Mafia Princess by Kennedy Slope
Chapter Twenty
Iwasn’t happy that Dom made Marco follow me around campus. I had security previously, but they had been polite enough to stay hidden in the shadows. Marco wasn’t so kind. He was one step behind me at every turn, and his presence was starting to draw stares, which made me incredibly uncomfortable.
“You don’t have to go to class with me,” I muttered as we walked into the lecture hall of my political science class. I never much cared about politics growing up, a luxury I was now learning about, and had taken the class as a way to knock out a prerequisite. It ended up being one of my favorites, and now that I was back, I wasn’t going to allow Marco' presence to deter me.
“Dom made it clear that I needed to follow you everywhere,” Marco said.
“He said that you needed to make sure that I was safe. I don’t think that anyone is going to try and gun me down in the middle of a Columbia lecture hall.” It was the same argument that I had made to Dom, and I could see that it was having just as much impact on Marco as it had had on him.
I sighed. “Fine,” I muttered before stepping inside. “Just try not to cause a scene.”
Marco rolled his eyes at me, but followed behind me as I walked into the classroom and took my seat. Normally, no one paid any attention to me. There were at least a hundred other students in this class, and since I didn’t live on campus and didn’t have a lot of friends, which meant that I normally snuck in and out of class with few interactions.
Today was different. While I didn’t think that Marco was as handsome as Dom, every girl in the lecture hall seemed to disagree with me. I could practically see the lust in some of their eyes as they looked Marco up and down. I understood it. Marco had a danger about him that Dom kept hidden under his suit. These straight laced Columbia girls might never marry a man like Marco, but I had no doubt that they would enjoy a few go arounds in the sheet.
“I can’t help it if the ladies love me,” Marco joked.
I said nothing as I took a seat in the very back of the hall. I prayed that no one sat anywhere near us. The class was full, but most people clamored for a seat at the front, which was fine by me.
“I spent a lot of time not trying to go to college,” Marco said, as he stretched his legs out in front of him. I wish that he had brought a backpack or a computer to try and fit in.
“You don’t like school?” I asked before I could stop myself. I had made every effort not to talk to Marco. I appreciated that his presence allowed me to continue attending class, but I knew that he didn’t like me, and I didn’t want to make him hate me even more.
But I couldn't help my curiosity from getting the better of me. Dom had gone to college and then, law school. It was odd to me that the brother he was so close to hadn’t.
“School was Dom’s thing. You don’t need to spend your time in a classroom to be able to kill people.”
His words froze me in my seat. I suspected that Marco was Dom’s enforcer, but it was different when you actually heard it.
I was saved from having to respond when someone took the seat next to me. “Hey, stranger,” a masculine voice called.
I groaned inwardly as I looked at Zane. I hadn’t seen him since the day I was shot, and I hadn’t thought about him at that time as well. Zane was harmless, but with Marco shadowing me, I definitely did not need his attention. I had no doubt that Marco would go back to Dom and report on my entire day. Things were finally peaceful between the two of us. I didn’t need to give Dom a reason to make things difficult again.
“Haven’t seen you in a few weeks,” Zane said, totally oblivious to the fact that I wasn’t interested in speaking.
“I’ve been busy,” I said. I didn’t need to get into it with Zane that I had been shot and recovering. I might be naive, but it had been ingrained in me for years to keep my mouth shut about even things that didn’t seem like a big deal.
“How are classes going?”
“Fine,” I said, keeping my words short. I wanted Zane to go away, but as he pulled out his computer, I realized that that wasn’t going to happen. I groaned internally. It seemed that I couldn’t win, no matter what I did.
Zane looked across from me at Marco who was sitting stiffly next to me with his arms crossed across his chest. I could only imagine what he was thinking, and what he might tell Dom.
“Hey, man,” Zane reached out a hand. “I’m Zane.”
Marco eyed the hand but kept his crossed under his chest. “How do you know Sasha?”
I had to give it to Zane, he didn’t flinch at Marco’ tone or the fact that he was being obviously rude. The wide smile on his face didn’t wane as he leaned back in his chair casually. In fact, he seemed to enjoy the question, which I didn’t understand.
“We met at a party I shouldn’t have been at,” I said. I didn’t know what the hell Zane was going to say, and I knew that I needed to gain control back of this situation.
Marco didn’t say anything further, and I wondered if Dom hadn’t told him about how he had caught me drunk at a frat party. I’d assumed that he’d bitched about my unladylike behavior, but now, I wondered if that was the case.
Before Zane could get me into any more trouble, the professor entered the hall and started the class. For the next hour, I could lose myself in learning, which was something that I missed.
It wasn’t long before Marco' phone started going off, which drew everyone’s attention to us. I melted down into my seat as all eyes turned to us including the professor. “Sorry!” Marco said. “My bad.”
The professor looked pissed, and I prayed that he wouldn’t say anything. His glare was enough to make my cheeks flush with embarrassment. Luckily, the class was so huge, I was sure that he had no idea who any of us actually were.
“It’s off,” Marco said, waving the phone slightly in the air.
I cringed harder and prayed that the riser would open up and swallow me up. The professor shot another stern look, but he went back to his lecture, clearly upset by the interruption.
“Put the phone away,” I muttered to him as I turned my attention back to class.
Marco rolled his eyes as he allowed his attention to be drawn back to his phone. I tried not to watch him and focus on the lesson at hand, but as he read whatever was on his phone, his brow furrowed, and his normally olive toned skin turned completely white.
“What?” I whispered, leaning forward.
Marco stood up so quickly that his chair fell back, clanging loudly against the ground. “Get your stuff,” he ordered before I could say anything additional.
There was something about the tone of his voice which told me not to argue, and so, I didn’t. I grabbed my things and stood up, not caring about the stares that we were receiving. Something about Marco’ demeanor made me nervous.
Marco practically raced out of the door, and I followed closely behind trying to ignore the stares of my classmates as I shoved my things into my bag.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Marco when we finally made it out into the hallway. “Is there danger somewhere?” I looked around, my heart racing. I expected to see a gun pointed at me or someone rushing me with a knife, but the hallways were clear and looked normal. Something had happened, but I just didn’t know what.
“There was an explosion,” Marco said.
I felt my stomach drop as he spoke, and for a moment, I was worried that I was going to throw up across the floor. “An explosion?” I asked. The words felt odd in my mouth. “Of what?”
Marco looked at me as though I had grown a second head. I didn’t care. I needed to know what had happened.
“A warehouse,” Marco said. He looked down at his phone as if it were a bomb in his hand.
“Dom?” With the way that Marco was looking down at the phone, I couldn’t tell if whatever happened was serious or not. “Is Dom okay?” There was urgency to my voice, and that must have caught Marco’ attention.
“He’s in the hospital,” Marco said. “And I don’t know how bad it is.”
I swallowed heavily. I didn’t know what else to say. All I could think about was finding a way to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Dom needed me, and if he was injured, I was going to be there for him in the same way that he had been there for me.
“We need to get to the hospital,” I said, spurring Marco out of his shock. He said nothing, but the tight nod he gave me let me know that he heard me. “Are you okay to drive?” I hoped so because it was a skill that I never learned.
“Let’s go,” Marco said. He pocketed his phone before turning down the hall.
I followed quickly behind walking as quickly as my legs would take me.
I’m coming, I thought, and I prayed that Dom would hear me.