One

One

            There were two, tall, burly men standing outside my dorm room. “Um….” I stared at them. “I’m sorry about the hot plate?”

            One of the men glanced down at me. He pulled out his cell phone and looked at it. “Are you Emmilia Marino?”

            I raised an eyebrow. “Who wants to know?”

            “We’re security guards for your roommate, Laura Luna. She’s one of the heirs to the Luna fortune. The college had you sign an NDA, remember?”

            My eyes widened. “Oh. That. I thought that was just because she was going to the same school as me. Did I do something wrong?”

            The man shook his head. “No. Miss Luna is going to be your roommate. You were deemed the best possible candidate based on your background check.”

            I raised an eyebrow. “Background check?”

            He nodded. “You have a perfect GPA; you would have been class speaker in high school if not for the car accident that killed your father and put you in a coma for most of the summer. You live with your mom, Vicky Marino, who teaches middle school at one of the most expensive private schools in the country that you went to because of her job. You work as a tutor part-time, and spend the summers working at your local library where you volunteer for story-time with kids. You’re deathly allergic to strawberries, and you don’t drink because your dad was killed by a drunk driver. You’re a Junior.”

            “I---”

            “I’m Giovani,” he said, “and this is my partner, Billy.”

            I glanced at the other security guard. I didn’t know if he meant ‘partner’ in the work partner kind of way, or significant other kind of way. Or maybe both. But Billy, who was wearing aviator sunglasses inside like Giovani, nodded.

            “Right. Okay. Can I go into my dorm now?” I asked.

            I probably should have asked more questions. Like why Laura Luna had suddenly switched schools in the middle of her university career, or if they were going to be there all of the time. Or what that meant for my dating life. Not that I had one, but it probably would have been a good question.

            Still, everyone knew who the Luna family was. Their father, Octavious Luna, was a commercial real estate billionaire on paper. But everyone knew it wasn’t the clubs and the hotels he made most of his fortune from. It was the drugs, the guns, and everything else. Bodies of Octavious’s associates wound up in the river far too often for it to be a coincidence. But he knew enough dirty cops and judges that he could get away with anything. Even murder.

            Last year, Laura’s uncle, Augustus, had been arrested for tax evasion. He was awaiting trial as the feds were trying to connect him to some thing else bigger. Like Octavious’s whole operation. A few students at Laura’s last school had died from fentanyl overdoses, and when word got out there had been fentanyl dealers arrested that named Laura’s uncle, students started protesting her classes and egging her windows.

            Eventually, she left.

            Or, was asked to leave, if you believe the rumors. I’d decided to give Laura the benefit of the doubt. Just because her father was an asshole, didn’t mean that she was. That was why when the school had all of the students sign an NDA that semester and give us a percentage off of our rent, I was okay with signing across the dotted line.

            I didn’t think that meant I was going to be rooming with the daughter of a mafia boss. Still, at least that meant less chance of getting date raped, I guess….

            No one was going to try anything with two big guys with guns outside my door.

            “Yes,” Giovani answered.  

            I opened my dorm. It was strange, because at the last minute, the university had moved me into the off-campus apartments. The big, private ones that were normally reserved for foreign exchange students or the students whose family’s made big, private donations like a building or something. I even had called campus housing about it before I arrived but they assured me this was the right place.

            Laura must have been why.

            These dorms were basically apartments. There were four rooms, a large kitchen, and a large living room. Everyone had their own bathroom. The apartment had already been furnished in a modern style but there was no sign of Laura. Not yet, anyway.

            I poked my head out of the apartment where the security guards were. “Excuse me, um…G-Giovani?”

            Giovani glanced at me.

 “Where’s Laura?” I asked.

            “Laura went with her mother to go get some more things for her room. Mrs. Luna wanted to cook dinner for the two of you. She’ll be back soon. Make yourself at home.”

            “Right…”

            One room already had a golden sign that said ‘Laura’ on it. Across from hers was one with another golden sign that had ‘Emmilia’ on it. Okay, so I guess I knew where I was living for the next two years. The signs were actually kind of sweet. I wondered if Laura had made them or bought them. My guess was bought.

            I went into the room, and was relieved to see it still had the university’s basic furniture in there. I don’t know what I would have done if she’d furnished the room too. I took what little stuff I had and unpacked, then put my Bluetooth speaker in the window and listened to some music as I put bookshelves up my mom and I had gotten at IKEA the week before.

            I had the window open. It was late August. The summer sun still shown brightly outside. I could hear the street noise below. There was also the roar of a rumbling car engine. I looked down, and saw a 1967 Camaro parked in front of the building.

            I shook my head and shut the window. I wanted to hear my music. I didn’t want to hear a car.

            A few moments later, I could hear people talking outside. At first, I thought it was Giovani and Billy. But then I heard laughter. I heard the door open and I went outside. Maybe it was Laura’s father, waiting for Laura and her mother.

            In the kitchen, making himself a cup of coffee with the fancy expresso maker, was a tall guy with a neatly buzzed hair cut and tattoos all up and down his muscled arms. He wore a silver chain around his neck.

             “You must be the roommate.” He held out his hand. “I’m Cesare Luna.”

            I stared at him. There was something familiar about him that I couldn’t place.

            “Did you hear me?” he asked.

            I blinked. “Yes, I heard you. Sorry. Do I know you from somewhere?”

            I had a vague flashback to my freshman year. The first and last time I’d hooked up with someone. Tattooed arms, a husky voice….and the worst mistake I’d ever made that no one knew about. No one outside my family, anyway.

            Cesare’s lips curled into a smile. “Do you?”

            The door to the apartment opened. A tall, beautiful curvy woman with curly brown hair came through. Next to her was a pretty, blond girl about my age. The woman carried grocery bags, and so did the blond girl next to her. That must have been Laura and her mother, Verona Luna, also known as Vera.

            “Ah, Cesare!” Vera smiled at her son. “You came. I thought you weren’t going to be back from your internship until later this month.”

            “I came back early.” Cesare turned around, and grabbed the grocery bags from his mother. He placed them on the counter then gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Although, we might have to look for a different roommate. This one doesn’t seem to have any manners.”

            Laura pushed past her brother and put them on the counter next to the others. The pretty blond girl smiled over at me. “You’ll have to excuse my brother. He thinks if everyone doesn’t bow to him, they’re rude. I’m Laura Luna.”

            She held out her perfectly manicured hand. I was aware that mine were bitten down to the nubs, but I shook her hand too. “Hi. I’m Emmilia Marino. And your brother just surprised me is all.” I glanced over at Vera. “Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Luna.”

            Vera smiled at me. “Please ignore my son. He’s a snob.” She walked over and pulled me into a hug, kissing me on the cheek like I was a niece or an old family friend even though we’d just met.

            I laughed a little. “It’s okay. I was just surprised to see a stranger that looked like a juvenile delinquent in my room.”

            Cesare’s eyes, which were dark blue, narrowed in my direction. “I’ll have you know I’m going to be the Vice President of one of the biggest real estate conglomerates in the world when I graduate this summer.”

            That was right. Cesare Luna and his twin brother, Galileo, had been born on the same day but looked different. Galileo had a longer face, curly brown hair, and warm brown eyes that made everyone fall in love with him. Galileo wasn’t interested in the family business from everything I’d heard. He was interested in being a chef and trained in his family restaurants so that he could learn from the best and open his own. I’d seen both of them on campus before.

            Laura had wanted to major in fashion, which was a program my school didn’t have. That was why she’d gone to another university originally. So, I had no idea what she was majoring in now but she had to have switched it to come to my school.

            “Must have been a hard interview process. Did your daddy get emotional about you growing up?” I shot at him.

            Laura snickered. “Brother, I don’t care what you say. I like her. I’m keeping her.”

            I smiled over at my new roommate. “Thanks.”

            “You’ll have to excuse him,” she said, “Cesare likes to think he controls my life. He has no idea it’s the other way around.”

            I looked at Cesare again. I had a flash of hands on my skin, the feel of a tongue on me in places it shouldn’t have been…

            I could feel Cesare’s heated gaze on me as if he were trying to figure out where he knew me from. I could only hope that he wouldn’t figure it out.

            Cesare clenched his jaw and turned his attention to his sister. “Don’t test me, Laura. I have eyes and ears all over this campus.”

            Vera poked her son in the arm. “Come on, Cesare. Laura has had a hard enough time as it is. Don’t be a bully. She deserves to have some fun.”

            “Thank you, Mama.” Laura kissed her mother on the cheek.

            Cesare sighed. “I’ll try and be…easy on her.” He glanced at me, and I had a feeling that if anything bad happened to his sister, he would hold me personally responsible. He looked me up and down. “Do I know you, Miss Marino?”

            I stiffened. “No,” I lied.

            “Are you sure?” Cesare asked. “I never forget a face, and I could have sworn…”

            Laura rolled her eyes. “Come on, Cesare. Don’t be an ass. She’s clearly too classy to be one of your one-night stands.”

            “I’ve never even had a boyfriend,” I admitted. Maybe that would be enough to make Cesare lose interest in me. If he saw me as inexperienced, he wouldn’t connect the secret that no one needed to find out. My freshman secret could stay my deep, dark secret and only mine.

            Cesare frowned. “Not having a boyfriend doesn’t mean you haven’t fucked someone before.”

            “I haven’t,” I insisted, “is that a requirement to be your sister’s roommate or something? If not, then I don’t see how that’s your business.”

            “Leave the girl alone, Cesare,” said Vera, “your father did the background check. She’s a good girl. Not one of your whores.”

            Cesare smirked at his mother. “That’s harsh, mama. You know the girls I’m with are all willing. I’ve never had to pay for someone to keep my bed warm.”

            Vera walked over to me and squeezed my hand. “Don’t listen to Cesare. He has a lot of old-fashioned notions about women. All my husband and I ask is that you’re a friend to our daughter, and you’ll be fine.”

            I looked at Laura, and smiled. “I can do that.”

            The rest of the afternoon was spent getting the apartment ready. Cesare helped put shelves and things up. I tried to do everything by myself, not wanting to be a bother. But at one point I was setting up one of those door organizer things I’d gotten from Target. The thing kept falling, and before I knew it, a hand had reached out and grabbed it.

            Cesare looked at me darkly. He pushed me to the side and fiddled with something. After a moment, the door organizer was straight and hanging perfectly.

            I blushed. “Um, thanks.”

            He smirked at me.

            “Cesare!” Laura called. “The computers doing something weird.”  

            He left the room and he went back to his sisters. There was something in his eyes. Did he remember who I was? The things that we had done together years ago at that welcome back party? I prayed to whatever gods would listen that he wouldn’t. I didn’t need him digging into my past.

            If the Lunas found out my secret, I would probably be kicked out of school. They had that kind of power. Maybe the whole thing was going to be a bad idea. It was early enough. Someone had to have not come back to school. I could call the housing office and try to find something and keep my secret a little longer.

            It was too bad, really. Laura seemed so nice. Not to mention the apartment…

            But I couldn’t have Cesare figure out who I was, or what I’d done. The Lunas were pretty traditional. I didn’t want to think about what Cesare Luna would do if he knew what I’d kept from him.

            Secrets could only be kept for so long.