Page 94 of Always Mine
“Those shots clearly caught up to her. I can take her back to our place,” I tell him.
“I already spoke with Marco. She’s coming with me.”
“Are you sure?” I say, hesitating, buying time to figure out how to say what I need to say next. “Ummm…she doesn’t look like she’s in much of a state to get herself to bed.”
Raf raises his eyebrow and pins me with a glare that says,what’s your fucking point.
At my voice, Chiara stirs, nuzzling further into Raf’s chest. She babbles a string of words on a low murmur, mostly incoherent except for the few I make out including, “Grumpy. So hot. Raf. Ruin everything.”
“I’ve handled my fair share of drunk girls.” His unimpressed glare unwavering. “In fact, I might have half a chance of getting her to listen if she’s too drunk to sass me back. If she’d fucking slowed down when I told her to, I wouldn’t have had to break down the door to haul her passed-out ass out of the bathrooms, while her Romeo was sucking face with someone else. Fucking tool.”
“I’m going to leave you to it. Let me know how she is once you give her some water and Tylenol. You’re going to need to dress her in something more comfortable and put her to bed.” I linger on the last part, and he doesn’t miss the inflection in my voice.
There’s no question he’ll be a perfect gentleman; it’s just that caretaking doesn’t come naturally to my grumpy older brother.
“My t-shirt will be down to her ankles, and she’ll take the guest room.”
Kissing his cheek, I just settle on “Thank you” in response. Even with all his hard edges and gruff exterior, he has a heart of gold. He protects it fiercely, but hopefully one day he finds that special someone he trusts enough to share it with.
“Sophia! Sophia!” I turn to find Trix running to towards me, panic written all over her face. “Come quick! It’s Marco.”
I rip the heels off my feet and drop them to the ground beside Raf’s car so I can follow Trix as quickly as possible. Raf calls to Stella to watch Chiara and follows me. We take the emergency exit out of the basement and run around to the street-front entrance of Bella Donna, where crowds of people are still gathered after being evacuated.
Seb’s shouts fill the night air. “Marco! Calm the fuck down. He’s not worth it.”
I push my way through people to get to him. As I get closer, I watch as Seb and security staff are blocking his path, preventing him from getting to whoever is on the other side of the wall they’ve made with their bodies.
“Marco! Marco!” I yell, trying to break him from his frenzied anger.
Loud clapping like applause stops me in my tracks. “Ahhhhhh, there she is!” I snap my head in the direction of the voice laced with contempt and loathing.
“Arty? What the hell are you doing here?”
“I heard there was a little incident here, and I thought I might be able to offer my help. I’ve got some experience with building compliance.”
“You fucking bastard—you did this,” seethes Marco, trying to break through the human barrier to get to Arty.
“Marco! Please, baby. Just calm down,” I plead, hoping I can reason with him.
“Awww, baby, how cute,” taunts Arty. “Tell mebaby,does she know the truth about Bella Donna? Or about your wheeling and dealing with mobsters to make a bit more cash on the side?”
My legs start to feel shaky, and my hands start to tremble. What is he talking about?
“Arty, that’s enough. Just go home and sober up,” cuts in Raf, who’s by my side now.
“Ah, Raf. I always liked you. Such a shame you didn’t have the decency to loop your brother and sister in on Marco’s little secrets.” He taps his lip and furrows his brow like he’s thinking. “You know, the one where he struck a deal with daddy Princi to get the cash for Bella Donna.”
“Can someone please tell me what the fuck he’s talking about?” demands Seb.
Security approaches Arty to try to lead him away. He deliberately thrashes around like he’s being roughly manhandled. Mostly for thesake of the camera phones trained on this entire fucking nightmare playing out in the middle of the street I'm sure.
“Take your hands off me or I will file a lawsuit for assault,” he yells.
“Guys, step away,” advises Raf. They do as they’re instructed, and Arty flips a switch again. He must be on something, the way he keeps switching gears.
“You’re a smart man, Raf. Shame about your friends. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. I’m a bit fuzzy on the details, but I’m sure the conditions of Patrick’s deal were something along the lines of, if Marco convinced Sophia to go to Harvard, he would give Marco and Seb backing for their club.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Marco roars, his body visibly vibrating with rage. “You have no fucking clue what you’re saying.”