Page 43

GOROUND

SANTINO

I nstantly, Santino sat up, staring at her. Storm clouds were rolling into his head at the thought of that bastard tracking them down yet again. Tracking her down.

“That’s what happened when you disappeared? Did he say something to you? What the hell was he even doing there?”

Her sudden change in demeanor at the party now made sense. At the time, he’d thought it was because of Zoe and Bobby’s obvious disapproval of him being there with her, but this was fundamentally worse. Was that motherfucker stalking her?

Like he had?

Santino reasoned to himself that this was different. He was her husband, not some dude off the street she hardly knew.

Taking a deep inhale, then exhale, Vanessa released a fast stream of words along with the air.

“I didn’t mention it when I saw him because you threatened to jump him the next time, no matter where you were.

I was looking at Tenzin’s paintings and he came out of nowhere.

He said he’d worked on Virgil’s hotel years ago and they’d become friends.

He also said he’d seen us at the concert.

And of course, let’s not forget he’s staying at the same hotel as Bobby and Zoe.

I’m not so sure we should hang out with Virgil again.

We should leave. Go to Toronto or anywhere else until it’s time to go back to New York. ”

Santino’s jaw twitched. He had to be mindful not to unleash a string of curses. Scott’s behavior wasn’t her fault, and he didn’t want the euphoria of their lovemaking and the tenderness afterward destroyed because of that clown.

“What else did he say to you?”

“He wanted to know if I’d been seeing you the whole time I was getting to know him. I told him I wasn’t, but it didn’t seem to make a difference to him. Then he left, and I got the fuck out of there.”

“That’s why you wanted to leave the party so fast when you came back from wherever you’d disappeared to.

” Santino’s voice sounded a bit too harsh.

He sighed. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I warned him and he’s not listening.

” She must have looked uncertain, because he pulled her into his arms and hugged her reassuringly.

“If you see him or hear from him again, tell me right away, okay? I swear I’m not gonna be the one who starts shit.

The last thing I want to do is put you or Virgil in a bad spot. ”

“Okay.” She still seemed uncertain. “What about the Toronto idea?”

It had been a nice thought. But the idea of getting chased out of town by that dick cast a different light on the idea.

“We’ll check out Toronto the next time we come up here. We’re not leaving because of him. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.”

Vanessa quirked an eyebrow. “What happened to our no-drama pact?”

“Hopefully we won’t have to interact with him again and the rest of this trip will be cool.” Santino ran his finger along her furrowed brows until it smoothed out and a grin tugged at her lips.

“Sure, as cool as can be with a certain sister-in-law wildin’ out at pool parties like it’s still the 80s.”

Santino gave a short, sarcastic laugh at that and kissed her temple. This time, he held her as they leaned back against the headboard. “Don’t worry about him or her. I’ve got you.”

“I know. I’m sleepy. Let’s get some rest,” she announced.

All at once, it was morning. The insistent ringing of her cellphone awakened them. Santino could hear Bobby’s voice loud and clear, even though the speaker wasn’t on.

“Rise and shine,” Bobby demanded cheerfully. He must have had a great night to be that enthusiastic that early. “Tell your husband we’re meeting up for breakfast at your hotel. Then he and I are going racing. Formula-1, baby! Tell him to be dressed and downstairs in an hour and a half precisely.”

Bobby hung up before she could utter a word. Vanessa raised her eyebrows and put the phone on the nightstand. Then she smiled at him with those sleepy baby brown eyes that made him want to roll right on top of her and forget the world.

As though he hadn’t already heard it himself, Vanessa relayed the message. “Bobby says you guys are going to the track today. And I don’t think he’s taking ‘no’ for an answer.”

The first thing out of Bobby’s mouth when he and Santino arrived at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve’s Formula-1 racetrack on ?le Notre-Dame and found out they had to drive the speed limit was, “Fuck. Are you kidding me?”

“Yeah,” Santino said. “It was on the website. I thought you said you’ve been here before?”

“I was at a medical conference. I didn’t have time to come out here, but I was dying to. Shit.”

They were standing next to Santino’s rental truck and reading the posted sign stipulating the rules of the park and the track. Bobby fumed silently with crossed arms as a bicyclist rode past and two elderly ladies walked by. Santino didn’t hide his grin at Bobby’s disappointment.

“Come on, take the drive. You can go back home and tell your nerd friends at the hospital that you drove on the same track as Michael Schumacher. They won’t know you did it at the same speed as those two ladies.

Matter of fact, if you want, I can do a video of you driving around and you can speed it up to make it look fast.”

“Fuck you,” Bobby muttered, but stalked off to his car and got behind the wheel with his face set.

That’s what your sister’s been doing all week , Santino mused with a wicked smile.

He would never, ever say that to Bobby, even if things were still cool between them.

Patrick had always told him and his brothers if you respected a woman, you’d never discuss specifics about what happened behind closed doors.

And if you didn’t respect them, you shouldn’t be having sex with them in the first place. Santino had taken that to heart.

He got behind the wheel of his rental and set off after Bobby.

Taking the twists and rounding the curves of the track was fun, even at low speed.

He blasted a playlist of Panthro’s collabs with other artists as he drove.

The skies were clear, and the humidity was lower here on this island full of heat-soaking trees.

And after last night’s session with Vanessa, he felt pretty fucking good in general.

The level of trust she’d shown in him had left him with almost no doubts left about where they stood. She’d opened way more than just that body to him. No, she still hadn’t said she loved him but he could see it, he could feel it, every time she looked at him or touched him.

Bobby was smiling when they finally pulled off the track. From his car window, he said, “Let’s head back into the city, see who’s playing outside. Although I doubt anything will top that show last night.”

Santino was seconds away from asking which show Bobby was referring to, the Panthro performance or the “look at how sexy I am” act by Zoe.

It had been impossible to miss her pulling down the top of her jumpsuit down in the pool.

Flashing her tits had been bad enough, but then she’d kissed that dude while staring at him.

He’d been more than ready to go when Vanessa asked.

“Are we meeting up with the ladies?” Santino asked.

Although he dreaded seeing Zoe again, he missed Vanessa like hell.

Being apart for a few hours after all the glorious togetherness this week had reminded him a little of the bad old days.

He literally couldn’t get enough time with her.

He needed to bury his face in her hair and soak up her attention and her laughter.

“Nah. I thought it would be a fellas’ day today. Zoe texted and said she and Vanessa plan to go to the hotel spa and might do a little pool time afterward. Now keep up if you can.” So saying, Bobby sped off toward the bridge.

Great. Fellas’ day.

Back when he and Vanessa were still together, he and Bobby used to hand out at couple times a month without their wives. Bobby was obviously thinking of those good times after they parked their vehicles and got out to stretch their legs.

“Remember how we used to meet up with your dad and your brothers to play racquetball at that little park in your old neighborhood?” Bobby reminisced while they strolled.

“We still do. You could swing by anytime, even if I’m not there,” Santino offered.

“It’s hard to find spare time these days between work and the baby.

” Bobby’s face was reflective as they stopped in front of a bar.

It had storefront windows set on movable tracks that were folded open.

A band was playing inside, and they found a table and a pair of chairs on the sidewalk to sit down and listen.

“Man, this is nice.” He stretched out his long legs and tipped his head back with closed eyes.

While they were relaxing, Santino got a call from Virgil.

“Hey, I saw your text this morning about the casino. Sorry I was busy and couldn’t get back to you till now.”

“No worries. I know you’re a busy dude.” Santino turned slightly to the side, trying not to say too much about their plans.

“Yeah, so, you said you were thinking of seven? Did you make reservations yet?”

“Um, yeah, I did this morning.”

“Alright, we’re on for seven, then. Bring your wallet. They’ve got the best steaks, and I eat a lot.” Virgil laughed then said a quick, “Gotta go.”

Bobby had opened his eyes by then and was contemplating the people on the sidewalk passing by.

“Was that Virgil?” he asked nonchalantly.

Guilt tugged at Santino. “Yeah. He’s loud as fuck, right? Almost as loud as me.”

“He said something about a trip to the casino for dinner?”

Fuck. Santino usually didn’t give a shit if someone’s feelings got hurt, especially another grown man. But this was Bobby. They’d always been cool, and he was trying to get back into the family’s good graces, so…fuck it.