the weight of what lay ahead.Ridgecrest Academy wasn’t just a school. It was a kingdom. The kind of place where students wore designer uniforms tailored to perfection and carried last names that could open doors—or close them forever. And Sienna? She was the girl who didn’t belong. A scholarship kid with bruises on her ribs and a father’s debts hanging over her head like a noose.As she stepped off the bus, the chill in the air bit through her thin sweater. Her sneaker...
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