There was something unique about the boy sitting at the center of the cafeteria. His blond hair color was a distinct feature in the sea of brown-haired heads.

He seemed to be pretty popular too, he was surrounded by a group of hot guys and insanely pretty girls. Sofia observed as he just said something that made everyone else laugh.

Sofia wanted to cry.

She was always avoiding the attention of popular kids and now she had to get the attention of the older boy and actually talk to him.

Her legs were shaky as she was moving towards the table.

"E-excuse me," she said quietly when she finally arrived at the destination.

No one noticed her.

She said "excuse me" again this time a little louder. She gathered few looks from the older students just to be ignored again.

Valentino didn't even spare her a glance. He was still in the middle of a conversation with a boy sitting in front of him. They were really loud and Sofia completely lost faith in being able to speak loud enough to be heard by them. This prompted her to do something really stupid to grab his attention.

She touched his shoulder.

The reaction was instantaneous. At first, the whole table went quiet. Now everyone was looking at her. Valentino not only turned around but also stood up from his seat. He was a head taller than her so it was really adding to the intimidation factor. Sofia had to force herself to stand still however there was unmissable fear in her eyes.

"Can I help you?

"H-Hi, sorry to bother you. C-can we talk in private?"

"Why, maybe you want to touch me again without any witnesses?" He mocked and she could hear people laughing at his words. However, to Sofia none of this was funny.

"Listen, I'm sorry but I really need to talk to you," she said in a desperate voice.

"Who's this stupid bitch?" One of the guys sitting at the table asked.

"No idea. It's the first time I see her" said another person from Valentino's group.

"Yeah me too," said another one.

"Maybe she's a transfer student" someone suggested.

"I'm not a student at this school. I'm just a... visitor"

"A visitor wants to talk to me in private?" Valentino repeated.

Sofia nodded with clear desperation in her eyes. She was lucky. Something akin to interest sparked in Valentino's eyes. "Let's go then"

As soon as they were outside of the cafeteria, on the empty corridor, Sofia was pinned to the wall the gun pressed in between her ribs.

"Who sent you here?" Valentino asked aggressively.

"N-no one"

"No one" he repeated "Fine, let me entertain this idea. What do you want from me?"

"I-I... can you take the gun away?" She couldn't focus with the weapon aimed at her.

"Let me think" he pretended to be wondering if fulfill her wish was an option "No. Now start talking because I'm losing my patience"

"Do you recognize this picture" with shaky hands Sofia took the picture of her mother from her pocket.

"No. Should I?"

For a split second, Sofia lost hope just to realize that her mother left the Italy year after Valentino was born. Maybe he didn't know how his mother looks like but his older brothers would recognize her.

"Listen, I need you to do me a favor. Show your older brother this picture"

Valentino sighed and shook his head. "What's your name?"

"Sofia. Sofia Sanzaro"

"Sofia, many people want to get my brothers' attention but none of them dared to use me for this. Do you have a family? Alessandro will murder all of them just to punish you for this nonsense. Was it worth it?"

"There's no one to kill. I don't have a family" Sofia muttered, not looking at him.

"Then your boss, or your pimp, or whoever stands behind your presence here" Valentino barked.

Sofia stopped shaking and snatched the picture away from Valentino's hand. Her fear turned to anger as she realized that she has been escaping the monster just to find other monsters. Was she cursed or something?

"You know what? I don't need you to tell him anything. I changed my mind" tears started flooding her eyes and she started running towards the school entrance. She didn't need them. She didn't need anyone. She would survive on her own.

But as she was running someone was running after her. She was surprised to hear Bruno's voice "Sofia wait!" Bruno was way faster than her so he caught her right after she left the school building. "Sofia please don't run. Talk to me" he grabbed her wrist to prevent her from escaping any further.

"What do you want?" she said fully sobbing now.

"I'm sorry I should've warned you he's an asshole"

"He threatened me with a gun," she said unable to contain her panic.

"A dangerous asshole but if you're really his family you don't need to be afraid. There's nothing Ianniello's treasure more than a family"

"No, you don't understand! People like them are everything I'm running away from" Sofia whispered looking at Bruno with pain in her eyes.

This is when Bruno did something unexpected. He hugged her. Sofia fell into his embrace and she was now sniffling into his shirt.

They were both completely unaware that someone is watching them.

"Hey Neri, isn't that your cousin or something? Is she your date too?" Someone asked. It was one of Bruno's classmates he and the group of his friends were now openly laughing at Sofia's and Bruno's display of affection.

Sofia pulled away from him and lifted her gaze to meet his beautiful green eyes.

Bruno ignored his classmates.

"Come to nonna's house. There's a spare room you can take. You can trust she won't call the police. She will give you bed and food"

"No... I don't have money to pay you"

"Sofia, are you kidding me? Do you want to sleep on the streets? Where was the last time you've eaten? Just accept help" Bruno said firmly looking at her with eyes full of determination

"Okay. I will come" She relented feeling very grateful. Then the corners of her lips lifted gently "I thought you said you don't want to be involved?"

"I don't want to but it happened anyway" he returned the smile.

"Then see you later I guess. I'm sorry about everything. We've made a quiet spectacle of ourselves" Sofia said referring to the audience their scene created.

"Don't worry about these idiots. Do you want me to drive you?"

"No. Don't skip classes because of me. I will be fine. See you soon"

"How will you get back to the city?" He asked, worried again.

"I can take care of myself"

Sofia winked at him and smiled once again and left ignoring the crowd making stupid noises.

Bruno watched in awe beautiful girl that just turned her back on him. For a moment he forgot that falling in love with her might be dangerous. He forgot who she is and what secret she might hold.

All he saw was her beautiful dark brown hair as she was getting further and further away from him. The hint of pain appeared in his chest as an uneasy question clouded his mind:

What are you running from, Sofia?

🌟🌟🌟

Hi guys,

As always I'm worried this story is not interesting enough. :(

Anyway! You've met Valentino in this chapter. Sofia's youngest older brother. I hope their encounter was an interesting start. :)

What do you think about Bruno as a potential love interest? Do you like him?