Prologue

T wenty-three days. That's how long I've had this girl in my arms. Just twenty-three days. And somehow, I already know she's either going to be my greatest love or my greatest mistake. Although Aleeka Bateman might just turn out to be both.

I've never had this mixture of contentment and dread at the same time before. It's a fucking odd combination. But watching her sleep next to me, I'm both comforted by and afraid of what it means.

My father says he knew he was in love with my mother the moment he laid eyes on her. He literally jumped in front of a bullet to save her life before they'd even said two words to each other. Looking at Aleeka's face, I wonder if I'd jump in front of a bullet for her. The answer is yes. That doesn't mean I'm in love with her, though. That just means I don't want to see her hurt.

We're sixteen. I'm not about to go and fall in love this young. I'll let my cousin Dante take that role on for himself. He's determined to get his girlfriend Josie to marry him before we even graduate high school.

I have other plans. I have a tour coming up. A music industry to prove myself to. I know what everyone thinks. That the only reason I have a record out is because of who my parents are. Does it help that my mother is one of the country's biggest stars? Fuck yes, it does. That doesn't take away my natural talent or the fact I can sing like nothing else. The reason I currently have a song in the top one hundred is because of my voice. Not because of my last name or the connections that come with it. No amount of money can buy talent. It's something you either have or you don't.

Music is in my veins. It's everything. Even now, as my fingers trace along Aleeka's wrist, feeling her pulse pump, I can hear the rhythm in my head. Lyrics running around and around.

Aleeka stirs. Her eyes open and connect with mine. "Did I fall asleep again?" she asks, her husky voice making my dick instantly fucking hard.

"Yeah, babe, you did." I lean forward and kiss her forehead.

"Sorry." She moves out of my arms.

"Don't be." I smile. "I like having you here."

"You like sneaking me into your room?" Aleeka grins at me.

"No, I like having you in my arms," I tell her.

Aleeka rolls over onto her stomach before peering up at me with that same shy smile. "I want to…"

"You want to what?" I ask when she doesn't finish her sentence.

"I want you to be the first, Orlando. I want to… have sex… with you… now," she says.

I still. "Are you sure? We don't have to." I don't want her to feel like she has to do anything. I'm content doing what we have been doing. Fooling around. There's a lot to be said for third base.

"I'm sure. I want it to be you, Orlando. If you want to."

"Oh, I want to. Believe me, I want to. I just need you to be sure. I want you to be able to look back at this moment in fifty, sixty, seventy years from now and have no regrets," I tell her.

"No regrets. Promise." Aleeka shifts her body and her lips press down on mine.

Waking up to an empty bed is not how I saw this morning going. No, I thought I'd have to engage in an awkward conversation as to why Aleeka was eating breakfast with us.

I'm not surprised she slipped out before sunrise. What I'm surprised about is the disappointment I feel about her not still being here. Which is fucking stupid. Climbing out of bed, I pick up my phone and fire off a message to her.

Me: Morning.

Simple, I know. I throw my phone onto my bed, walk into my bathroom, and get ready for the day. I'm more keen to get to school now than I've ever been before. Which means my usual thirty-minute shower reduces to just five minutes. After dressing, I head down to the kitchen, planning on grabbing a piece of fruit and hightailing it out of here before I run into anyone.

"You need to teach your friend how to sneak out of the house better." My father's voice has me spinning around. The ass is laughing at me while he does his best to cover his smirk with a raised coffee mug.

"Yeah, I'll work on that," I tell him.

"I'm not going to lecture you, Orlando, but I do hope for your sake you're being smart," he says.

I nod my head—although there was nothing smart about what I did last night. What Aleeka and I did. Which reminds me… I need to talk to her about it sooner rather than later.

"Of course I am, Pops," I tell him.

"Good. I'm too fucking young for you to be reproducing," he grunts.

I squint my eyes, focusing on his hairline. I don't say anything. I just wait. It takes less than a minute for him to squirm.

"What the fuck are you looking at?"

I shake my head. "Nothing. I saw a few grays on Zio Romeo the other day. Just checking if you had them too."

Pops runs a hand through his hair. "I don't have grays."

"Uh-huh. Whatever you say. Gotta run. I'm picking up Dante."

"What's wrong with his car?" Pops asks.

"Nothing that I know of." I shrug.

When I get into my car, I hit dial on my cousin's name and wait for him to answer. "You know it's too fucking early for me to deal with your ass, Orlando," Dante says as his voice fills the space.

"Too bad. I'm picking you up," I tell him.

"Why?"

"Because I told Pops I was, so now I have to. Be ready. I need to get to school."

"If you're picking me up, then you're also picking up Josie," he says.

"I'm getting her first. Zio Theo's house is closer than yours." I hang up before my cousin can argue about me picking up his girlfriend without him.

Josie was adopted by our aunt and uncle a few months ago. My Zio Theo loves to give Dante a hard time about dating his daughter; although they were dating before she was adopted into the family. Josie had shitty foster parents she needed saving from.

I pull into my uncle's estate and jog up to the door. It opens just before I reach it. "Thanks." I nod at the guy staring back at me from the other side. There are more soldiers guarding this place than Buckingham Palace. Guess that comes with being the Don.

"Orlando, sweetheart, what a surprise." Zia Maddie smiles when I walk into the dining room. She pulls me into a hug.

"I just came to get Josie," I tell her while returning the greeting.

"Where's Dante?" Zio Theo asks, not moving from his spot at the head of the table.

"His place. We're carpooling today," I tell him.

Zio Theo stares in my direction, giving me that look that says he wants more information. When he doesn't get any, he groans. "Why?"

"Saving the environment." I smirk while lifting one shoulder. Then I turn to Josie. "You ready?"

She nods, giving me a curious glance before saying her goodbyes to Zio Theo and Zia Maddie.

Once we're in the car and on the way to Dante's, she shifts in her seat to glare at me. "What's really going on? Why are you acting so cagey?"

"Me? Cagey?" I laugh. "Nothing's going on."

We part ways not long after getting to school and I head straight for Aleeka's locker. But she's not there. I check my phone and she hasn't read the message I sent.

"Didn't take you for the lost puppy kind, Orlando." A high-pitched voice has me looking up.

"What?" I ask the cheerleader whose name I can't recall.

"Lost puppy, you miss her already? I can help you out with that. Make you forget she even existed," she says.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I grunt, not bothering to look up.

"Aleeka? Yesterday was her last day. She transferred out of state somewhere. I forget where she said she was moving."

Ignoring the cheerleader, I spin around and open the locker. I've watched Aleeka put her code in more than once. It's empty.

She left? She fucking left and didn't say a single fucking word.

Slamming the locker closed, I storm past the chick who is still talking to me—though I don't hear a word she says—and walk straight back out of school.