Ethan sat in the back row of his morning lecture, hood pulled up, pen scratching half-hearted notes across the page. To anyone else, he looked like any other student running on too little sleep. Only he knew the reason for the shadows under his eyes—the raid from the night before still played on a loop in his head.
Across the room, laughter broke through the dull hum of the lecture. Mia Russo sat with three girls at her side, as if the class existed only as their backdrop. She was Dante's sister—sharp-tongued, bold, and untouchable because of her last name.
Beside her was a girl Ethan hadn't noticed before.
Ava
She carried herself differently—quieter than Mia, but not meek. She listened more than she spoke, and when she did, the other two girls leaned closer, like her words mattered. Her smile was softer, less guarded than Mia's, but her eyes—steady, curious—moved like they were already seeing past the surface of things.
When class ended, Ethan stayed seated, watching without meaning to. The group packed up quickly, and Mia swung her bag over her shoulder with her usual careless energy.
"Come on," she said to the others. "Let's head back before it gets dark."
The three girls followed her out, their chatter trailing behind. Ethan knew where they were going—Mia's brother had personally arranged for them to live in a secure dorm off-campus. It wasn't just any dorm; it was a building the crew had eyes on, handpicked so that Mia's friends could stay protected without being swallowed by the chaos of the Moretti house.
Mia herself only stayed there sometimes. When things heated up—when Dante thought danger was close—he sent her back under that roof. Otherwise, she drifted between her world and theirs, a thread tying both together.
From his seat, Ethan tapped his pen once, then closed his notebook. He told himself it was nothing. Just a glance. Just a girl with friends. But some part of him already knew—Ava's path wasn't going to stay separate from his for long.