Dedicated to samriddhinechali for your unfaltering support and love! Thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️
*****
Wolsford Academy, Germany.
"Julia! Will you please stop staring at him and concentrate?!",Klara snapped at the girl, trying to distract Julia from her object of fascination.
"It's hard not to",Heidi muttered, coming to her friend's defense, her own cheeks reddening as she glanced at him discreetly.
"Believe me I know", Klara muttered under her breath before speaking aloud,"But today is our last day of practice. We need to perfect our moves before we all leave for the holidays. So get back to work!"
Julia nodded, sighing softly and willing herself to tear her eyes away from him but failing miserably. Who could even fault her?
Valerio Valentini was glorious.
She watched as he snatched the ball away from Aleksei and ran across the court, maneuvering himself around Moritz who tried to block him, he burst forward, leaping high and slamming the ball hard through the basket.
Valerio landed lightly on his feet and Julia felt the time around her freeze as his hand moved towards his t-shirt, gripping the edges of it before he peeled it off in one quick move.
His move earned him the loudest cheer of the afternoon. And Julia was sure that she saw quite a few girls faint in the stands.
Her own eyes raked over him hungrily, to his well defined pecs, to his clammy glistening body.
Sweet Mary, Have Mercy!
His muscles were taut on his arms as he rolled the shirt, bundling it up before wiping the sweat of his forehead and neck, completely unconcerned about the fact that his actions were giving the entire female population of Wolsford a major heart attack.
He walked towards the center of the court and towards his team, the muscles on his torso tensed and rippled mouthwateringly, as he leaned forward, legs apart at shoulder width, knees bent slightly bracing himself as the ball flew into air again.
This time Aleksei's team almost managed a basket if not for Tarquin who stole the ball from them passing it to some other guy who passed it to Valerio at the last second who in turn did a reverse jump shot straight into the basket.
With that, the whistle blew again and the entire court erupted in a ear shattering roar.
The school year was officially over.
"He's too much", Klara muttered, fanning herself and Julia's eyes narrowed when she saw how affected the girl looked. She looked around herself and sure enough she saw
that almost the entire cheerleading squad had dissolved into nervous giggles, their cheeks flushed, eyes shinning, as they openly gawked at Valerio.
Julia gritted her teeth as she turned her attention back to him just in time to see Valerio smirk cockily at Aleksei who flipped him off good naturedly.
"You should go over and congratulate him on his win", Heidi whispered to her.
Julia stared at her friend in disbelief.
"This might be your only chance", the other girl replied matter of factly.
"What do you mean?''
Heidi's eyes widened as if she had let something she wasn't supposed to let slip. She looked at her calculatively, seemingly at a war with herself before she sighed, glancing around once before moving closer to her, her head bending low so she could talk without being overheard by anyone.
"I heard my father speak with Lorenzo Valentini himself. Valerio will not be living in Germany next year", she spoke in a hushed whisper.
"What!",Julia exclaimed, shocked.
"Keep it down", Heidi hissed. "Apparently, he was to be here only for a year. And now that the time's up, Valerio is in a rush to return back to Italy."
Julia frowned."Why would he be in a hurry?"
"Your guess is as good as mine",Heidi shrugged. "Something to do with business probably. It's not like he has got himself a girl waiting for him back in Italy", she muttered, chuckling at the sheer absurdity of the idea.
Julia's eyes widened. No, of course not! He didn't have any girlfriend.
She was absolutely sure of it because Valerio claiming any girl as his wasn't something that would slip under the radar. The news would have spread like wildfire if he had his eyes on any girl. Julia knew that many eyes were eagerly waiting to see what kind of girl attracted Valerio Valentini's interest.
"So if it's really true then you better go and make use of this chance", Heidi continued. "He even seems in a marginally better mood today."
Julia glanced at him again only to see him talking with Aleksei and Tarquin, a hard look on his face.
She shook her head. Now wasn't a correct time.
"Tonight", she replied, "I'll try and talk to him in the party tonight."
*****
Galucci Estate, Germany.
"Gustavsson", Tarquin Galucci spoke in a hard voice,"Your girl has been trying to gain your attention from the past ten minutes. Her arms will fall off if she waves them any harder."
His comment earned him many amused snorts but it only made Aleksei smirk lazily at him.
"She's not my girl. Our arrangement was more liberating than that."
"What did you get from her then? More Sex?", Moritz scoffed, ignoring Tarquin's scowl at his crudely worded sentence.
"She turned out to be a whiner", Aleksei complained, taking a giant swig of his soda, much to the amusement of everyone. "Besides she is not my type of girl."
"And what is your type?", Tarquin deadpanned.
Aleksei snorted. "You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine.''
The other boy looked at him in consideration, hesitating only for a few moments before he answered vaguely. "Italian."
All the boys hooted loudly at his declaration.
"You seem to have someone in mind", Moritz observed slyly. ''Don't be shy, tell us about your girl!"
"She's not my girl yet", the Galucci heir replied in a hard voice.
"And she won't be if you don't do anything about it soon", Aleksei mocked, earning a glare from Tarquin."But I do agree with you, Italian girls are beautiful", he continued, sighing softly, "Especially if the said girl is half Irish'', he murmured under his breath.
The image of a golden haired beauty like no other flashing before his eyes before he shook his head.
Moritz cleared his throat, bringing the attention to himself before he spoke again. "What about you Valerio? What kind of girl do you like?"
The chatter in the room toned down several notches and several pairs of eyes turned towards the boy in question, anticipation and curiosity clear on their faces.
Everyone waited for his answer but Valerio seemed otherwise distracted as he didn't even acknowledge the question, aimlessly nursing a beer in one hand, with a dart poised to throw in the other.
Moritz along with the other boys remained quite for several few moments, waiting to see if his question would be acknowledged before grudgingly turning back to their own conversations.
No one dared ask him the same question again. They knew if Valerio had not answered it meant that he didn't think that they needed to know the answer. It was his business. Period.
"Moritz, I think your sister needs something, she's been staring here from the past fifteen minutes", one of the boys nudged him.
The boy glanced towards the sound proof glass doors only to see Julia staring at the cabin doors, a conflicted expression on her face.
Aleksei, who had heard the conversation, chuckled darkly. "It's not Moritz that Julia needs. She has been appraising Valerio since the entire evening we've been here. I think she's finally going to ask him out."
Moritz went a little pale. But before he could decide to do anything, he saw Julia walking towards them.
The door opened and she walked in, stumbling a little over her feet.
"Go away Julia", Moritz ordered her, catching her upper arm and speaking loud enough to be heard over the blasting music.
She rolled her eyes. "N-No",she wheezed out, pulling her arm away from him, and walking to stand before Valerio.
"Hello Valerio",she greeted him.
"Julia",Moritz was by her side the very next second, casting a nervous look at Valerio. "Don't disturb him. Leave!", he ordered. "And how many beers did you have?",he hissed in her ear.
"Be silent Moritz", Aleksei called loudly from his place."That's not a way to treat a lady. Let her speak."
He smiled charmingly at Julia, a wicked gleam of anticipation in his eyes.
Julia smiled back at him, encouraged. She bit her lip and glanced coyly at Valerio again, her eyes finally connecting with his dark ones as he stared at her with a steady gaze, an edge of impatience in them.
She gulped a little, her smile faltering in the face of the Valentini heir's coldness.
"I-I came here to congratulate your team for today's game. Yoy boys were great",she gushed.
The boys snickered under their breaths. Even though her words seemed to be aimed at all of them, her eyes rested solely on Valerio.
"Especially you Val, you were amazing."
The snickers stopped, smirks dropping from the faces and being replaced by shock, eyes widening collectively in sheer disbelief and horror.
Moritz went deathly pale. "Julia",he gritted his teeth. "Out. Now!"
"But I wanted to talk to Val", she protested, and her hand raised against her own better judgement, her fingers extending towards his hair, a sudden urge to run her fingers across them but before she could so much as even touch him, Valerio caught her wrist in a bruising grip.
"What did you just call me?",he asked in a dangerously low voice.
The air around him seemed to crackle, in tune with his lethal self.
Julia stuttered incomprehensibly.
"Valerio let her go. I apologise on my sister's behalf", Moritz spoke formally.
Valerio raised his other palm in a silent command, his eyes not wavering from her.
"I asked you a question", he spoke in a steely voice, his sole attention on Julia. Just like she had always dreamed.
Aleksei glared at the foolish girl. He didn't know whether to commend her on her bravery or laugh at her stupidity. You never mess with Valerio Valentini's name. You absolutely did not call him Val of all things!
Valerio simply abhorred it when he heard anyone call him by that name. No one ever got away with this mistake.
Aleksei rubbed his jaw unconsciously, remembering the time when they were 12 years old and he had committed the blasphemous mistake of calling him Val.
His friend had punched him straight in the jaw. And he was Valerio's friend! Even almost five years later Aleksei remembered the incident with crystal clarity.
And it only seemed that he was about to witness it again if Valerio's sudden stillness was any warning.
He watched as Valerio gritted his teeth, highly impatient, as he stared at the immobilized girl before pulling her closer and whispered something to her in a soft voice, causing Julia to turn deathly pale.
"Das ist deine einzige Warnung. Verstanden?",he said in a tone that was far more lethal for the calm way he spoke it.
He stared at her expectantly, calculated and observing to make sure that she really did understand whatever he had said
It was only after she nodded frantically that he pushed her off unceremoniously, and Julia ran away without missing a beat.
"She's definitely not his type", Aleksei spoke under his breath in answer to Moritz earlier question to Valerio, making Tarquin snicker in amusement.
Conversations instantly picked up amongst the boys after she left while Moritz stared after his sister, an unreadable look on his face.
"She was drunk",he spoke stiffly. "You could have tried to be a little less... you", he completed the last word in his mind. "What did you tell her?",he continued, annoyed.
Valerio stared at him steadily. "I just explained to her that if she ever dared cut my name short, I'd cut he—"
"Master Valerio"
Paulo, his personal guard materialized behind him before Valerio could complete his sentence.
"Might I have a word with you in private?"
Uninterested in the reaction that his words had caused on Moritz, he slung his jacket over his shoulder, and followed the older guard out of the door, disappearing in the throng of boys and girls dancing on the floor.
"Was he just about to say what I think he did?",Moritz whispered in disbelief.
"He sure was", a boy standing next to him supplied with thinly veiled amusement.
Moritz frowned. "She likes him alot. He could have tried being more gentle with her."
"Have you ever known him to be gentle with anyone?", Aleksei snapped, frustrated. "Besides Julia should have known better than to call him Val and to try and touch him without his permission."
Tarquin nodded in agreement, a hard glint in his eyes. "She got away lightly and you know it!"
Moritz sighed, his anger ebbing away quickly. "You're right. I better go and find her though",he muttered, walking out and in search of his older twin sister.
"Foolish girl",he thought.
All through the way he thought about the ways he could make amend with the Valentini heir. His father would have his head on a silver platter if he came to know that he had disrespected the Valentini family in any form. Besides he too felt embarrassed by his sister's actions.
Just as he was about to round another corridor he stopped short at the voices he heard coming out of conference room. He glanced around once to make sure there were no guards around before he walked closer to hear what was being said.
"I have new orders for you, sir. The Don wants you to attend the meeting with our German associates in his stead. It has been scheduled for next week."
Paulo
His mind supplied which could only mean that the person he was talking to was—
"No", he heard Valerio growl out lowly.
Moritz froze.
"My patience wears thin Paulo",he heard Valerio hiss, his tone sharp enough to cut through the hardest stone. "Inform the Don that I am no longer engaging him in his trivial games. So far I have kept true to my word by staying away from Italy, away from everything. A year has passed. And now it's time I return back home."
His eyes widened in shock at the anger in Valerio's tone and his blatant refusal to follow a direct order from Don Vietello. He knew that the Don favored Valerio more than anyone else but it seemed that all was not well between them.
"The Don has ordered—"
"I will speak to him. You make the arrangements", Valerio commanded sharply. "We leave tonight!"
"Yes sir",Paulo finally acquiesced and Moritz heard footsteps approaching the closed door, as he readied himself to beat a hasty retreat. He did not want to get caught by any Valentini. He took a light step back, and another before he heard Valerio speak again.
"Paulo....How is she?"
For the second time that evening, Moritz froze on his spot.
Was he enquiring after Serena? The question seemed innocent enough! But something told him that Valerio wasn't asking after his cousin. He sounded different in a way that he had never heard him.
There was an edge of impatience and eagerness to his question but what struck him was the undeniable affectio-No!
He smacked himself lightly. This couldn't be right.
A stretch of silence followed Valerio's question.
Moritz suddenly felt his throat going dry. He couldn't shake the feeling that of every word that he had heard, the information that was going to be exchanged in the next few moments was infinitely more precious and forbidden in a bizarre way that even he couldn't explain!
"Safe and happy from what our sources have reported....from New York", he finally heard Paulo reply grudgingly.
New York? Who was in the states? And how was that she relevant to Valerio?
"How long?"
Valerio's tone reminded him of a snake, of false calm as he prepared himself to strike. All he waited was for something to trigger him.
"A week now, sir",came the stoic reply.
And he was triggered.
"Why wasn't this reported to me?",he heard Valerio speak in a menancing voice, rage bleeding in his tone even as he tried to control it.
"I was forbidden to speak about her departure sir. Infact we were all warned against mentioning about this unless you were to specifically enquire about her whereabouts", Paulo revealed, sounding apologetic.
Moritz let out an involuntary gasp. Who were they talking about? And why did she seem so important to Valerio?
He shuffled closer to the door, and waited for them to speak again.
"Don Vietello personally made sure that his orders were followed. He made it very clear that you were not to be distracted. That you shouldn't—"
"That I shouldn't know!", Valerio completely in a cold voice.
Moritz felt his heart race at the stretch of silence that followed.
"I'll do it",he heard Valerio's stoic promise.
"I'll stay in this country not for another week, but for however long the Don wants me to. I will do as he commands", Valerio spoke in a darkly amused tone which made the hair on his neck stand.
"He wants me to build more connections? More strength? More loyalty? I will build him an army, another fucking empire! And I'll begin it right from this moment onwards. I'll do it all and I will do it in her honor!
Paulo did not reply and Moritz wasn't sure if he too was struck by something as simple as in her honor!
Moritz took a step back. He had heard more than he should have. Of course he would never utter a single word that he had heard in the other room. It wasn't his place to speak about it! And if what he was thinking was even remotely close to the truth, if there was a she involved who was very important to Valerio then it wasn't his place to even think about it!
Before he could have put a safe distance between himself and the door, he felt someone's presence behind him and in the next millisecond he was grabbed by his neck and dragged inside the room where he was slammed against the wall, a firm hand around his throat to keep him in place.
"Hello Moritz", Valerio spoke in a low voice, his fingers twitching around the other boy's throat.
Moritz stared at him with wide eyes. Valerio looked angry, no, he looked positively murderous right now!
"How much did you hear?"
He got straight to the point, his eyes assessing him calculatedly.
There was no point in lying.
"I heard that the Don wants you to stay here and then about New Yor—",he hissed in pain as Valerio suddenly increased the pressure around his wind pipe, his own hands trying in vain to pry of his fingers from around his throat.
Valerio's eyes flashed. "You repeat a word of this and I will—",
"I swear on my honor and our friendship to never utter a word of what I have heard tonight. I swear!", he vowed fiercely.
Valerio's jaw clenched and Moritz remained motionless while the other boy weighed his words, before he nodded, taking a step back and away from him.
Moritz coughed, massaging his throat for several minutes. In the background he was aware of Paulo exchanging words with Valerio before the man left.
He straightened at once. He had a hundred questions running through his head, questions he dared not give voice to. Questions about the she that Paulo spoke of!
Valerio did not spare him a glance as he too moved towards the door and he had almost stepped out before he stopped and turned around, his eyes lit up with a challenge.
Moritz was suddenly overcome with the sudden urge to run, a rush, like an urge to fucking flee, but he held his ground.
"She is my type."
He stared at him baffled before realization struck. And Moritzs' eyes widened comically when he realized that Valerio had just answered his earlier question.
"Yes", he nodded, a dark smirk playing on his lips. "She is my type",he emphasized possessively.
Moritz remained silent. He knew he was being baited. Valerio was baiting him by confirming his biggest suspicion, waiting to see if Moritz remained true to his word or choose to acknowledge the truth that he beared so openly before him.
He held his tongue as Valerio continued to watch him before he smirked, satisfied, sweeping out of the room, the door closing with a loud bang behind him.
Moritz let out the breath that he had been holding as soon as he was left alone. He bowed his head,and replied to Valerio's last statement, his declaration, speaking the words in a low whisper, those formal and revered words that he had held on his tongue since the moment he realized the truth.
"And I'll be honoured to serve your choosen!"
*****
Hello everyone!
I hope you guys enjoyed this small glimpse of our German characters!
Any suggestions on what you guys would like to read? I have quite a few scenes planned in my head and I can't guarantee to write whatever it is that you are suggesting but I promise to take them into consideration.
Do VOTE, COMMENT AND SHARE if you liked this small outtake!