Savage Mafia King (Vicious Heirs #3)

Chapter One—Marcus

I pace back and forth through the small space that overlooks the main quad. The Devia building has been my second home on campus since I started studying here, but right now, I'm about to let it be invaded by the very last person I want to see.

Isabella fucking Devereaux.

If there's one name that has been intimately acquainted with trouble over the course of my time here, it's hers. That snooty attitude, her dismissive tone, the way she snarls and snaps at anyone who gets too close to her beloved sorority—I've been looking forward to rounding out the end of my senior year just so I don't have to deal with her again.

But now? Now, it looks like I'm going to have to get used to having her around.

It's my cousin Giovanni's idea. He came up with it when he heard rumors about her brother, Blake, being involved in a drug deal that had gone south. For years, our families have been operating under an uneasy truce, dealing with each other's presence, clashing once in a while before we get back to our own business. But truth be told, we operate in such close proximity that it would be smart for us to find a way to build bridges between us—consolidate our power and create an alliance that could serve us both.

Even if it means dealing with Isabella in the process.

She's on her way now, probably being driven by some driver she keeps snapping at. She seems like the type, the type who isn't used to doing anything for herself. I see her around campus sometimes, usually surrounded by a group of her carbon-copy sorority sisters, though she stands out among them. With her long, dark hair and piercing green eyes, she isn't the same as the rest of the blonde, blue-eyed cheerleader types who serve as her entourage.

I hear a car pulling up outside, and I lift my head and make my way over to the window. Sure enough, there she is, stepping out of her own car, by the looks of it, wrapped in a heavy jacket to ward off the winter chill. She glances up toward the window as though she can sense me looking at her, and I draw back before she can see me. For some reason, I don't like the thought of her laying eyes on me before I'm ready.

I hear the door to the building swing open, and she makes her way up the stairs to the small study space, which is populated by a handful of desks and bookcases. While I've taken care of most of my grades in this very room, the reason I'm so comfortable here is because this place serves as the meeting point for many of my fighters. The ring where our battles take place is just a few blocks away from campus, and this is where I prepare them to take on whoever they're thrown in the ring with.

Her heels click their way up the stairs, the echo of them filling the room, and finally, she's standing before me. Her chin is jutted forward, her arms crossed over her chest, and her eyes are impossible to read.

"What do you want?" she demands, as though I haven't already made that clear.

I smirk. "You could stand to be a little more polite with me, Isabella, given that I'm doing you a favor."

Her eyes flash. It's clear she wants to argue with me, though she knows damn well I'm right. She wouldn't be here at all if the situation for her brother wasn't dire.

I gesture for her to take a seat. "Here. Sit. We need to talk."

"I'm fine standing."

I stare at her, scanning her face for some kind of explanation for her sharpness. I have to admit, there's a part of me that finds it attractive, a part of me that despite all my good sense, is entertained by how she seems to think she can stand up to me like this.

"Suit yourself."

I make my way toward her, closing the distance between us. Her shoulders shrug up slightly, defensively. She doesn't want me this near to her, and I can't say I blame her. The few encounters we've had have mostly revolved around her arguing with me about keeping my fighters away from her sorority girls. She doesn't want them to be involved with guys who are part of my underground boxing ring, though, as I told her at the time, the heart wants what it wants.

"So, what exactly are you proposing?" she demands, her eyes fixed on mine, her voice laced with an expectant tone.

I flick my tongue over my lips and pause for a moment before I respond. It's far too entertaining, watching her practically beg me like this, for me to give away the answer to that quite so quickly.

"I'm proposing that the two of us form an alliance to protect your brother and consolidate the power of our respective families against the O'Tooles. And anyone else who might wish us ill, of course."

She narrows her eyes at me. "You really think I would work with someone like you?"

I chuckle. "You're here, aren't you?"

She huffs slightly and tosses her hair over one shoulder. Finally, with her jaw clenched, she responds. "So, tell me, what exactly are you suggesting we do?"

"I've been working on a plan that I think would best serve the two of us," I continue, not moving my eyes from hers. "And I think the most important thing here is for us to prove to anyone watching that we're serious about this alliance."

"How do you expect us to do that?" she shoots back. "You really think people are going to see us together and just believe it, after how much our families have fought over the years?"

"I'm aware of that," I reply coolly. "Which is why I think the only way to truly convince everyone is if the two of us get into a public relationship together."

There. I said it. The words hang in the air between us, the weight of them so heavy that it feels like we might be crushed beneath them. She stares at me for a long moment, as though waiting for me to laugh and take it back. But I meet her gaze steadily, making it clear that this is deadly serious.

Finally, she lets out a bark of laughter and shakes her head. "You really think I'm going to date someone like you?"

She rolls her eyes, and a flare of anger rushes through my system. How dare she talk to me like that? She might think of herself as completely and utterly above me, but I have women all over campus practically throwing themselves at my feet. She'd be lucky to be seen with me, no matter how much she seems to think I'm nothing more than a brute with more brawn than brains.

"I'm not saying that the two of us actually get into some kind of relationship," I reply, snorting at the mere thought of it. "No. I'm saying that we make people believe that's what is happening between us. And they'll understand that we're working together and that our families have come to an agreement. I think that's the most sensible way to make it public."

She pauses, taking it in. I've given this plenty of thought, and I'm certain this is the best way we can go about all of this. No matter how much she irritates me, no matter how much the mere thought of her sets my teeth on edge, there's no better way to confirm a new alliance than by making sure everyone trusts that our public relationship is real. We can't exactly make sure that any contract we sign lands under the noses of the people who work against us, but news of a relationship? That will spread quickly. And the sooner it does, the sooner people will back off and understand that we're not to be messed with.

"So... you want us to fake something?" she asks, her voice quivering slightly.

"Trust me when I say that none of the women I've been with have ever had to fake anything."

She rolls her eyes skyward again. "Marcus, please. We need to take this seriously."

"Oh, I'm taking this completely seriously," I shoot back sharply, taking a step toward her. I half expect her to back away from me, but she doesn't move an inch, staring me down. "So, in public, we put up the front that we're together," I continue calmly. "We convince everyone that we're in a relationship. News of that spreads, and we let people believe that our families are working together. Your brother benefits from the promise of my protection, and we don't have to go out of our way to spread the news around. It'll look natural, believable. And that's the most important thing."

She closes her eyes for a moment. I can almost see how much this is getting to her. She's queen bee on this campus, utterly untouchable. I don't think she's dated anyone in all the time she's been here, certainly not publicly. No man has been good enough for her. And I'd be lying if I said that there wasn't a part of me that wanted to find out just how far I could push her with all of this, to see if I could convince her to be seen with me. There's a twisted part of me that enjoys the thought of ruining her reputation, of making it so that everything she's worked so hard to achieve falls away, just like that.

"It's a terrible idea," she shoots back at last, shaking her head and lifting her gaze to meet mine once more. "Nobody will believe it. We're completely different people. They'll see through it at once."

I move toward her again. She doesn't shift an inch, looking back at me as though daring me to argue with her. I tip my head to the side, and I realize, all at once, how close the two of us are standing. She's just a matter of inches away from me, her lips, soft and full, parted as she stares at me. I'm so near to her that I can practically feel her breath on my skin, the hard and fast rush of it as she tries to pull herself together.

"You really think you can say no to me?"

And as she stares back at me, I can see her certainty beginning to waver.