Leila sat at the dining table along with rest of her family. She was silent but her brothers were as usual chatting. Xavier had told her the reason of that whole meeting. She was worried. Not about herself but for her brothers and rest of other families.

"Oi!" Luciano's shout near her ear and his arm around her shoulder, startled her out of thoughts.

"You don't have to look so grim. We are still here."

How Luciano got so understanding was unbelieving. But his words rose another glimmer of hope in her heart.

"I know." She said back, earning a bashful smile from him.

While, the rest of brothers watched the whole ordeal seemingly content.

They had each other's back. Nothing could tear them apart until they were together.

****************

Shadowed by a good amount of security, Leila made it to the school next day. A guard opened the door of the car she was in and let her step out. She looked a bit embarassed but it washed away as Zach's arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her into a hug.

"Alexander and Adriano brats are here. It is their duty to look after you in school building."

The sudden statement filled her with disbelief.

"But I think I'm safe here. There is no need." She complained as her bottom lip unknowingly jutted out in a slight pout.

Zach held back a chuckle.

"Better be safe than sorry."

He kissed her forehead softly. She smiled up at him.

"Take care. One of us will be here to bring you back." She nodded.

Leila watched as he nodded at someone behind her and left. Few of the guards remained standing at the front gates.

She sighed and turned around to see who he was nodding at. Not surprisingly, the said persons were Adriano and Alexander.

Behind them stood about half of the student population of the school, with a look of weird amazement and confusion. Was it because they witnessed Zach's sudden affection to her? They always thought that even if Leila was sheltered, some of her brothers despised her. Zach was one of them.

"Hello princess." Alexander mockingly saluted.

Leila didn't bother to share the same enthusiasm. She looked at Adriano once and tried to walk past them but Alexander put his arm out, blocking her way.

"It was an order. You can't get rid of me." "Well us." He said after a moment of silence.

"Let's go." He wrapped an arm around her but she pushed away from the touch. Alexander snickered.

"Psst. I'm not gonna hurt you when we are supposed to protect you."

He didn't touch her again but kept a close distance.

Adriano gave him a look of warning and walked into the direction of his first class.

Alexander and Leila entered their class together. She went to sit on her usual seat but Alexander kicked it away, startling everyone.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a hint of irritation.

"You are sitting at back and with me. What if someone tries to assassinate you in the front seat." He leaned down to whisper the last sentence in her ear.

Leila hated every bit of the second she had to sit in Alexander King's company.

But this torture had just started.

He dragged her to the cafeteria in their lunch period.

His friends kept their distance from both heirs. Alexander had warned them. It might be a serious time and he did not want to trust any of them. Other than that, torturing Leila silently while dragging her to bear his presence every second had been fun for him.

Only Adriano joined them after few minutes. Leila was already starting to chew on her food while Alexander sat silently, watching his surroundings.

"Leila.. Did your brother tell you everything?" He asked as soon as he sat down.

"Ofcourse they did." Alexander scoffed, realizing Leila refused to answer Adriano.

She seemed lost in thought.

He watched her silently.

She suddenly looked up, making eye contact with him.

For some reason, his eyes widened. He felt his breath took away at the sight of blood dripping down her chin.