It was lunch break time at Wolsford Academy and many of the students were out on the school grounds enjoying the sun smiling down on them today in a show of clement weather.

Valerio sat on the wooden table top of a picnic table on the grounds with his legs bent and sneakers planted firmly on the bench below. He was surrounded by his usual group of friends which mainly consisted of Alexander Bianchi, the twin brothers Klaus and Gino Riccardi and a few other boys all of whom like him were the sons and grandsons of mob boss's meant to lead a life of crime and violence.

Valerio observed the other students keenly. Some of them studied, others cuddled close with their respective partners and some just lounged about enjoying the break. His eyes finally found the one person they were searching for..... Amara Sullivan Romero.

She sat half-hidden under the boughs of a large tree curled against it's trunk. Her long blonde hair like molten golden drifted across her exquisitely beautiful features with the stirring of the breeze. She sat elegantly, her fair skin shimmering wherever the sunlight kissed it, making Valerio's insides clench with an unreasonable flare of jealousy at the injustice of it.

She was almost three years younger than him and yet she completely, absolutely intrigued him to an extent that Valerio's eyes always sought her out even in a crowd of hundreds. She too, was surrounded by her usual flock of friends but instead of taking part in their conversation she was concentrating on reading a rather large book.

Valerio watched her intently, not wanting to miss anything about her. He noticed how she would furrow her brows and bite her lip when she didn't understand any part, she looked so damn adorable to him that he couldn't tear his gaze away from her even if he wanted to.

''Come on look at me once''..... he thought internally as he found himself wanting to look into her beautiful eyes. He wanted her undivided attention on himself, now and forever. And as if she had somehow heard his internal monologue her eyes snapped up to meet his.

Valerio felt his heart skip a beat as she stared at him unflinchingly unlike everyone else who cowered before him .

Her eyes were startlingly beautiful, a colour of purest amethyst, made all the more beautiful because of the many emotions that he could read in them, almost like an open book for him to read at his leisure .

In a rare lapse of control over his emotions Valerio shot her a tiny wink. He found it hard to control the amused chuckle that was threatening to burst out of him at the sight of her eyes widening like saucers at his action. She quickly looked down at her book, ignoring him, but a few moments later her eyes flickered back to him again.

Propping his elbows on his thighs, Valerio leaned forward and smirked devilishly at her, prompting a lovely red hue to spread over her cheeks rapidly. She huffed and turned a little sideways trying to hide herself against the large tree trunk.

"così adorabile ", he chuckled fondly under his breath at her actions.

"What's got your attention?" Gino asked from his side curiously.

"Niente", Valerio replied back in Italian as he turned towards his friends. Now that he had seen her he could finally concentrate on the conversation going on around him.

"The newbies are quite tame, don't you think so Valerio?", Klaus asked him.

"Everyone is talking about our after party with the new boys yesterday night", Alexander informed them chuckling.

"I'm honestly a little disappointed with the lack of struggle from their side, wimps the entire lot of them", Valerio stated in mock disappointment as the entire gang erupted in boisterous laughter.

******

As Amara studied she could feel herself being watched by someone. Her eyes finally snapped up from her book and towards the source of the intense stare.....Valerio Valentini.

He was seated on one of the benches in the shaded area of the ground with his friends. Even with the way he lounged about seemingly relaxed, the threatening air never left him. His calm presence had lethal under tones that screamed he was dangerous, making the other students, guards and even the school staff move skittishly around him, not wanting to draw his attention to themselves. His presence was commanding and strong, his eyes sharp as he stared at her with his burning gaze.

Amara found it difficult to judge what he was thinking. He was constantly shrouded in a cloak of mystery...... An enigma, Allister always called him. She was certain that despite being powerful in his own right Allister was slightly wary of Valerio, the reason behind it unknown to her.

Amara continued to hold onto his hypnotic stare not being able to pull away, when he suddenly shot her a tiny wink. Her eyes widened at his action and from the way his lips twitched, Amara was sure that he must have seen it. She tore her eyes away from him and looked down at her book trying her hardest to not blush. As if on autopilot her eyes flickered back to him again and this time she couldn't control the red that spread across her cheeks at his smirk as he caught her staring at him.

"So unusual", Amara thought.

Valerio looked playful, almost carefree today, something that she didn't usually witness. Amara had heard from Serena that Valerio had been furious when he had to go to school in Germany last year. It had been a very sudden decision with Valerio transfering to Germany overnight on his grandfather's orders. But Amara was glad to see him look happy at being back.

"Who is the lucky boy?", Emma Giovanni whispered to Amara from beside her.

"What?", Amara asked her baffled.

"Don't be like that Amara", Emma whispered softly, not wanting to be overheard, "Your blush says it all", she teased.

"No, it's not what you think", Amara denied at once.

"Uh huh! If you say so. Be careful though, if your cousin's find out they will raise hell on the poor guy ", Emma continued.

Amara shook her head at her and was about to reply back when she was interrupted again.

"Amara put the book away, It is break time", Serena moaned to her friend.

"I have to catch up with the material I missed on my first day, I can't afford to lag behind", Amara replied back patiently to her long time friend Serena Valentini.

Serena was Silvano's twin and Valerio's cousin sister. Amara had become fast friends with her when both the girls were introduced at the tender age of five. She was in the same year of schooling as Amara despite being a year older. Serena had fallen terribly sick when she was ten prompting her to miss school for a year to recover .

"You are at the top of our year Amara, you will be able to catch up with the studies in no time at all", Emma spoke deciding to forget the conversation she had with Amara for the time being.

Amara sighed as she closed the book for some time and adjusted herself so that she was leaning comfortably behind the large tree trunk. It was a usual spot for them whenever they decided to spend their break on the school grounds.

"So tell us, how was vacation in New York ? I wish I could have gone to Germany with Silvano and Valerio but mother wanted me to stay in Italy and attend her social gala's with her", Serena huffed angrily.

"You are not the only one Serena. My mother dragged me along with her from one movie set to another", Emma moaned. Emma's mother was an A-lister actress and wanted her daughter to follow the same line, something that Emma was eager to do as well despite her frequent complaints.

Amara laughed at them in amusement. "Sounds like you two had great fun", she teased them.

"You are so lucky Amara. You get to spend every holiday either in New York or in some other country with both the Sullivan's and the Romero's. Father never gets free time from his work and mother is always busy with her movies", Emma told her.

"Were your cousins around the entire time?", Serena asked her .

"Cousins? Or one cousin in particular?", Emma muttered under her breath causing Serena to glare at her.

"It was great. I went for skiing with the boys", Amara replied happily choosing to ignore their usual banter.

"What?!", both the girls shouted in disbelief.

"Uh yes.... ", Amara replied confused at their surprised expressions.

"They took you out for skiing and your grandfather just allowed it? He did not forbid you? And how did Cian agree with it? I feel that out of all your five cousins he is the real extreme one when it comes to you, which is saying something because Allister is obviously like a hound and from what I have seen with my eyes so is Caden", Emma asked her curiously.

Amara's smile faltered slightly and her heart constricted at the mention of Cian before she replied, "It was my birthday present. Caden said I could ask him anything and he would give it to me so I asked him to take me out for skiing. As for grandpa, it did take me some time to convince him but at the end when he still did not allow it grandma was able to convince him. It helped that one of Uncle Patrick's own associate runs one of the largest adventurous sports establishment. He provided us with the best safety gear and a team of trainers", Amara admitted.

"Oh now it makes sense. Your grandpa Sean and your Uncles wouldn't have allowed you to go otherwise", Emma stated matter of factly.

Emma had personally experienced how protective both the families were over Amara, the men more so than the women, who were more laid back, so she knew how difficult it must have been for Amara to convince them to let her participate in a sport that they would perceive as dangerous for her.

The girls continued their discussion, each sharing their own holiday experience when suddenly they were interrupted by loud sounds followed by several gasps.

Amara turned towards source of commotion only to see Alexander , Gino and the other boys standing in a commanding stance over a boy who was kneeling on the ground in front of Valerio.

They were all sneering down at the boy while Valerio sat back, as still as a statue staring down at the boy with a calm look. His stance remained nonchalant and cool but Amara wasn't fooled. Underneath the cool and passive exterior was a storm waiting to be unleashed.

"What has happened?", she asked no one in particular. Every student present on the ground had frozen , no one was daring to utter a single syllable as they stared at the boy kneeling on the ground.

"It all happened so fast.....I would have surely missed it if I had not been looking their way..... That boy on the ground lost his balance while he was passing Valerio's table. I think he slipped or something and his glass slipped from his hand and spilled on Gino and Valerio", Andrea, another good friend of hers informed her in a hushed voice.

Amara watched as the boy looked down towards the grounds and kept on apologising profusely not daring to look at Valerio.

Amara's breathing hitched as Valerio calm exterior dissolved a little and his eyes turned to cold slits. She could feel apprehension build in her stomach at what was he planning to do.

Valerio nudged him a little with his foot and spoke," Look up" he ordered coldly.

Trembling visibly the boy looked up "I'm sorry , I didn't mean to do it. I was just a little thirsty and I -"

Valerio cut him off, "You are a little thirsty, yes?", he asked rhetorically. "Consider this welcome drink a speciality of Wolsford Academy then", and then to her disbelief several large jugs of different juices, soups and sodas were being dumped on the guy by each member of Valerio's large group. Valerio who was still seated, calmly took an offered jug from Gino and threw it almost lazily on the boys face. It was a clear indication of his strength as even though he had thrown the jug quite lazily it's contents hit the boy with a hard splatter.

"That boy spilled a few drops on Valerio's shoes and shirt and Valerio literally dumped him in it ",Emma whispered shuddering. The unnamed boy was dripping wet , his shirt almost completely soaked.

"Boys ,this one still looks relatively parched to me, we should offer him another drink as the good hosts that we are. Any suggestions? ", Valerio asked aloud mockingly.

"Hmm.... let's throw him in the restricted part of the Lake. He'll learn his lesson pretty soon after that", Alexander replied back in the same mocking tone.

Valerio pretended to think for a few seconds, "A capital idea my friend", he declared smirking down cruelly at the boy who had almost started whimpering at the mention of the restricted section of the lake.

Amara felt herself shuddering too. The restricted section that Alexander had spoken of was separate from the main lake and housed many poisonous fishes scorpions and snake's. It had been built a few years ago for the advanced courses on rare aquatic animals and was off limits to everyone in the absence of the team of specialists who looked after them. Ignoring this safety measure, the previous year a girl had ventured near it and had fallen down inside the water. She had been stung by one of the animals due to which she had to be hospitalised for three months

Excited murmurs went through the crowd. Some were looking down at the boy in pity while some were just amused watching the elite group of boys dish out some punishment in their style. Amara could see the anticipation burning in each of their eyes and without intending to Amara stood up, dusting her dress before she stepped forward.

"Amara don't. Valerio seems very annoyed ",Serena tried to stop her but Amara did not listen.

"This is way to extreme Serena, the boys are dragging this unnecessarily", Amara told her and began walking towards the group.

"Wait", Amara called out loudly as she hurried towards the boys. No one stopped her as she made her way forward nervously.

Amara felt nervous and scared under the gaze of Valerio and his gang of members, but she went on anyway.

"Please let him go. He understands that he was mistaken here, you don't need to throw him in the lake ", Amara tried to reason with the furious boys.

"He still needs to learn a lesson ", Gino said evenly his anger a lot more controlled now that he was addressing Amara and not any other random student.

"I'm sure he already has ", Amara insisted. She looked at Valerio knowing that only he could command the other boys to stop.

"Please Val", she said softly. His eyes like burning embers assessed her, not leaving her face before he finally gave a short nod.

"Let him go", he ordered his friends in a hard tone.

Gino shoved the boy away from him and on the hard ground. " Next time, you cross my path again you will be finished", he threatened the boy sprawled on the ground. Amara saw Valerio smirk coldly at Gino's threat and winced slightly. She knew that none of them issued idle threats, especially Valerio.

"Thank you ", she whispered softly and moved to help the boy up. The boy thanked her as Amara offered her hand to help him.

" Stop! " , she heard Valerio's furious voice say and she automatically froze on her spot her hand inches away from the boy's outstretched arm. She turned around and nearly flinched when she saw him standing tall across from her. His nonchalant attitude now completely gone and replaced by a blazing fury as his eyes stayed connected to hers ,darker and more furious than she had ever seen before. But there was something else in his eyes, another unnamed emotion besides his anger something much more dominant, almost primal.

His eyes moved from her face to her hand and then to the boy's arm, a look of utter rage crossing his face.

"What do you think are you doing? ", Valerio spoke through clenched teeth, his tone though was controlled and levelled despite his obvious sudden rage.

"I...I thought you said that he could go", she spoke nervously.

His eyes darted back to the boy who looked terrified with his arm still suspended in the air from when Amara was going to help him and Valerio's eyes darkened significantly, "Not anymore", he said evenly.

A feeling of disbelief rose in her at his change of mind. " But- ", Amara began saying, not understanding his sudden change of heart.

"Amara, I said No and that's my final decision ",Valerio told her but this time he couldn't control the rage that bled through his voice which despite his obvious efforts to keep controlled while speaking to her came across as harsh to everyone present.

Amara visibly recoiled at that, making Valerio's expression change drastically. He took a step towards her, his eyes overcome with an emotion that Amara couldn't understand, was it...... guilt? Remorse? She thought to herself but shook her head at once.

She took a step back from him as Valerio took another step forward, he looked like a panther stalking towards it's prey..... towards her. She stumbled slightly as she took another step away from him making him take a larger stride to cover the distance but before he could come any closer, a wall suddenly came up between them..... a human wall to be exact.

Allister was glaring at Valerio as he came to stand between them, pushing Amara behind him gently. Amara sighed in relief as she saw Damien walking towards them along with Sebastino Selvaggio and Allister's other friends.

"Back off Valerio, don't try to intimidate my sister", Allister spoke angrily.

"I wasn't trying to intimidate her ", Valerio spoke annoyed.

"Didn't look like that to me", Allister glared at him before turning to Amara.

He looked her over once as if he thought that Valerio could have hurt her even at the distance he was standing. "Are you alright? ", he asked. Amara nodded as she looked down not wanting to look at the furious expression that she know Valerio must be sporting.

"What is going on here? ", Allister asked loudly.

"Just fooling around Allister, trying to teach some gullibles a lesson that they shouldn't forget. Amara probably got a little uncomfortable watching it", Alexander answered.

Before Allister else could reply back, a shrill bell sound was heard across the grounds signalling the end of the break.

" Play is over. Go back to your classes now ", Valerio ordered harshly to the groups of students who had been stunned at watching the entire scene unfold before their eyes.