Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56742 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
I walk to the bed, sit, and take her hands in mine. She feels so clammy and cold. “I believe you, Mom,” I say, though I’m not sure it’s true.
CHAPTER 20
Elio
“What climbed up your ass and died?” Luca says from the passenger seat. “Did I fill out that spreadsheet wrong or something?” He laughs gruffly.
I drive through the city, teeth gritted.
“Elio?” Luca says, nudging me on the arm.
“We don’t have to talk,” I tell him.
“Jesus, bro,” he replies. “Is it this dinner? You know what Mom’s like. She’s probably hired some entertainment. Maybe she’s invited one of her opera singer friends over.”
“She said Dad requested the dinner,” I say, which means she most likely lied. As twisted as it might be, I believe my woman, my singing angel, over my own mother. What does that say about me? “Anyway, it’s not about that.”
“What is it, then?”
“I’m fine.”
“No,” Luca snaps. “You can get away with that shit with the men. Even with Mom and Dad, but not with me. Remember, I’ve been looking up to your grumpy ass my whole life. I’m better at reading you than you give me credit for.”
I sigh darkly. “Maybe I’m losing my mind, that’s all.”
“All the violence lately?”
“No, fuck no.” I grip the steering wheel hard. “Everything we’ve done has been justified. You saw the sick stuff those men had on their computers. I don’t feel bad about putting goddamn bullets into their worthless heads.”
“Just talk to me, then.”
“Is this a therapy session?”
“It’s about your lady,” Luca says. When I don’t reply, he continues, “I knew it. You’ve changed since you met her. It’s only been, what, a couple of days? But you’re like a different person. I know I’m right. Your lady’s making you lose your mind. That’s it, isn’t it?”
I groan as I come to a stop at a red light. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to repeat it.”
“Obviously,” he says.
“Yeah… but promise.”
He puts his hand on his chest, half-joking, half-serious. “I promise. I’ll take it to the grave.”
“Something happened to me when I first saw Scarlet,” I tell him. “The second I saw her in that restaurant, I knew I wanted her.”
“There’s nothing strange about that. I’ve wanted plenty of women as soon as I saw them.”
“Not like this,” I tell him. “The moment I saw her, bro, I knew she would be my future wife. She was going to be the mother of my children. She belonged—belongs—to me. This happened in an instant. It was like a religious revelation.”
A car behind me honks the horn. I’m lingering at the light. When Luca turns and puffs himself up, I pull away quickly. The last thing I need is my little brother getting into a road rage scene.
“You knew all of that right away?” he says quietly, his voice full of awe.
“Instantly,” he says. “I haven’t doubted it once. When I think about the future, the life I had before seems shallow. Pathetic. I worked sixteen hours a day, doing tasks I could easily delegate to give myself an excuse not to live. Now, I want to live with my woman. My Scarlet.”
Luca lets out a long breath. I glance at him. He tilts his head, looking like a little boy again, trying to make sense of his older brother. “I can’t say I’ve ever experienced anything like that,” he says, “but I know you. You’re serious about this.”
“I am,” I say passionately.
“Then you should tell her,” he says.
“Just like that? I thought you’d call me nuts.”
“Who cares if you’re nuts? Who cares if she’s half your age? Who cares if you’ve known each other for less than a week? Who cares, bro? If this life teaches us one thing, it’s that everything can end like that.” He snaps his fingers. “So you can spend your time umming and ahhing over it, or you can do something about it.”
“Very wise,” I tell him.
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“No, I mean it. You’re right, but what if I scare her away?”
“If she knows what’s good for her, she won’t let you.”
“What does that mean?” I say, my voice edged with aggression.
“You’re Elio Marino. You’re richer than God. You’re going to be don one day. Any young woman with a head on her shoulders would leap at this chance.”
“That’s not what I want, though,” I growl. “I don’t want a woman with me only for my name. I want a woman who’d be with me even if I was dirt poor, even if we only had each other and were living in a tent because that’s how badly I want her. I don’t care about anything else. Just being together.”
“If you want a woman like that, you’ll be searching your entire life,” Luca replies. “There’s no such thing as a woman who’ll be with a man no matter what. They want security. It’s not a bad thing. They need somebody capable of taking care of them and their children.”