Page 125 of Sins of the Orchid

“Do you want to get married, Amore?” Adriano rumbled on. “You’ll be a good wife. We’ll be a good-looking couple.” My best friend had lost his mind.

“Adriano,” Lorenzo growled in warning, and I waved him off.

“He’s fine,” I assured my brother. It wasn’t as if I’d get involved with another Russo. One was quite enough. Lorenzo was too protective and too worried since my crying afternoon in Genoa. I turned my eyes to Adriano, who was downing another shot. “And you, Adriano, would hate being married.”

Adriano grumbled something unintelligible under his breath. It sounded like ‘you have no idea’ but I couldn't be certain.

“Let’s drink to success,” I said, raising my glass. “Old enemies and new friends.” DeAngelo and Lorenzo raised their own glasses and Adriano joined in too.

“Excellent toast,” Adriano drawled, sliding a shot glass my way. “Now you have to drink with me.”

“Fine,” I agreed, smiling. “As long as it is not tequila. Salute!”

All of us clinked our glasses and drank. Adriano and I downed the shots, and before I could say anything else, Adriano was already flagging the waiter.

“More shots.”

I shared an amused glance with Lorenzo. He mouthed, ‘Don’t drink too much.’

Taking his hand into mine, I grinned. “I love you, brother. You know that, right?”

The look in his eyes softened, and he squeezed my hand. “And I love you,” he murmured. “Best thing that ever happened to our family was finding you.”

A lump in my throat made it hard to say anything else. So instead, I smiled, choked up with emotions. Despite the tragedy that led me to my newfound family and our rough beginning, I was grateful I found such good men.

An hour later, Adriano and I could barely stand on our own two feet. I only had a few shots, but they hit hard. We swayed on our feet, stumbling out of the restaurant, looking like two idiots.

“Goddamn it,” Lorenzo grumbled. “Why is it that you two always act stupid together?”

I raised my index finger, moving it left to right and back again, clicking my tongue. “Now, now, brother. We are fun.Fun, brother.” I stumbled, missing a step but Lorenzo caught me before I could fall forwards.

“Right. Cause this is so much fun,” Lorenzo muttered, rolling his eyes and steadying me as I swayed on my feet. “I want to do it every day.”

A stupid smile spread over my face. “I miss him, you know.”

He wrapped his arms around me. “I know,” he whispered low. “I know you are hurting. Everything will be alright. I promise.”

I swallowed, resting my forehead against his shoulder. “I’m fine.”

He rubbed my back gently, his touch comforting. But at the same time, it made my chest swell with pain. You couldn’t win, not really. Be overly nice, it made me want to cry. Be overly cruel, it made me want to cry too.

“We should get tattoos.” Adriano’s suggestion caught me off guard and had me lifting my head off Lorenzo’s chest. “Bestie tattoos forever. So we can remember it if shit hits the fan.”

Stepping away from my brother, I shrugged drunkenly. My thoughts immediately went to Santi’s ink. I always thought it was sexy as fuck. But now, thinking about it brought me pain and a throbbing ache only he could ease. Unfortunately, he wasn’t interested in me.

“It will bring pain.” I swayed slightly on my feet. Lorenzo caught my elbow again, steadying me and cursing under his breath.

“No, it doesn’t hurt,” he slurred. I guess he would know, he had a tattoo on his back. “Let’s do it. You and me.”

“Orchid flower?” I slurred, my thoughts slightly jumbled.

“Fuck no,” he spat. “Let’s do something cheesy.”

“Like swiss cheese?” I murmured.

“Neither one of you two drunk asses are getting a tattoo,” Lorenzo snapped. “I could be getting lucky tonight instead of babysitting you two drunks.”

“We are not drunks,” I told him slightly offended, immediately followed up with a hiccup. “We are amazeballs.” I snickered. “Balls… get it?”