By Honor I Crumble

Chapter 1

*I DON'T OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS. THEY ALL BELONG TO THE AMAZING CORA REILLY*

Song Rec: Wasabi by Little Mix

7 years Ago

Aurora

I was going to kill him. Completely and utterly destroy him. Who the rutting fuck did he think he was? If I even utter a word of his bullshit to my father or Nevio, he would find himself lying in a ditch somewhere. Tobias asshole Pierce, senior, quarterback and the captain of the football team, the most popular guy in our high school, aka. my boyfriend had the audacity to fuck around with Beverly fucking Parker! Like who the hell sleeps with chlamydia on legs?

I approached him on the dance floor where Beverly was grinding her ass on his crotch looking like she had flea bites on her buttocks. I tapped my fingers on his shoulder. He shrugged and muttered something incoherent along the lines of "Fuck off." I grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the crowd as people stared. They always stared. Most of the time they didn't have good reason to, but they were hungry sharks waiting for snippets of information to use against me. I was the first girl in Vegas with Italian background to be the Student Body President. My so-called soon to be ex-boyfriend didn't help the matter either. The whole school didn't need to see this. "What are you doing?" I hissed.

He looked puzzled for a second but recognition soon shone in his eyes. Tobias started walking back to the dance floor and said a little too loudly "What am I doing? Nothing, just enjoying the dance you helped organize." He was still salty about the fact that I had won Student Body President, not him.

People were now watching without even trying to conceal the fact that they were. Their look of excitement just spurred my anger on even more and I decided to give them a show. My eyes met Carlotta's in the crowd as she sank down on a chair in the corner. She gave me a thumbs up and started recording the scene on her phone. The one thing everyone loved was a damsel in distress. I tried to remember the time Greta's dog, Bear, died and burst into tears. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? AFTER EVERYTHING WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH?" I sobbed while throwing in a little nudge on his shoulder to really rub in the hurt.

"Dude chill, it's not a big deal, especially for someone like you" he grumbled.

I gave him a "shocked"expression and said through my tears "Someone like me? You cheated on me!" I could literally feel everyone gasp. Carlotta looked like she was struggling to hold in her laughter.

Tobias sneered "Yeah you, get used to it Aurora. You are just the half-italian whore who acts all high and mighty because Massimo Falcone is your sugar daddy."

I REALLY wanted to punch him for the whore comment because it reminded me of Melissa but I gasped and said "How can you even say something like that? You know what? We are done! I don't think I can ever forgive what you said so BYE!"

Carlotta made a show of comforting me and I pretended to wipe my tears on my feather boa as I stormed out of the ball room. We both burst out laughing a millisecond after we reached the parking lot and hopped into Massimo's convertible Audi. Well, more like strategically maneuvered ourselves because of our dresses. This year's prom was even more of a shit show than last year's, but the look on everyone's faces was PRICELESS. It was a costume party and Carlotta and I were Jordan and Daisy from the Great Gatsby. Toby was obviously Tom and to be honest our characters fit the said shit show pretty well. "Massimo Falcone is you sugar daddy!" Carlotta hollered and laughed.

I couldn't stop laughing. Massimo just looked at us with an expression of mild boredom and said "Not to be rude, 'Rora but I don't swing that way."

I laughed even harder. Massimo was one of the gayest people I knew and had been for as long as I knew him. Remo Falcone didn't give a flying fuck about his soliders' homophobic views and for that I would respect him till my last breath. Only an idiot like Tobias would have thought of something as ingenious as "Massimo Falcone is your sugar daddy" to use as an insult. Being the genius son of Nino Falcone, Massimo had skipped third grade and freshman year, graduating high school long before us with Nevio and Greta. I was still jealous of him because I was only allowed to skip third grade. He was stuck with driver duty for the next 10 months after shooting a hole through the living room wall of the Falcone Mansion and breaking four of aunt Kiara's favourite potted plants. Unlike him, Carlotta and I were stuck in high school for the past 4 years, but now it was over. We were finally done. Well, I was done, Carlotta was stuck here for another year.

I was in love with one thing and it was going to be mine in a matter of months: Columbia. I was going to Columbia University! The best university in the whole goddamn world! I had pulled some real shit for it but in the end it was worth it. The list went on and on from student council to basketball to dating Toby. It was so worth it! I was going to be the best Neurosurgeon in the world and all the made men in the Cosa Nostra who thought women were something less would grovel. I was obsessed with the human brain. The fact that one squishy oval of tissue controlled everything a person was, baffled me to an endless degree. What astounded me even more was how even the slightest damage to this organ could change the person entirely. I needed to understand it. I needed to master everything there was to know about it and what better way to do so than at neuroscience wonderland? Columbia had the best Neuroscience program in the country and there was no way that I wasn't going to be a part of it. Dad almost had a heart attack when I told him I wanted to study in New York. I mean, Luca Vitiello and Fabiano Scuderi don't have the friendliest relationship to say the least, but they could figure it out like adults rather than brooding like chickens! Dad knew about my dream, but he wasn't completely on board with my plan. Mom was delighted to say the least when I got my acceptance letter but wasn't completely on board either. I had a lot more convincing to do, but it could wait for now.

I relaxed as the wind tore through my hair. Familiar sights of the Ventian, Bellagio and MGM Grand passed us in a blur as Massimo raced through the city. Inhaling the nicotine and smoke coated air of Vegas gave me a sense of peace for some reason. This wouldn't be the most ethical thing for normal people, but to be honest, we weren't ethical people. Our world still followed rules from 16th century Italy and the hands of most men were stained red nearly permanently. It was a strange world, but it was our world. Massimo's car screeched to a halt as we reached our destination. It was in the middle of nowhere and most certainly wasn't home. This is where the real party was hiding.