“Threatening a minor?” I tried to counter, but my voice was all breath.
My gaze dropped to his scarred mouth. I wondered what those full lips might feel like capturing mine, how the texture of his scar would feel under my tongue. I swallowed thickly and wrenched myself away, breathing too rapidly.
Tiernan grinned that slow, cruel grin as he leaned back too, insolent with power. “Ezra will pick you up at three-thirty. Good luck, little thing, make Daddy proud.”
I flipped him the finger as I collected my bag and got out of the car, slamming the door on his chuckle.
When I turned around, someone was standing there staring at the Aston with a frown. He was absolutely gorgeous. The blond hair and blue eyes gave him an angelic look, but the broad shoulders and square jaw made him look like an all-American jock.
Before I met Tiernan, this guy would have been exactly who I thought I’d want. A Prince Charming.
Instead, I found myself inconceivably aroused by the villain.
“Hey,” I said with a big smile. “Do you have a car fetish or something?”
The guy blinked and his frown disappeared to be replaced with a genuine smile as he laughed. “Not at all. I drive a beat-up Toyota.”
I arched a brow, taking in his school uniform and the wealthy students all around us. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Scholarship kid,” he admitted with a charming shrug.
“New kid,” I countered, offering my hand. “Bianca Belcante, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Belcante? I could have sworn that was a Morelli who dropped you off,” he admitted with an uneasy laugh.
“God, no!” I shuddered at the thought. “I may be new to New York, but even I know enough to never get involved with one of those.”
“So, it was your boyfriend who dropped you off?” he asked with a sly smile.
“No, my, uh, my guardian.” It was difficult to label exactly what Tiernan was to me.
“Cool. Well, I’m Elias Constantine.” He took my hand in a firm grip and tugged me a little closer, his eyes sparkling. “It’s nice to meet a fellow fish out of water.”
“Constantine?” I echoed, my heart stalling. “As in Bishop’s Landing Constantines?”
“The same. But I should warn you, I come from the poor side of the family and I have absolutely zero pull with Caroline.”
A Constantine.
An actual, in-the-flesh Constantine.
I blinked at him dazedly, surprised I hadn’t guessed right off. He had the classic good looks and breeding of someone in Dad’s family. It was only upon closer inspection that I could detect the wear in his uniform, the generic sneakers, and old cloth backpack.
“Was Lane Constantine your father?” I asked, wondering madly if I could be meeting one of my half-brothers.
“No, no, poor side, remember?” His smile was slightly crooked and all the more charming for it. “Please don’t tell me you’re one of those people who’s obsessed with my family.”
I was, of course. I’d been curious about Dad’s family my entire life. Once, I’d caught Dad talking to Winston, his eldest, over video chat and I’d ached for him to introduce us. It took more years than I was willing to admit for me to understand I would never meet the Constantines of Bishop’s Landing.
To understand I would always be hidden away, pulled out when it was convenient and always in secret.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” I said, somewhat stiltedly. “The only thing I’m interested in is making friends.”
“Well, I think I can help with that.” He offered me his arm like an old-fashioned gentleman as the bell rang to signal the start of homeroom. “May I escort you to your first class?”
I beamed at him, threading my arm through his. “By all means, kind sir. Lead the way.”
* * *
Elias was officially one of the coolest, kindest people I’d ever met. He introduced me to his posse of attractive teammates on the varsity soccer squad, but it was one of his good friends, Gabriella, who I instantly adored because she was bubbly and sweet as hell. When I left my last class before lunch, Elias was leaning against the lockers outside the room waiting for me, and while we waited in line at the gourmet cafeteria, he invited me to hang out after school.
I was torn. I wanted to be home with Brando after his first day, after his episode yesterday—even though he seemed fully recovered. But I also recognized the offer for the social opportunity it was. Elias was a different breed of teenage boy than I’d ever known before. He was confident almost to the point of arrogance, but with a self-deprecating humor that balanced it beautifully. His guy friends made a few cracks at my looks and where I’d come from, but Elias put an end to that with a few unimpressed glares. I had a feeling he was much less like the stereotypical jock than he presented to the world of Sacred Heart and I was curious to get to know him better, especially because he was the first connection to Dad’s family I’d had in years. It was too good to give up.
So, I texted Ezra to ask if it was okay and he promised to be on standby for when I wanted to go home. I asked how Brando was doing and he assured me my little brother couldn’t stop babbling on about how awesome his new school was.
“Boyfriend?” Elias asked, jerking his chin at my phone as I smiled down at it.
I laughed a little too loudly, probably, as if the idea of having a boyfriend was absurd. “No, my little brother. It was his first day at a new school too. I just wanted to check in.”
“Cute,” he said approvingly as we walked down the street with Gabriella. “I’m super close with my sister, Harlow, too.”
“Only child,” Gabriella said with a dramatic sigh. “You guys are lucky.”
Neither Elias nor I protested the fact as we walked three in a row along the sidewalk on our way to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. When I’d mentioned that I just moved to New York, both Elias and Gabriella had insisted we visit a local attraction to start me on my path to becoming a real New Yorker.
They didn’t know I’d been born two hours away in a small town to a father who owned more than half of Manhattan. They didn’t know even with that, or maybe because of it, I’d never set foot on the island.
They were just nice kids who were eager to show the new girl around.
So, I told them about my dreams of visiting The Met, and even though they seemed surprised, they agreed to go with me. I guessed most teenagers would want to see the Empire State Building or Fifth Avenue, maybe the Statue of Liberty or Central Park.
I couldn’t wait to see the famed gallery. The place my father had always promised to take me even though I realized now, it had been an empty pledge.
“I have to confess,” Elias admitted shooting me an appraising look out the corner of his eye. “I was staring at your car because I thought for a second you’d been dropped off by Leo Morelli.”
“Leo Morelli?” I asked, a genuine, almost nervous laugh bubbling up my throat.
If only he knew how absurd a claim that was. A Morelli taking in a Constantine bastard was too Shakespearean to be believed.
He shrugged a shoulder, a playful grin on his lips. It hit me, not for the first time, that Elias was stunning.
“Must’ve been a trick of the light or maybe he’s just been on my mind. He, uh, married into the family recently.”