Page 62

“That’s right.”
“You must have hated it, these past few days, with everyone here.”
“I’m not gonna lie and say I enjoyed it. I’m not a social guy and this is my space. But you needed it, so…”
“Well, I appreciate it a lot. And hopefully I’ll be well enough to go home soon, and you can have the place all to yourself. I didn’t really think about what a pain in the ass it must be to have me here.”
“It’s not.”
There was something about the way he said it that had my heart doing a slow roll in my chest. “That’s, um, a really nice thing to say.”
He gave me yet another one of those little shrugs that I was finding very fucking endearing, and said, “Now it’s my turn.”
“Oh, here we go.”
“When you were in the hospital, I rang Marcus to get your next of kin details.”
I tensed instantly and maybe he sensed it, because he wrapped his big, warm hand around my foot, and started massaging it.
“I tried for three hours to get a hold of your parents, left countless messages letting them know you were unwell, but they never called me back. I gave up and called your brother. He answered on the first ring. Why is that?”
“Well, that’s Dante for you.”
“Stefania.”
I let out a sigh. “It’s not that complicated. Dad’s an asshole and Mom’s a fucking idiot.”
“Elaborate.”
“My mom loves my dad, to the exclusion of literally everyone else. She’s put him on a pedestal and worships the ground he walks on. There’s just no room for anyone else but him in her heart.”
“And what about him?”
“He doesn’t give two shits about anyone but himself. When we were kids, he would come and go when it suited him. Sometimes with wads of cash, other times with his pockets hanging out, begging Mom for scraps. And Mom, well, of course, she’d take the last bite of food from my plate and give it to Dad, if she thought it’d make him happy.”
“That must have been tough for you and your brother.”
There was something mesmerizing about the way his hands felt on my foot. I sank into that feeling, letting the bitterness, the anger, fade away. Back into the past, where it belonged. “Yeah, it was pretty shit. It sent Dante down a pretty dark path, truth be told. He was in a terrible car accident when he was twenty, that nearly killed his best friend. That was the shock he needed. He joined the Airforce that week and turned his whole life around.”
“And what about you?”
“I had Dante, and that was enough. It had to be. And hey, I turned out alright, didn’t I?”
“You sure did.”
Again, with the funny tone in his voice that made my insides all mushy. “You know what, though?”
“Mmm?”
“Even though our upbringings couldn’t be more different, what with your billionaire dad and all, there are a lot of similarities. So I guess shitty parents come in all different ways.”
“I guess they do. And on that wise note, I think it’s time for bed.”
“Okay, boss.” Oh, there was that dimple again, doing all sorts of things to my insides.
CHAPTER 29
Grayson