I was sitting on the windowsill in the school hallway, reviewing my biology exercises. One of the tasks was bugging me because I knew very well that it was wrong and theoretically it wasn't that important, because it's extra work and no one would tear my head off if I do it incorrectly, but it bothered me that something wasn't right there.

I concentrated on the book on my lap, and from time to time unconsciously waved my legs. At one point I even started muttering to myself.

"Need some help?" Leo Hardy, who had just stood next to me, asked. I lifted my head in an instant, blushing. Stupid girl! He'll think I'm some haunted nerd.

Leo smiled gently and looked at me with undisguised fascination and mild amusement, which made me even more puzzled. At the same time, it was hard for me to take my eyes off his, because, as I've already mentioned, they were extremely hypnotizing.

We'd been texting a bit this weekend, mostly on Friday, after our kiss, then it was Saturday and I was distracted by throwing knives, but on Sunday, when I was back from the foundation, I wrote to him myself, which I was absolutely not proud of. And today, he clearly felt encouraged and showed up in front of my biology classroom.

"It's nothing important," I said and waved my hand at the book, but Leo approached me and leaned his head to better see what I was having trouble with. While he was reading the assignment, I held my breath, still remembering what had happened the last time he was so close to me.

"Here, there's a mistake," he picked up almost immediately. He thus pulled me out of the reverie in which I admired his smooth skin. I frowned and followed his index finger tapping one of the lines of my work.

"What? But..." I protested, not understanding, and Leo took the pencil out of my hand, and with his neat handwriting, he wrote something next to mine, also neat. Only then did I understand. "Oh."

"Genetics is complicated, I know," Leo grinned and returned my pencil, watching my disbelief with even more amusement as I stared at the task.

Once I finished being so amazed, I looked up at him, this time paying him some kind of respect. He was good, I had to admit that. He read the admiration on my face and shrugged.

"I'm taking advanced biology classes."

"Aha. Cool, I'm also considering it," I muttered, just not to be silent.

"I can recommend it. Especially if that's what you plan to relate your future with."

"I don't know what my future would be like," How much I hated this topic! I couldn't imagine myself at work. Maybe I should just study until I die.

"Don't you have any ideas about what you'd like to do?" Leo asked, his voice tinged with interest as if he was genuinely curious about my eventual profession.

"I don't know," I shrugged, reluctantly continuing. "I thought maybe, I don't know, something with the law?"

This occurred to me when I was still living with my mom and grandma. Grandma said that my grandfather, who I didn't have a chance to meet because he'd passed away too soon for some nasty disease, studied law and that it was a prestigious profession and that it wasn't easy, but that with my brains and memory, I'd be the best. The problem was that my grandma also thought that I definitely played basketball very well because she'd seen me shooting a few baskets and concluded that I could try my luck in the NBA. After that, I stopped taking everything she told me to heart.

And then I remembered that my brothers were most likely out of the way with the law, and maybe it'd be a little silly to take that career path after all. Or at least it was definitely silly talking about it in front of Leo. I waited for him to laugh, but he just cocked his head.

"The best lawyers are mean," he said.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I can be mean."

"Can you?"

I lowered my head, laughed, and lifted it again.

"What are your plans?"

Leo shrugged as if he didn't know either, but he knew because he immediately answered me confidently:

"Medicine."

I looked at him with an unreadable expression, inside I felt more admiration for him.

"Wow. So you want to be a doctor?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"A surgeon to be exact."

"Wow," I repeated. "It sounds... It sounds... good. Ambitious."

Leo smiled.

"You're ambitious too, aren't you?"

"Kind of..." I trailed off, thinking. It would be fun to be a doctor. I remembered how helpless I'd felt when Tony was bleeding to death in front of me. How wonderful it'd be to know what to do in these situations. It'd be lovely to be a useful person...

Then I remembered just how panicked I was then.

"I wouldn't be a good doctor."

"You need more self-confidence," Leo judged.

"Someone already told me that," I muttered.

And then somehow it happened that Leo sat next to me and we talked a lot again. He told me a little about his family. First, about his father, who studied chemistry and was very fascinated by it, and when he met Gina, Leo's mother, they opened a bakery together, as she had a knack for baking and he served her with knowledge of chemical tricks, which was very effective in creating new recipes. It sounded amazing, and I listened to it with eyes as big as saucers. Unfortunately, the story ended with Leo's father finding a lover, impregnating her, and then leaving because he had nothing else to look for with Gina, who started to hate him immediately after finding out the truth.

After all, the story of my parents was also quite unusual and interesting, but it was absolutely not intended for the ears of people outside the Monet family.

Then he told me about his brother, the moron who had borrowed money from my brothers to buy drugs, causing trouble for his family. He was four years older than him, and from what Leo told me, they were complete opposites. He had a mess in both his life and his head, always got impressed with nonsense, dropped school, and wasn't interested in fair work. Neither in an unfair one. He wasn't interested in work at all.

"How is it possible that you are so different?" I wondered aloud, shaking my head.

"My mother asks herself the same question," Leo laughed bitterly.

"The next question she'll ask herself is why her son doesn't have front teeth," Shane interjected.

Leo and I were so engrossed in talking that we didn't even notice when my brother approached us so that he was almost right in front of us. He narrowed his eyes and crossed his hands over his chest, which made him look menacing, and right now he was far from the cuddly Shane I liked so much.

A wave of horror immediately flooded me. I jumped off the sill, deliberately moving away from Leo and get closer to my brother. By the way, I checked to see if Tony was somewhere nearby, too, and felt relieved when I didn't see him anywhere. I always have a better chance with one brother than with two.

"Shane! Hi!" I called out smoothly, trying to find the usual gaiety in my voice. I smiled and shifted a little to seemingly stand between him and Leo. Just in case.

"Hi my ass. What is this?" he grunted, moving that hostile gaze from my companion to me.

"What? What is what?" I asked stupidly.

Shane pointed his chin at the boy behind me, who was already on his feet as well.

"You were supposed to tell him to leave you alone, not fucking giggling with him."

"Shane, we're just talking," I protested carefully.

"Talking, huh? And you just occasionally push your tongues into each other's mouth?"

I grimaced.

"Yuck, stop it."

He gave me a sharp look.

"Yes, exactly, yuck."

I was really grateful that Leo had enough sense not to speak up and provoke my brother, but to watch him politely. I was even more grateful to the bell, which at that moment rang, announcing the end of the break.

"Oh no, it's time for classes, come on, we have to go..." I chatted pointlessly, pretending to accidentally push Shane lightly towards the corridor he had to come from.

"See you later, Hailie," Leo said simply, ready to leave, and I squeezed my eyes shut because Shane, who slowly, slowly seemed to let go, suddenly tensed again, which I felt because I was now holding one hand on his chest, pressing it hard...

"Hey! No later, understand?" he growled at him, taking a long step forward that thwarted all my efforts. However, I didn't give up but immediately stood between the two boys again.

"He does," I replied to him, sighing.

"Aha," Shane snapped, then broke away from me and passed without any problem, getting far too close to Leo.

What would I give to be as big as Dylan! Then I'd throw this guy against a parallel wall to make him come to his senses!

"What are you imagining in that empty, blonde head of yours? First, you whine about debt relief, then you betray our sister in front of our brother, you know how she cried because of you?! And now you're making her fall in love with you like the world's biggest motherfucker! Do you want a conversation? No problem, you can talk to me as much as you fucking want!"

At first, I was speechless and immediately blushed at the mention of my crying, especially since Shane was beginning to attract the attention of the few students in the hallway. But then I saw his right hand dangerously fist and I immediately grabbed his entire arm.

"Come on, nobody's making fall in love anyone, Shane, come on!" I groaned.

"I really like her," Leo said.

"Great, you can like her from a distance."

"Shane..." I sighed a little, still struggling with him.

"Mr. Monet, Miss Monet, and Mr. Hardy. Everything is alright I suppose?" Mrs. Roberts asked us, whom I liked very much, with reciprocity. She raised her eyebrows at us, eyed us keenly, and pressed a biology textbook against her chest, as befits a real teacher.

"Perfectly," Shane replied, still throwing unpleasant glances at Leo, but also apparently relaxing. It was fun to see my generally unpunished brother listening to a simple teacher.

"It's very nice to hear. In this case, you'll now go back to your classes in peace. The bell already rang, you must've not heard it, right?" Mrs. Roberts suggested, knowing fully well that this wasn't the case. She was raising only one eyebrow now and tapping her index finger against the cover of the book she was holding. She looked mostly at my brother, occasionally shifting her gaze to Leo, but she spared me.

"Yeah," Shane nodded, glaring at my companion one last time, then glanced down at me, who was still clutching his biceps. Slowly, uncertainly, I unhooked my fingers from him, as if afraid that it'd immediately encourage him to go at Leo's larynx.

"Gentlemen, we don't have all day," the teacher urged and the first move was made by Leo because first, he nodded kindly at my brother, then he gave me a quick smile and winked before he turned and walked away. Had it not been for Mrs. Roberts, Shane'd have fired after him, but luckily he was able to restrain himself.

"Mr. Monet, you wouldn't want to be late for class, would you?" Mrs. Roberts continued, taking advantage of her angelic patience.

"Never," my brother muttered dismissively, finally looking away from the back of Leo's figure, which was rapidly moving away from us. Then at the same time, Shane seemed to come back to reality, because he threw a small, fake smile at the teacher, then walked away, only glancing at me and briefly tickling my chin. I followed him with a kind of grumpy look. I couldn't wait when he finally graduated from this school.

In class, I thought a lot about how screwed up my social life is. In order to talk freely with any boyfriend, I had to go through this impossible game called the Monet Brothers which had five difficulty levels. The easiest level probably was called Shane, and I already couldn't handle it. What about the one named Dylan or Vince? I'll probably never even get to them.

I was ready for some possible quarrel with Shane after school. Of course, I would have been in an even worse position if he had mentioned my talk with Leo in Tony's company, but luckily, when I got to the parking lot after school, there were only one of the twins there and it wasn't the one who knew my mini secret, so I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

I immediately focused on another thought. Where the hell Shane's blue Lamborghini had gone and why Tony is standing next to his motorcycle, looking like he was waiting for me.

I approached him distrustfully. When he saw me, he took a deep breath and glanced briefly at the sky as if he was preparing for a discussion that, he was right, I wasn't going to let go of.

"Please, tell me you're joking," I sighed, folding my arms over my chest.

"A sudden change of plans," Tony shrugged.

"What change? What plans?"

"Shane had to go urgently... somewhere," Tony muttered, juggling one of the helmets.

"Vince said I wasn't allowed on the motorcycle."

"Because you aren't unless there is a sudden change of plans and there is no way out."

"I can... can I go with Sonny? He's waiting out there, right next to the school area, right?"

"He's there, but you can't be in the car with him."

"Why not?"

"Because he's your bodyguard, not the fucking chauffeur. Just ride with me, okay?" My brother rolled his eyes.

"Tony, you're gonna get me in trouble," I complained. I remembered well the seriousness in Vincent's eyes when he forbade me escapades on a motorcycle right after the accident.

"You won't be in trouble. I will," Tony sighed as if he was ready for the trouble ahead. "Get in, we'll be fine. I'm gonna drive slowly, okay?"

I bit my lip. I was a bit traumatized, but also a part of me wanted to go for another ride. I never thought I'd ever had this opportunity again. Well, since Tony was going to take the blame, I could afford a little disobedience to the rules.

I had a deja vu when Tony slipped a helmet over my head, checked the clasp, and then when I scrambled up behind him on that big, steel monster. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see people glancing at us with envy, especially at me. Especially girls. Oh, for God's sake, he's my brother!

I wrapped one hand around Tony's torso, with the other I smoothed out my skirt first. I felt his abs again under my hands and tightened my grip on him.

"Everything OK?" he made sure when he started the engine and the familiar roar reached my ears. The vibrations of the machine ate away into every cell of my body. This question softened my heart a little. Tony, usually so indifferent, was worried about my trauma.

"Yes!" I tried to call back so that he heard.

"If something happens, scream, but don't let me go," he instructed me like a small child, for which I was actually grateful.

"Ok!"

My first ride on Tony's motorcycle ended up in the hospital, but it wasn't the fault of the driver, but some revengeful psycho, so it didn't really count. This time, instead of enjoying the ride, I just prayed that no one would chase us or tried to shoot us down.

But then I remembered that somewhere behind us Sonny was following and that history liked to repeat itself, but certainly not that much. This is real life, not some Netflix series. The likelihood that someone would attack us again today was practically non-existent.

And when I finally got it into my head, I got lost to the world, loosened my grip a bit to spare Tony a stomach ache, and started looking around.

I enjoyed this ride a lot. In the middle of it, a wide smile appeared on my lips, and it stayed like that until the very end. It was great. We passed forests that were familiar to me, and on the left, from time to time, cars drifted in the opposite direction. I could hear the rustle and feel the wind whipping my face, almost blowing my lashes out. But I liked it anyway. So much, that I regretted when I saw that we were driving through the gate to our property. And then into the garage.

I got off first, struggling a little with the buckle of my helmet, which Tony hurried to help me. When I took it off, my hair was disheveled, my face radiant, and I wanted to giggle. Tony wasn't so happy and I quickly understood why. Almost right away, at the entrance, Will caught us, staring at us with that look that made it clear that he was displeased. He was like a mother standing over a broken vase waiting for one of her children to admit who had done the damage. In this case, Tony immediately raised his hand lazily take the blame as he promised.

"It's me," he muttered, and Will nodded immediately.

"Of course it's you."

Will's attention was fully focused on Tony now. Thanks to this, I managed to slip, imperceptibly, up the stairs and disappear upstairs, hearing only the beginning of the reproaches that Will started to direct at our brother.

Out of habit, I was no longer wasting any time wondering what important thing had popped up for Shane, but in the evening, unexpectedly, I found out everything.

I was on my way to the gym. I tied my hair into a ponytail, wore a white sports top and gray high-waisted sports leggings. Recently I refreshed my wardrobe, especially the sports one, and because I lived with the Monet brothers and I was getting used to their luxury, now I looked at the gym like all those fit Instagram models, in brand clothes sewn from these bizarre materials that supported sporty lifestyle.

I went downstairs, ready for a little training. By the time I got to the gym, I could hear noises coming from there. The conversation was carried out in low voices, interrupted from time to time by the heavy blows of the boxing glove on the punching bag.

I slowed my pace. I didn't like any of my brothers attending my training sessions because it was difficult for them to refrain from commenting on my exercises, which made me stressed and upset.

I entered a large room that was lit by bright, artificial light, as it was already dark outside the window. In the corner where the black mats were and the big punching bag hung, Shane and Will were. The former ruthlessly attacked the hanging opponent. He was sweaty, shirtless, in black shorts, and his hair was messy. His expression was quite ominous. Will, on the other hand, was standing next to him, leaning against the radiator attached to the wall nearby. Will was wearing a shirt and his arms were folded across his chest, and he was by no means here to exercise. He looked at our brother seriously, and for a moment I thought to myself that maybe he was really upset at Shane for taking the car, and for that Tony had to drive me home on his motorbike, but I quickly realized it was more serious.

"What a fucking situation!" Shane exclaimed. Apparently, he was very angry and he'd vented all his energy and rage on the poor punching bag, which miraculously hadn't yet broken and pierced the wall.

I shuddered at the dull sound of successive blows. It occurred to me that if Shane had hit Leo with such force today, he would've killed him on the spot.

Will was about to answer him when his gaze fell on me.

"Good evening, Hailie," he said aloud, probably also to make Shane hear and acknowledge that they aren't alone anymore.

"Hi," I muttered and approached Will, wincing a bit at Shane's unusual aggression. Will hugged me as I leaned against the radiator next to him. I liked how natural he was in showing me his affection so easily.