Silvano Valentini stood in the balcony of the game room, overlooking the party going on outside on the grounds of his house. It was the customary start of the school year party organized by his family. The grounds were decorated to suit the occasion, food and drinks were being served by what looked like a small army of waiters.

"Hey man, what are you doing out here? Come in and play pool with us. We're short a member", his close friend and ally, Cristiano Bianchi, called out as he came to stand next to him in the open balcony.

"Are you checking out the the new girls? A few of them are quite hot", Cristiano said as his eyes roamed over a group of girls, the newbies in the school.

"Seems a very bratty and stupid lot to me. I'm sure they must have had gotten in only due to their family's connections", Silvano drawled, unimpressed.

"Who cares about wits while fuck-", Cristiano began jokingly but stopped talking as Silvano threw him a blank look.

"So did you see anyone you like yet?", Cristiano asked clearing his throat.

"You're forgetting that you are the resident flirt of our year, not me Bianchi", Silvano replied back coolly.

"Touché", Cristiano smirked, as he winked and waved his hands to the group who were staring at them from the ground, making them burst into a fit of giggles and whisper conspirationally to each other, as they continued to throw flirtatious looks at them.

Silvano rolled his eyes at the display.

"What are you doing out here then?", his companion questioned him.

"Scouting", Silvano replied back. "My cousin's orders", he continued when he saw Cristiano's questioning look.

Cristiano nodded in understanding.

"You see that guy over there?", Cristiano pointed discreetly to a boy who was surrounded by a group of boys and girls who seemed to be hanging onto his every word.

"He's a transfer student in the year below us and from what I've heard it appears that the boy likes to throw his weight around. His father owns one of the leading publishing companies in the country which has led him to believe that he can strut around this place like a freakin peacock."

"His delusion is going to break soon enough", Silvano replied dismissively.

"Poor newbies don't know that the real party will begin after some time. Valerio and Allister forbid the boys from giving the new students any heads up about what's going to happen", Cristiano smirked sneakily.

Silvano chuckled as his eyes roamed over the crowd of boys and girls mingling and laughing. Many were dancing on the loud music while a few were lounging near the pool.

"Valerio seems to be happy at returning back home",Cristiano began after a few moments of silence,"He even laughed at some of the boys jokes", he continued in awe as if he could hardly believe it to be true.

"Of course he is", Silvano agreed, smiling internally, knowing well enough the true reason behind his cousin's happiness at returning back to Italy.

"His transfer to the Wolsford Academy's Germany branch was quite abrupt last year", Cristiano spoke, trying to gauge Silvano's expression.

"Don Vitiello thought it would be beneficial for Valerio to attend the school in Germany and help him in handling our business there",Silvano replied back.

"That's the only reason?",Cristiano prodded curiously.

Silvano turned to look at him sharply. "We have spoken about this before, my family's affairs are not anyone else's concern."

"Woah chill bro, I was just asking", Cristiano placated him.

"Don't do that again", Silvano replied back coolly. "Consider yourself lucky that he didn't hear you. I don't need to remind you how Valerio views unwanted interference from anyone in his personal affairs."

Cristiano paled at the subtle threat. Valerio's rage was legendary and he didn't want to do anything that could even remotely incur the Valentini heir's wrath.

Silvano turned to look inside but to his surprise the room was almost empty. Only fifteen minutes ago the room had been occupied by the boys, who were playing billiard and other games.

"Where did everyone disappear?", he asked Cristiano who still looked a little pale.

"They were talking about going to the training room to see Allister and Valerio compete against each other to see who could shoot down maximum targets", Cristiano informed him.

"My cousin is not going to lose. He can shoot those targets with his eyes closed", Silvano rolled his eyes.

"He's going to have to do that alright, but to increase the difficulty level the targets would be moving", Cristiano informed him.

"Let's go and watch the masters competing then", Silvano joked and pushed himself away from the balcony.

He started walking inside but stopped when he didn't hear Cristiano behind him.

"Stop staring at the girls Cristiano. I don't want to miss out the chance to see Valerio show off his skills to Allister", he shouted impatiently at Cristiano who was frozen in his place, staring at someone intently.

"Am I dreaming or is that who I think it is?", Cristiano asked him, still not moving from his position.

Silvano frowned and walked back outside to see what had Cristiano's attention. His eyes fell on the boy who Cristiano had pointed him out to earlier, he seemed to be talking to someone with a very superior and flirty smirk on his face. His eyes followed the figure and they widened as they fell on a very familiar girl.

Silvano watched the scene unfold before his eyes. He saw as the boy tried to block the girl's way and the girl frowned at him. She said something to which the boy laughed, waving his hands off.

Silvano turned around furiously and walked towards the exit intending to go out on the grounds. "Cristiano go and tell Allister and Damien that their sister is here. Tell them that Amara is here."

********

"And that lanky guy near the pool, his father is a very famous artist, popular all over the globe", the boy standing next to Michael kept on blabbering.

Michael rolled his eyes. "My father owns the biggest publishing company in the country. I'm not really interested in them. I want to know more about the elites. I can't see anyone around here."

The boy next to him paled rapidly at the mention of the so called elites. "Wh-What? "

"The elite boys!",he exclaimed "Valentini's, Romero's, Riccardi and the rest of the high crowd, they are the most powerful lot in the school, right? Tell me more about them, I can't see anyone around here ", Michael snapped at him.

The boy gulped, staring at him fearfully.

"He won't answer you but I can help you there", Michael turned when another boy came to stand next to him, he remembered that the boy had introduced himself earlier but Michael had not bothered to pay any attention to him.

"You are right. None of them are out here", he agreed, looking around the once, "But look I can see two of the elite boys. Look at the balcony on the second floor, left side of the manor", the new boy ordered him.

Michael frowned, turning around.

"Don't be so obvious about it", the boy snapped at Michael in fear.

Michael could see two boys standing in the balcony talking to each other.

"The blonde one is Cristiano Bianchi, fifteen year old. His father is the Dean of our school and the dark haired one is Silvano Valentini, fifteen year old again. The Valentini's are the core trustees of Wolsford Academy branches all over the world."

Michael's interest peaked at that."So he's the most powerful kid here?",he asked him.

Michael remembered his father's words to him. He needed to make powerful and influential connections while he was here in Italy which could help his family strengthen their own influence and political clout in the society. His father had already told him that the Romero's and Valentini's were the two most powerful families in Italy and how it would be beneficial for him to make friends with their kids, whom were in his age group.

"No, that would be his older cousin. He.....", Michael stopped listening to him when his eyes fell on a girl who was walking towards the party grounds. "A late arrival most probably", he thought.

She was easily the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She looked to be around his age too, around fourteen.

"Are you even listening to me? Who are you staring at?", the boy asked him, annoyed at being ignored. Before Michael could stop himself, he started walking towards the girl with confident steps.

"Wait, stop! You don't know who she

is", the boy whisper yelled at him in absolute horror when he noticed his stare. But Michael ignored him.

Soon, he reached the girl and just as she was about to walk ahead he blocked her path.

The girl looked at him and Michael felt breathless as his eyes met hers.

They were beautiful amethyst in colour and were looking at him in confusion.

Michael was stumped as he stared at her beautiful face. She had flawless blond eyelashes and slightly darker brows that curved perfectly above her amethyst eyes.

Amara did not recognise the boy who was blocking her path. She looked around to see if her brothers or her friends were around, but she didn't see anyone she personally recognised on the grounds.

"Uh hi", the boy stuttered.

"Hello", she replied back politely.

"I saw you looking around here so I thought I could help you", he told Amara, gaining a confidence in his speech in the face of her politeness.

"No, it's alright. I was just looking around for my friends. You don't need to trouble yourself. I'll check inside the manor", she replied back politely and went to side step him but he blocked her frame again.

"It's no trouble", Michael chuckled "I can help you around here. It's no problem, honestly" he said, giving her his most charming smile. "I'm sorry I did not even introduce myself. My name is Michael and what's your name beautiful ?", he asked her flirtatiously.

Amara opened her mouth to respond but she was cut off as an aggressive voice spoke.

"Back off."

She looked past him and saw Silvano standing behind the boy.

"Hi Silvano",she smiled,relieved to find a familiar face.

"Amara", he greeted her politely and then turned his hardened gaze on Michael.

Amara felt a little uncomfortable watching him stare the boy down. Silvano was calm most of the times. Watching him with such a steely look in his eyes was not something that Amara was used to.

"Where are my brothers?", she asked Silvano in hopes of distracting him.

At once Silvano's attention snapped back to her."They were informed of your arrival so they must be on their way here."

Amara's eyes widened in nervousness. She looked from the boy, Michael, back to Silvano once, who was back to glaring at the increasingly uncomfortable boy. If he was getting uncomfortable with Silvano around, Amara didn't even want to think what his reaction would be if Allister were here.

"I'm feeling a little cold out here, can we go inside?",she asked him.

"Oh, of course Amara, let's go",he said, and stepped aside to allow her to walk a little ahead, following after her, but not before glaring viciously at Michael.

In the mean time, while Silvano had been making his way outside, the rest of the boy's had been watching the competition between Allister and Valerio with great excitement.

"It is really difficult to predict who is going to win", Sebastino Selvaggio mused.

"Allister will! ", Damien declared and hollered along with the rest of his supporters when Allister's shot hit the target perfectly.

"I wouldn't bet on that" the Riccardi heir, Gino interjected, as Valerio took the next aim and effortlessly shot the bull's eye.

They were all standing on the outerside of the shooting arena behind the large soundproof glass doors and watching the two boys take aim one after another. It was unbelievable how even with a blindfold on, those two shot the targets effortlessly.

The computerised targets kept moving left to right and whenever they stopped, they made ringing sounds, listening to which the Allister and Valerio took aim.

"Damn he missed it! ", Damien swore as Allister missed his target by a few inches.

"If Valerio shoots his target perfectly then he's going to win", Gino stated excitedly.

All the chatter stopped as everyone looked on with waited breaths as the guard present inside the arena handed Valerio a loaded gun again and Valerio raised the gun, ready to strike the target down. Even Allister had removed his blindfold and was watching Valerio carefully.

The silence in the room was interrupted when Cristiano burst inside. Damien and the other boys turned to look at him in disapproval for causing such ruckus, but Cristiano didn't mind them and opened the glass doors to walk inside the shooting area hurriedly.

"Allister",he called out,"you need to go out right now, your cousin is here. I saw a newbie trying to chat her up."

Before anyone could react to this new piece of information a gunshot was heard, its loud sound now echoing inside the entire arena, as Cristiano had left the soundproof doors open when he had entered. All eyes turned towards Valerio who was standing as still as a statue. Very slowly he raised his hands and untied the cloth from his eyes.

Cristiano gulped when Valerio's sharp eyes settled on him. His careless entry had probably startled him due to which Valerio had missed his shot. Cristiano realized that he was going to pay later on for his mistake but he knew he had to do it.

"Amara is here? Why wasn't I informed? Damien, did you know?", Allister asked his younger brother.

Damien shook his head and Allister rounded up on Cristiano.

"And you Bianchi....Why the fuck did you come here when you saw her alone outside? You should have sent a guard to inform us and gone down there to escort her", Allister told him coldly, shrugging out of the safety vest, as he threw the gun towards the Valentini guard standing at the side of the room before walking out briskly.

"Silvano went to take care of the situation outside, don't worry", Cristiano called out after him but Allister didn't care for his words as he made his exit, closely followed by Damien .

Amara had just entered the manor when she saw Allister and Damien coming towards her. Their eyes fell on her and a smile spread over their faces.

Amara practically skipped towards Damien who met her halfway and picked her up, both of them laughing joyously as he hugged her tightly for a few moments before placing her back on the ground.

"You grow more beautiful each day sister", Damien complemented her.

A rosy hue spread over her cheeks rapidly making Damien laugh out loud. She choose to ignore him as she turned towards her more serious elder cousin. At seventeen years of age, Allister towered over her petite figure, making her look up to greet him.

"Fratello" she greeted him in italian as Allister put his arms around her in a gentle but firm hug.

"I'm glad you are back from New York princess", he told her,kissing the top of her head.

"I missed you guys so I thought I should surprise everyone", Amara replied happily.

"Hmm, that was indeed a great surprise. We all thought that you would be arriving next week", Allister told her when they separated.

"I would have arrived earlier but Uncle Patrick kept on cancelling my flights", Amara informed them, laughing softly as she remembered her time in New York.

Allister chuckled once before his face turned serious and a glint entered his eyes as he asked her,"But Amara where are the Romero guards? Why didn't they inform anyone that you would be coming here?",he asked her sternly.

"I asked them to stay outside", Amara admitted, preparing herself for the stern talk that she was about to get from Allister.

"Why would you do that? They are meant for your protection when we are not around", Allister admonished her quietly.

"Chill Allister, let her breath", Damien said as he placed his arm over Amara's shoulder. "Come Amara, I'll take you to the party hall inside where the girls must be present", he said, steering her towards the party hall inside the manor.

Amara peaked over her shoulder to see Silvano talking to Allister, both of them having hard expressions on their faces.

"How angry do you think he is with me?", she asked Damien softly.

He sighed before replying, "You know how he gets when your security is concerned Amara. Don't worry, he can't stay mad at you for long, he'll cool down by tomorrow morning."

Amara nodded and they walked the rest of the distance with Damien asking her about her time in New York.

"Why don't you enjoy some sweets and I'll go and see where the girls are?", Damien suggested

"Alright", she agreed, happily walking over to where she could see the desert counter was. A variety of sweet assortments were placed at the counter and Amara couldn't decide which one to have.

"I would try the éclairs if I were you", she heard a smooth masculine voice say from behind her.

Amara smiled softly. She did not even need to turn around to recognise who it was. The presence behind her gave off the aura of a dark power and Amara could always sense it when he was near.

"Hi Val", she turned around, greeting the seventeen year old Valentini heir who was standing behind her, staring at her intently with his dark eyes.

"You are back from New York", he stated, staring at her an undecipherable look in his eyes.

"Uh yes", Amara replied.

A fleeting but warm smile crossed his face ,"I'm glad", he said sincerely.

Valerio's eyes were dark as he gazed at her, making Amara tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear in nervousness so as to distract herself.

"Tell me.... How was your time there? Were there any troubles?", he asked her suddenly.

"Umm no, not really", Amara answered, stumped at his line question.

"Are you sure?", he asked her again.

Amara was about to answer in positive when she felt an arm going around her shoulder.