Prologue
Fourteen Years Ago
The last bell rang, and kids spilled into the hall. In a blink, the peace and silence transformed into the chaos of pounding feet, raised voices, and lockers slamming. Standing in front of his locker, Nico quickly shoved books into his bag, hating the crowd and noise.
Usually, he had Alec as a buffer. His friend distracted him and kept his mind off the mayhem that surrounded him. But Alec was gone. Well, technically he was still around, but seeing as Nico hadn't talked to him in over two weeks, he might as well have been. It was the longest they'd ever gone without speaking since becoming friends six years ago when they'd both started the Winward Academy.
Now, with less than a month until graduation, Nico had lost his best friend. And all because of a decision he'd made that Alec was unwilling to understand or approve. A decision that Alec feared would ruin Nico's life, or worse, end it. Denying Nico the chance to explain his position, Alec had stormed out of their room, claiming neither was an outcome he was willing to stick around to see happen.
"Self-righteous asshole," Nico muttered as he slammed his own locker, hiding his hurt behind frustrated anger.
Striding purposefully down the hall, he didn't stop when kids yelled his name. The double doors in front of him his sole focus so he could escape to the quiet of his dorm room. A room that was now too quiet since Alec and his high horse had officially moved out a week ago.
Sunlight blinded him as he pushed open the doors, but his determined stride didn't falter. He took a right to cross the parking lot that would lead to the dorms, his progress only halting when a long, black limo came to a stop in front of him.
The driver's door opened and Arturo, one of his father's men, got out and walked around the front of the car to Nico. "Your father wishes to see you."
"He's here?" Nico didn't argue just slipped into the back seat. If he wanted in on the family business, his days of defying orders were a thing of the past.
"He's here for the weekend, and then we're going back." Arturo closed the back door before rounding the front of the car again and getting behind the wheel.
Nico spent the hour in traffic from Malibu to Beverly Hills stressing. Although a visit from his father wasn't unheard of, it was unusual. He could count on one hand the number of times his father had come to see him since he'd been away at school.
When they arrived at the hotel, Nico was taken up to his father's suite. In the elevator he tried to smooth the wrinkles in his school uniform pants, wishing he'd insisted they'd stopped at his room so he could've changed.
He spotted his father as soon as he was shown into the suite. Sitting in the center of the room, his large frame dwarfing the loveseat he sat on, Vincenzo Conti commanded attention. "Nico!"
Nico dipped his head. "Sir."
"Come. Sit." Vincenzo gestured to the seat across from him and waited while Nico situated himself before saying, "Your mother sends her love." Nico's lips tip up into a small smile, but he didn't get a chance to reply before his father continued, "I heard you made the honor roll."
"You heard right."
"And you're sure this is what you want to do. You don't want to go to college?"
Nico's thoughts flicked to Alec and the fight they'd had. Nico's decision not to go to college had been a big part of their argument. But this was something he'd wanted for as long as he could remember. Growing up, he'd idolized his father and wanted to be just like him. And now, Nico still had the utmost respect for him. Nothing was going change his mind. "I'm sure."
Vincenzo nodded. "I'm happy to hear that."
"Thank you."
In a blink, his father's pleasant manner vanished and an expressionless mask slipped into place as he looked at something over Nico's shoulder, nodded, and then trained his eyes back on Nico. "Go with Arturo."
Nico turned in his seat. Arturo stood behind his chair. He wasn't a hundred percent sure what was going on, but he could take a well-educated guess. He got up from his seat and turned to his dad, giving him one last look, knowing it would be the last time he looked to him as just a father. The next time, he would also be his Don.