Unforgivable

UNFORGIVABLE A HIGH SCHOOL BULLY MAFIA ROMANCE EMPIRE ACADEMY- A NEW ADULT MAFIA ROMANCE SERIES BOOK ONE MONIQUE MOREAU CONTENTS Meet Monique! Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Epilogue Epilogue Two More by Monique Moreau Copyright © 2023 by Monique Moreau All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used factiously. Any resemblance to actual events or people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Cover design by Steamy Designs https://steamydesigns.net MEET MONIQUE! Join Monique’s Newsletter (and receive goodies and release information) https://bit.ly/SteamyReadNewsletter Join Monique’s FB reader’s group Possessive Alpha Reads Like her Facebook Page https://bit.ly/MoniqueMoreaufb Follow her on TikTok @moniquemoreauthor Follow her on Instagram https://bit.ly/MoniqueMoreauIG Follow her on Book Bub http://bit.ly/MoniqueBookBub Learn all about Monique’s books MoniqueMoreau.com PROLOGUE LUCIAN Silky blonde hair, in two perfect pigtails, coast down the back of the girl in front of me as she grasps the bar of the jungle gym. She shakes it hard, as if testing its strength. Always so careful, this one. Is she afraid the metal won’t hold? Jeez, what a scaredy-cat. That thought makes me itch to yank one pigtail. I will yank it. Make her squeak. Make her turn around and glare at me with her dark eyes, so different from the cheery, bright yellow of her hair. I like the black sparks in her eyes when she looks at me like she hates me. I like it less when I shove her to the ground, but that’s the way it ends between us sometimes. That’s how it will end today. I push her. She falls on her hands and knees, crying out as she scrapes her palms and knees against the pebbled concrete of the schoolyard. There’s black rubber underneath the jungle gym, but she fell just passed it on the hard, rough ground. Oh well. I tried to be nice once. Once. But she ignored me. No one looks down on me, so I hit her and screamed at her, and called her stupid and ugly girl. She cried, but I felt much better after. “You took too much time climbing up that thing,” I blame her, pointing at the jungle gym. “Slow and stupid, that’s what you are.” I don’t mean it, but I started this and I need to see it to the end. That’s how things are between me and her. That’s how they always are, and I’m okay with that. She glares at me over her shoulder. Her eyes are red. Her cheeks are pink from shame, but she doesn’t cry. She’s cried before, but this time, she won’t give me the satisfaction. I don’t mind. I like her mad better anyway. “Hey,” says Crina, stepping into my space. She’s the boldest of the girls, a tomboy. “Leave her alone.” I shove Crina hard. She stumbles back, her arms flailing like windmills. Her rump slams down hard on the black rubber. Marku hovers nearby. He’s torn because I’m his best friend, but Crina’s like a sister. I give him a look, telling him I’m not here for Crina. My gaze returns to Star. I want to see what she’ll do next. She scrambles to her feet, coming up to protect the girl who stood up for her. Her tights are torn at the knees. Her palms are scraped and bleeding. A crumpled, dry yellow leaf rolls past her feet like a tumbleweed. I feel a twinge of something in my chest, but I slap the sore spot and shove the feeling down. Kids have stopped playing and stand to watch the drama. My muscles are loose ’cause I know I’ll win this battle. Even if she stands up to me, I always win. There’s no choice since Daddy got sick. “Stop it,” she speaks low, almost too low to hear. But I hear her. Her voice is soft and clear like chimes, even though she just gave a command. I hear it in my dreams; it chases the goblins away. I place my hand in the center of her chest. A braid slips off a shoulder as she stumbles back a step and twists her ankle. She rights herself, putting weight on it, but holds herself upright with a grimace. “Who’s gonna stop me?” I demand. Fury darkens her eyes to a pitch black, the flags of pink on her cheeks redden, but she remains silent. She’s too weak to go toe to toe with me. It’s something I count on. I shove her shoulder again. “Not you,” I say. Crina rushes to her feet and links arms with Star. This is their way of showing a united front. I roll my eyes. My gaze flicks to Crina. “Or you.” I side-eye Marku to come in and get Crina before I’m forced to do something he won’t like. He steps forward, but before he has a chance, an outraged “Hey!” rings out behind me. It’s an adult one this time. We freeze. “What is going on here, Lucian Popescu?” The teacher on recess duty strides up to me. She takes in the situation, pausing a beat as she sees Star’s knees, the smudge across her cheekbone where she swiped her white-blonde braid away from her face, and the tear on the sleeve of her blue checkered dress. “Who did this to you, Star?” Her question is met with silence. I glare at Star, shooting her warnings of revenge if she doesn’t cover for me. Not good enough, Star. “N-no one, Ms. Dimitriu. I f-fell,”