Andrea The Beginning (Holy Trinity, #1)

by Adriana Brinne

  I push the bitch off me and walk to the balcony. Tommaso’s words replay in my head on a loop and taunt me. “Demetrio’s daughter has come home.”

  Finally.

  She’s home.

  “Come back to bed, baby,” Cassia purrs. I need to stop fucking her, the bitch is getting greedy and I don’t need this shit. I know she wants more, but I can’t offer her anything but a quick and meaningless fuck. We established this before we started messing around, but she didn’t get the memo and started running her mouth at the academy saying we are fucking exclusive.

  “Get dressed and get out.” I’m done with her anyway and I have more important matters to attend to.

  She quickly gets dressed and heads out, but before the door closes, I hear her mutter under her breath.

  “Asshole.”

  I ignore the insult because I know it's true. I never pretended to be anyone’s knight in fucking-shining armor. This is who I am, and it is what it is.

  A few minutes pass and I’m still replaying my father's words. The heir of the fallen Nicolasi has come home and the poor girl has no idea what is coming to her. The Volpe family won’t ever accept a woman as the head of the Holy Trinity. That’s one of the many things the three families disagree on. The Parisi have broken that stigma but the Volpe won’t ever submit to a woman in command.

  This is my only chance to prove that there’s no better choice for capo than me. Tommaso will make my sisters pay the price for my failure if I don’t prove myself and become the next Capo of the Holy Trinity.

  I won’t fail.

  I can’t.

  Nicolasi may very well be the most powerful family of The Holy Trinity, but that doesn't guarantee them the title of the head of the three families. The Nicolasi, Volpe, and Parisi children are at war for the crown and only one of us will wear it.

  Me.

  I light up a joint while I throw my head back and close my eyes. “I’m sorry Ma.” I exhale and offer the night sky a cold smile. I can almost hear her heartbreaking in the still, dead night. Well, the bitch left us like we never meant anything to her so fuck her.

  Today, a piece of the boy my mother raised dies, and in his place? The monster, the savage, and the future fucking king comes out to play.

  My father says I was born to rule over this cruel world.

  My whole life I’ve been groomed to take Tommaso Volpe’s place even when I didn’t want to turn out like him but now there’s no other choice and the time has come. No one will stop me and no one… fucking no one will take my crown.

  Especially the bastard child of the fallen Nicolasi.

  I will annihilate her.

  There’s no room for failure..

  Quattro

  YOU CAN CALL ME LUCAN

  “Wicked always wins.” - Zelena

  ANDREA

  “Miss Nicolasi, they are ready for you now.” I look up from my computer just in time to watch Roberta, one of the maids, head out of my room. I shiver as soon as she’s gone. She comes off as cold and honestly so rude. She also looks like the mean principal in that kids’ movie that everyone was afraid of. You know the one that made the young child eat a whole damn chocolate cake by himself and grabbed the little girl by her braids, sending her flying across the schoolyard?

  Yeah, that evil hag.

  I study myself in the mirror one last time and I’m more than satisfied with the finished look. Benedetto specifically told me it would be a formal event. I’m sure they’ll be mad at my choice in wardrobe but it’s a good thing I don’t care. These people need to understand that I won’t abide by their rules or standards.

  I’ll always stay true to myself and although I love the glam life, I don’t follow orders. I never have and I never will.

  Once I’m done, I walk down the huge and elegant staircase that leads to the main area where everyone is gathered. When I reach the last steps, I stop dead in my tracks because holy shit the place is packed with men in suits and women wearing expensive dresses. I look down at what I’m wearing. I chose a short and strapless black dress that stops mid-thigh. I paired it with a baggy jean jacket and some white sneakers. I didn’t even try with my hair and makeup; I applied some mascara, a pink gloss and let my natural waves lose. I look like I do when I go out with my friends for a casual night out and nothing like the women that are in attendance tonight. My mother would’ve laughed her ass off if she was here to witness this spectacle.

  The judgement and disapproval are visible in their Botox filled faces. They must think I'm not up to their standards and I don't deserve one second of their precious, pompous time. Mom taught me to never judge a book by its cover, but it doesn’t take a genius to know that these people are obviously judging me. So, fuck them, their opinions of me will never keep me up at night. I’ll show them I’m just as fucking lethal with my white chucks as I am with my red stilettos.

  When I first arrived at the Nicolasi mansion, I didn’t care enough to admire the place, but now while I walk down the staircase, I’m amazed by it all. The decor is white and black. There are expensive looking vases with candles all over the place, beautiful paintings, and modern furniture. It looks like something out of a home decor magazine. I knew these people were rich as hell, but damn I guess the criminal world really does pay off.

  I'm almost to the last step when the cheesy music playing in the background stops and Benedetto meets me at the end of the stairs. He holds out his arm for me to take and squeezes it gently, but the warning is there.

  Behave.

  Huh. I guess someone isn’t too happy with me right now.

  Oh, well.

  In one swift move, I find myself in the middle of the room with all eyes on me.

  “Everyone, it is with great pleasure that I introduce to you my beautiful granddaughter, Andrea Valentina Nicolasi. I expect everyone to treat her like the princess she was born to be.” Benedetto beams with pride as he acknowledges everyone in the room. But dear old grandpa, has one thing wrong though. I am not a princess, never was and never will be.

  They’ll learn that soon enough.

  The crowd surrounding me parts and a man I only know from the photos my mom showed me, walks towards me. He is handsome no doubt, with his dark blond hair styled without a single hair out of place and deep soulless blue eyes the same shade as his asshole son. The man steps forward, grabs my hand, and lays the softest of kisses before introducing himself. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Andrea.” His smile seems almost genuine. If I didn't know better, I would almost believe it. “I’m your uncle Cassius.” Now that we are this close, I can smell a hint of alcohol in his breath.

  There is something melancholic about Cassius. The blank stare he gave me a couple of minutes ago is gone and now there is only sadness. This doesn’t fool me because I know for a fact this man is not innocent nor is, he to be trusted. The few times mom mentioned his name, a frown would appear on her gorgeous face.

  When the moment feels extremely uncomfortable, I remove my hand from his grip and stare at his face. “The pleasure is all mine Uncle,” I lightly dip my head and smile while lying through my teeth.

  He offers me a knowing smile. “You have your mother’s eyes.” Before I can process his weird comment and ask him how he knows that mom and I share the same shade of honey brown eyes, when I know for a fact, they weren’t that close. My mom rarely spoke about him. I didn’t even know of his existence until a few years ago. I don’t have the opportunity to do so because we are interrupted by his son.

  Lorenzo, so inopportune.

  I notice that there is something different about him tonight. He ditched his face piercings, traded in the reckless bad boy look for a more sophisticated look. He looks like he stepped out of an Armani fashion show. But wait, this guy has hair the color of snow. It takes me only a moment to realize that the guy before me is not Lorenzo.

  It is his twin.

  “By the surprised look on your face, I can tell you didn't know my boys are twins.” C
assius points out.

  Little does he know that there's not much I don't know about the Nicolasi family, but yes, the twin thing is a surprise. Mom never mentioned twins.

  “I’m Valentino.” Lorenzo’s carbon copy steps forward. They’re almost identical. The only difference is the color of their hair and Lorenzo’s tattoos and face piercings. They are both incredibly handsome but in completely different ways. Lorenzo has the bad boy, rough around the edges look while Valentino has an air of regality about him. He also looks demented, like the kind of guy that will rip your heart out of your chest and stomp on it with his expensive Gucci shoes.

  It was always unusual how strange mom acted every time Cassius was mentioned. It was like she wanted to tell me more about him, but something always held her back.

  All chatter dies down and everyone gives whoever walked through the doors their undivided attention. Well, finally I’m not the most interesting thing in the room.

  I turn around and find myself staring at the most beautiful pair of clear blue eyes, so clear I can almost see my reflection staring back at me.

  Huh.

  I have always been proud of the fact that I never lose my cool when I'm around hot guys but damn this one is stunning. Even more handsome than my ex-boyfriend, the jerk that dumped me because “I wasn’t fun anymore.” Well duh bitch, my mom just died. I’m still a bit salty about his sudden but expected departure from my life once shit got tough.

  This guy has perfect chiseled cheekbones, a straight nose and the lightest shade of brown hair slicked back without a single hair out of place. Longer on the top and short on the sides.

  I’ve been around plenty of hot men before, but this stranger looks like a model and an MMA fighter all wrapped up in one sinful package. He is very attractive and by the arrogant smirk on his face, he knows it too.

  With a swagger only guys like him possess he meets me halfway in the middle of the room and takes my hand in his before laying a quick peck on it.

  A devious grin forms across his face as he looks me up and down. There’s nothing friendly about the look he's giving me, that's for sure.

  “Welcome to Detroit, principessa.” That’s all he says before releasing my wrist and turning to leave, but before he does, he looks over his shoulder at me. — “We are going to have so much fun together”, he heads to the other side of the room and leaves me with that parting comment that feels a lot like a threat.

  I need to be careful, it’s obvious this one will bring me nothing but trouble.

  Before he is completely out of reach, I realize he didn’t tell me his name and for some unknown and inexplicable reason I need to know it.

  “And who might you be?” My voice is strong and proud, but he doesn’t even turn around to answer me. What a douche.

  I’m about to call him out for being arrogant and damn rude, but before I do, he turns around and acknowledges me.

  “You can call me Lucan and I'll be seeing you princess.” He winks before he has the audacity to dismiss me.

  I have never met a more arrogant guy in my entire life. The creep must think he is God’s gift to mankind.

  By our brief encounter I am sure I’ll be seeing him again and it won’t be pleasant. There was nothing friendly about him.

  Shit.

  I can’t be making enemies here. I’m out of my element but if he thinks he can mess with me or intimidate me.

  He is dead wrong.

  Whatever these people throw at me, I will survive.

  They won’t break me.

  They can try but they won’t succeed.

  Never.

  Cinque

  HOLY TRINITY ACADEMY FOR JERKS

  “You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes.” - Hannah Marin

  ANDREA

  Two days later

  I’ve been gawking at the huge pretentious building before me knowing that this day will be crap. It’s nothing like Eastside River High, my school back in New York. Mom wanted me to be as normal as possible, so she made me go to public school and interact with all kinds of people, not just the rich and the famous. There is nothing normal about this academy. The front doors have a huge replica of the academy’s crest. A crown, a burning cross, and the name of the three founding families, including mine. How very religious and humble of them. I roll my eyes as I reach for my class schedule. The twins left me behind and didn’t even bother to give me a ride to the academy. I didn’t expect them to.

  I’m on my own here.

  I put a stop to the pity party going on in my head. I hear murmurs all around me, so I lift my head up and stare at everyone surrounding the Holy Trinity academy’s grounds. I notice there are some kids staring openly at me. It seems like they already made their minds up about me.

  Must be the fact that I didn't put effort into my appearance today. I look like I don't belong and quite frankly that's the look I was going for. I really do hate this uniform. Black high heel boots, black mini skirt, a white shirt, and a gold tie. I look like the people that I dislike so much in this world, the rich and brainless. Besides, there’s nothing stylish about it.

  The high-end fashionista in me just died a little bit inside.

  I’m almost to the academy’s entrance when I notice laughter behind me. I turn around and see three exact replicas of Barbie staring at me like I'm the dirt beneath their ugly black boots. Jesus, it’s like staring at botched Barbie times three.

  Look I have nothing against plastic surgery. When the time comes that I might need some, I’ll feel no shame in getting procedures done. My boobs will never meet my belly button. However, if you’re doing something to your face, at least pay for a good doctor. It looks like the plastic surgeon was drunk or high during their procedures and fucked them up. That’s what these girls look like.

  How tragic.

  “Hey, aren’t you Valerie Turner’s daughter?”, a rude and snobbish voice interrupts my thoughts.

  “Yeah, I am.” I look her straight in the eye, so she knows she’s not capable of intimidating me.

  Not now, not ever.

  I feel her judgmental gaze from head to toe, a look of disapproval on her face. – “You look nothing like her,” she tells me, while I hear her friends snicker behind her.

  I won’t lie and say that didn’t sting. My mother used to tell me that I was her mini-me and I took pride in that. I know this girl is being catty, so I won’t let her wannabe Regina George ass get to me. It hurts but I’ll never let it show.

  I hold my head up high and smile. “And you look like the ugly Kardashian,” I tell her. “You should really consider changing up your plastic surgeon, darling.” I add the snarky remark before I give them my back and reach the academy’s entrance.

  I don’t miss the outraged gasps behind me, and it is truly satisfying.

  That’ll teach them that I’m not one to mess with. I have bigger issues than worrying about what three blonde idiots think about me and my appearance.

  “That was epic.”, I hear someone say beside me. I turn and come face to face with a beautiful, short and curvy girl with black her hair in tight space buns. This girl has black lipstick on, and she makes it work. Not a lot of people can pull it off.

  “You should really teach me your bitchy ways,” she says while laughing at the three blondes that are sending death glares our way.

  She ignores the girls and turns my way. “I’m Fallon Alicia James, lover of all things Marvel and hater of all things plastic.” She holds out her hand for me to shake and I laugh at her choice of words.

  This strange but stunning girl is hilarious and what makes her even funnier is her Captain America’s socks that ruin the whole preppy and pretentious look of the academy’s uniform.

  I shake her hand and introduce myself. “I’m Andrea, cute socks by the way,” I tell her. She beams at me, but in a flash, her whole expression changes and a frown appears on her pretty face.

  Fallon stares at me with a serious look. “I just have one question for
you.” she tells me.

  “Shoot.” I respond all the while trying to hold back a snort. In some weird way I feel like I’ve known this girl my entire life.

  “Kourtney or Kim?”, she asks, looking at me like our entire three-minute relationship depends on my answer.

  “Uhm, I don't really follow them,” I answer truthfully. I really don’t follow them at all. I only know that they’re famous for being naked and dating ballers and because once in a while they would ask for my mom’s latest collection.

  She’s staring at me with a dumbfounded look on her face like she doesn't believe me. “Look, I don’t really follow them, sorry.” I guess there goes the only chance I had of a real friendship in this hell hole.

  Fallon offers a wicked smile and holds the front door of the academy open for me. “I think I’ve met my soulmate.” She says and pulls me in for a quick hug.

  I hug her back and think that maybe, Holy Trinity won’t be so bad after all.

  Once I step inside Holy T’s, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. This place looks like all those pretentious and self-centered academies rich parents send their bratty kids to be “reformed” when they’re too busy to do it themselves.

  “Welcome to Holy Trinity Academy for Jerks.” Fallon laughs at my bewildered expression all the way to my first class.

  Sei

  BOYS LIKE HIM

  “Life is tough Serena. Just get a helmet.” - Blair Waldorf

  ANDREA

  Volpe.

  During lunch break my new shadow, Fallon, gave me a brief summary of everything I need to know about Holy Trinity Academy. She explained that the academy has three founding families. The Volpe, Parisi, and not surprising at all…the Nicolasi family. It is surreal to witness how much power my father’s side of the family holds in this city.