Page 23 of Dark Breaker

I turn around but before I can return to the patio door I feel a rough hand on my bicep.

“Well hello.” It’s Carlo again. His fauxhawk is wet, disheveled, and his tank top is covered in sweat.

I try to shrug out of his grasp but he doesn’t release me. “Let go of me unless you want a faceful of Mace,” I warn him, reaching for my purse.

He finally releases me.

“Sorry,” he says. “I’m a bit drunk and uncoordinated.”

“If you were drunk I doubt you’d be able to say that word,” I retort. “Uncoordinated.”

He smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

Arms wrap around my waist and I leap in shock. I spin around, shoving off from my new attacker.

Nunzio. He’s got his hair slicked back and he’s wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled back. He’s got the buttons opened up down to his belly, all the better to showcase that chiseled chest. Not to mention the three gold chains weighing down his neck.

“Hey baby,” Nunzio says. “I’ve missed you. You didn’t answer me when I sent the invitation.”

Carlo slides his arm over my shoulder. “That’s because she’s with me.”

I shrug out from under his arm. “I’m with no one!”

I turn away from them in a huff but then Nunzio grabs my wrist.

“What’s your problem?” Michela says, wrapping her fingers around his arm and trying to wrench him free. “Piss off!”

He finally let’s go.

Nunzio spreads his arms wide. “Come on, baby. Let’s go upstairs and we can talk about this.”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” I tell him. I reach inside my purse so that I have my Mace ready this time.

Carlo goes up to him and whispers something in his ear. Nunzio’s face brightens.

“What an excellent idea,” Nunzio says. “He says he wants to fight me, and the winner gets you. What do you think, Rosa?”

“I think I’d definitely like to see you two fight,” I reply. “And the winner gets Mace in the face.”

Nunzio leans toward Carlo and whispers something else. Carlo shakes his head. “You take the girlfriend.Iget Rosa.”

Nunzio suddenly lunges at me and Carlo in turn grabs him, trying to pull him off me.

I rip out my Mace but before I can spray either of them in the face, I find myself plunging backward into the pool.

I splash into the water. Nunzio is beneath me, wrenching me down with him, while Carlo is trying to punch him—it’s not working very well, considering the viscosity of the surrounding water.

My Mace bottle gone, I struggle against Nunzio, but I can’t break free. The pool lights illuminate the kicking feet of other partygoers above me, and when I try to pull away from Nunzio, some random person accidentally slams a heel into my jaw.

Carlo finally gives up his attack and grabs onto my shoulders in an attempt to wrench me away from Nunzio, but it’s a tug of war, with my body caught in the middle.

I’m quickly running out of air. I point frantically at the surface, but Carlo doesn’t seem to understand.

Someone else dives into the water beside me. The newcomer appears only as a blur to me, and for a moment I think it’s Michela.

But then red smears spout from Nunzio’s face and spread through the water. He releases me.

The newcomer slashes Carlo next and redness erupts from his arms this time. He, too, let’s go.