PROLOGUE I

Prologue I

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SERAPHINA

The bass thrummed through the house, shaking the very foundation of the Morelli frat house. A haze of alcohol and smoke clouded the air, bodies pressed together, grinding to the beat of the music. The scent of expensive cologne, spilled beer, and sweat clung to the atmosphere, an intoxicating mix that made my pulse race.

I had turned sixteen a week ago. A freshman at Elite Lords University, and this was the first frat party I had ever attended. Not because I wanted to drink or dance, and finally decided to do what people of my age were doing. But because Dante Morelli, my stepbrother, was here.

And like a moth to a flame, I had come after him.

I wanted him to see me. To see more than an annoyance, and an unwanted presence in his house. For once I wanted his attention, the same attention he showered half the female population with but never even spared me a glance.

Since the moment Mr Morelli brought us to his home, Dante had hated my mother for taking his dead mother’s place and had hated me equally for being my mother’s daughter. He had ignored me like I was a pesky little fly in his house he couldn’t wait to squash under his boot.

I didn’t even blame him. My mother was a gold digger, after all. Mr Morelli was her third husband, and she’d married him for the same reason she’d married the first two: money, and none of them was my father. I was just an accident she was saddled with. She didn’t love me, nor she loved any of her husband or the one she was now married to. She didn’t love anyone, except money.

But I digress.

Tonight wasn’t about my mother or her choices. Tonight was about me. About making Dante notice me. Because like the stupid fool I was, I somehow developed a crush on my indifferent step brother and I wanted his attention. I wanted him to look at me and not see his step sister, or the daughter of the woman who took his mother's place.

I looked down at myself, rubbing a hand down on the black dress I had spent hours picking, something I had seen the girls who hung around him and his best friends wear. Something tight that made my curves stand out, something that made me feel less like the unwanted girl he always saw me as.

But as I stepped inside, my decision wavered and whatever daring I’d harbored slowly started to fade off in the overwhelming crowd.

The house was packed. Students from our old high school and university mingled, uncaring if they were even of legal age to drink as everyone had a red cup in their hand.

My gaze searched for the one person I’d come here for, but I didn’t find him or even his friends. They were called the Lords. It was a cliché but not when you look at the families they each belonged to.

Dante Morelli.

Oliver Romano.

Allister Hale.

They were the kings of ELU, untouchable, feared, and worshipped in equal measure.

Someone bumped into me. “Watch it!” The girl growled.

I blinked at her back as she disappeared, my heart thudding in my chest at the unfamiliar setting I was in. For a moment, I wondered if I should just leave. Maybe another time I’ll have the guts to share my feelings witj my step brother.

“Hey,” A boy from our high-school stopped in front of me. “Serena, right? What are you doing here?”

I pasted an uncomfortable smile on my face as I responded, “It’s Seraphina. I was just here for Dante. Do you know where he is?”

His eyes bounced from my face to my chest and then around. “Yeah, now I remember, you are his sister.” With that he left, not even answering me.

I sighed and looked around at the crowded place, everyone seemed to look too busy with their friends. But then my eyes fell on the girl in golden sequin dress. She was looking at her phone as she stood at the far wall, alone.

I made my way to her, to ask if she had seen any of the Lords but a group of girls accosted me midway and ushered me into the kitchen. “Hey, Seraphina!”

“Hi,” I mumbled. I recognised some of them from my classes at uni.

“You live with Dante, right?” One of them asked.

Another followed, “Of course, she is his sister.”

I wanted to correct her that I'm not his 'sister'. But the third one held out a red cup for me. “Here, have a drink.”

When I didn’t take the cup, she grabbed my hand and thrust it in my grip. The fourth one asked, “So, tell us about Dante and his friends?”

Another, “Do they have girlfriends?”

The other one interjected. “I have heard they share.”

The group burst into giggles but I didn’t understand what was so funny. I took a step back from them and said, “I need to find him. Do you know where he is?”

The first one glared at me. “I thought you’d tell us where they are.”

“I don’t know, I am also looking for him.” I started to back out of the kitchen. “I’ll find him on my own. Thanks.”

I decided to check the pool area before I left and as I made my way through the crowded hall and corridors, I felt the need to just curl up into a ball and disappear. I hated crowds. I hated them since I was a kid, maybe it had to do something with my mother’s negligible parenting and parties she used to throw, uncaring of her little daughter.

When I finally came out to the pool area, surprisingly it was empty and dark. Only the pool lights illuminated the water and the surroundings with the hint of moonlight. I was about to leave when a whisper of voices had me stopping.

Another glance around revealed the three men reclining back on the couch, in their usual no fucks given pose. The three of them were a beautiful sight to look at, especially with the moonlight bathing their features.

I have studied my step brother and his best friends in last two years so much that now I knew what kind of men they were.

Dante was the storm. Tall, broad shouldered, dark eyes that could strip you raw in a single glance. His presence alone commanded attention, a force of nature that made people step aside without him uttering a single word. He was danger personified.

Oliver was the charmer. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a devil may care grin that hid something dangerous beneath. He was the most outwardly friendly of the three, but rarely people knew better. His touch could be deadly when provoked.

And then there was Allister.

Allister Hale was the worst of them all. Quiet, calculating, and patient in a way that made my skin crawl. He was the predator who never rushed his kill, who made you think you were safe right until the moment he sank his teeth into you. His whiskey colored eyes held no warmth, no mercy. Only hunger for chaos.

And she was with them. The girl I hated.

Ivy Devereux.

The girl who had been their shadow since high school, a stunning brunette with a smile that screamed innocence and a body sculpted for sin. She was always there, clinging to them, especially Dante. And they treated her like she was a real life princess.

My stomach twisted at the sight of her curled against him, whispering something in his ear that made him smirk. That smirk. It burned through me, made my grip tighten around the red solo cup in my hand.

I turned, ready to leave. I was stupid to come here. I couldn’t compete with all these girls that roamed around them and not especially with Ivy Devereux.

____

A. Gupta