Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
“I warned you,” Alessio said, almost giving me a heart attack as he appeared right behind me. He held a joint in his hand.
I gave him a hard look. “You shouldn’t smoke that.”
“I’m working on my self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s all part of the plan.”
“That made no sense,” I said.
He gave me a dark smile and took a brief pull from his joint. “I know. I guess I’m trying to channel the past.”
I hoped he realized that he sounded crazy. He chuckled and tossed the joint away, then squashed it with his boot. “Self-destruction comes in different forms. You have your Nevio. I have my joint.”
“Oh, shut up.”
He became serious. “Listen, Rory, this emotional bullshit isn’t my thing, but if you really feel like you need to ruin yourself with Nevio, then at least pick a different place and time. Nevio at parties is like a crack pipe. The rush is short and not worth the utter havoc it’ll wreak on you.”
“Why do you insist on protecting me? I don’t see you warning Carlotta from Massimo?”
Alessio scoffed. “Carlotta has God, and Massimo has logic. They’ll be fine.”
I took a deep breath. “I’ll be fine, okay? Nevio doesn’t want anything from me. We’re just good friends, so you can chill.”
Alessio’s expression piqued my curiosity.
“Right?” I asked.
Alessio backed away. “Let him do the noble thing for once, Rory. Don’t be stupid. Don’t tempt something you can’t control.”
He turned on his heel and vanished inside the house. If he’d planned on keeping me away from Nevio, his tactic had backfired.
I went inside, even more determined than before. If Nevio pushed me away because he thought he was being noble, I would show him that I didn’t need protection, least of all from him.
I was a Scuderi. I wasn’t an outsider who’d cry herself to sleep over all the horrors in his past and present. Dad was an Enforcer, and even if I didn’t like to dwell on the details of his daily work, I knew it was cruel and brutal. I still loved him, and so did Mom.
Nevio wasn’t in the living room when I entered. Massimo and Carlotta were still in the spot I’d last seen them, though. She gave me a questioning look and made a move as if she wanted to come over to me. I shook my head. I was fine. She looked doubtful, but I shook my head again.
I headed for the kitchen, but Nevio wasn’t there either, so I moved to the wide staircase that led up to the second floor. What if he was up there with the girls? I really didn’t want to catch him in the act. It was one thing to know what he was up to. It was a very different matter to see him.
I hesitated at the bottom of the stairs. What would I even do if I found him with the two girls? Jump between them? Drag him away?
“Are you lost?” asked a guy with dark blond hair, a polo shirt with a turned-up collar, and a scar on his cheek that suggested he was in one of the old-fashioned fraternities.
I felt it sometimes. I gave him a firm smile. “No, I’m fine.”
He hovered. “Are you alone?”
“No, here with friends,” I said. “Umm, is there anything else you need?” I hoped he’d get the memo. I wasn’t interested in his flirting. Maybe making Nevio jealous would have been an option, but I didn’t want to start playing these kinds of games, and if Nevio wasn’t interested in me, jealousy was hardly on the menu.
I spotted Alessio in the doorway to the kitchen, watching with mild interest. I didn’t want to cause a scene, for which the Unholy Trinity was notorious, and narrowed my eyes at him. He stayed where he was and didn’t intervene.
The guy followed my gaze, then made a face and left without saying another word.
Alessio strolled past me, looking pleased with himself. “Nevio doesn’t get jealous…”
I sighed and went upstairs before he involved me in another of his ominous warnings.
My heart sped up as I reached the first-floor landing. No one was in the hall, but I could hear voices and giggles from a couple of rooms and around the corner at the end of the hallway. I slowly walked through the corridor toward the corner.
A girl’s voice rose in anger, and a deep male voice said something in turn. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but I could tell it wasn’t nice just from the tone. It was definitely Nevio’s voice.
I stopped right before the corner, worried about what I’d walk in on. A slap sounded, making me jump. I rounded the corner as Nevio grabbed a girl by the throat and pushed her against the wall, his chin and left lower cheek turning red, and his eyes terrifying enough that even I was a little scared of him. The girl looked positively out of her mind from fear.