GabrielI fought my way to the top at Rochester Academy using fists. It was easier than admitting I was a dumbshit with a learning disability. The members of my family were known as thugs and I fit right in. Braun over brains won in my world.Rochester Academy had given me more know-how and helped refine the thug part of my behavior. It also kept my fists in shape while I honed the muscle and boosted my ass-kicking abilities.The academy was the home for Mafia infants who would leave four years later as adult members of their families with the burdens it carried. Ours was not an easy life and I never fooled myself about the world I navigated. The rules were different for us; our education was different. The dictates of our families still meant something.It meant everything.Unfortunate but fucking fact.Senior year and the first day of school was tomorrow and I hadn’t heard from Isabella, my future bride. Not that this was abnormal, but she usually showed a few days before the start

RosaWhen I received the email from Rochester with my new roommate assignment, I kicked a hole through my closet door. I couldn’t think of a worse way to spend my senior year than putting up with Isabella Tumicci and her future husband aka Gabriel Caruso, asshole of the century.Isabella’s last roommate found a way to escape the torture. If I knew how she did it, I would replicate it. As it was, I’d been in a pissy mood since I’d found out.Gabriel flashed in my mind and I dug my fingernails into my arm to stop any thoughts of him. He was the last guy on campus I should be interested in. It drove me crazy that he was the only guy I thought about. Now I was stuck rooming with his fiancée.“That bastardo,” Isabella screeched as soon as we entered the dorm.I wasn’t sure how long I could take the high-pitched sound without knocking her teeth out. Less than a day, I’m sure.“You see what is forced on me?” Her hands lifted and her fingertips pinched together to add emphasis to her point.W

GabrielLate start. I stared at my ceiling while lying in bed, contemplating my hangover and the first day of school. I’d just pulled up my class schedule on my cell and found nothing exciting. I always had half my classes with Isabella. This year, I didn’t want to know which ones ahead of time.We always sat as far from each other as we could get.Most thought mine and Isabella’s relationship hatred bordering on love. The emotions we pulled from each other appeared that way. There were no good feelings between us. We wouldn’t magically fall in love and live happily ever after. It would never be in our cards.Duty was our four of a kind. Without duty, we had everything to lose and I wouldn’t let that happen. My hand went to my dick because Rosa popped into my head while thinking of Isabella. Bella could kill wood faster than a Mafia princess’s father. It didn’t stop Rosa’s image from filling the vision.From the top of her head, which was about six inches below mine, to the bottom of

RosaI’ll admit I was having fun. Gabriel was off his game and I’d gotten him there. He tore out of class as fast as he had in first period. I handed in my test, not caring that the teacher would shake his head when he saw my score. I dumbed myself down when I needed. I could pass every class and never open a book. School would be boring if I didn’t spend the time writing code in my head. That didn’t happen in classes with Gabriel but he would never know that.I didn’t rush after him. I knew where he would be in five minutes.I passed Isabella in the hall.“Rosa,” she called which surprised me and I stopped.“The girls want to have a get-together in my dorm tonight. Could you find some place to go?”Most of her friends tittered which ground on my nerves. I didn’t miss the “my” dorm remark and I knew she didn’t mean her bedroom.“I don’t know, Isabella; my friends are coming over to sage the rooms to get the bad spirits out. I’ll see if they’ll wait until you and your crew are gone so

GabrielI’d had Rosa in every single class. I might not be school smart but I wasn’t stupid. Rosa did not have Home-Ec which was a senior requirement for the female students and Phys-Ed was missing from my schedule. There were rumors about Rosa’s brother and his hacking abilities. The rumors weren’t tied to Rochester but I doubted he left the academy without trying. I was sure Rosa hacked the schedules which put her computer abilities up there with her brother.Why would she align my classes with hers? It made no sense. If she wanted to make my life a living hell, this would work. I always thought she just wanted as far away from me as she could get.It was Thursday and I’d survived another day of blue balls. Me and the crew headed to the gym for a workout. Our school didn’t have sports unless you counted fighting. We practiced bare-knuckle carnage, not boxing, but today was about weights and muscle. We cranked the music up and made the freshmen get lost over the next two hours. When