Page 57 of Wicked (Wicked Billionaires #2)

DANTE

I stagger in with Tito and I slam the door to keep the world outside. Sitting next to the fire, I pour a whiskey and toss wood onto the embers. I rub Tito’s head, and I knock back the fifty-year-old whiskey.

The hot liquid goes straight to my core, and I lean back, making a pained growl.

“Figlio di puttana!” I yell out of character.

Motherfucker.

I pride myself on remaining calm, but even I have my limit. Having the entire nation against me was not on the cards.

Finding Raven’s horse and letting it free was one thing, dealing with the media circus, another. I should not have let her run, not like that. Too much was unsaid. Way too much.

I watch the wood catch fire, and flames leap. They match my burning soul, and I think about Raven and me, and then the castle. The theme park is now a train wreck. The huge drop in ticket sales will likely wipe us out.

I make a fast decision, and using the family group chat, I set a meeting for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I will ask everyone to stall the theme park for a week. We desperately need damage control.

We also need to spin things in the media and try to keep the theme park alive. Either that, or we will all lose the seed money, lose face, and the castle.

I couldn’t care less about the money, I have plenty. I do not want my family losing a dime, and I do not want the family to lose respect within the community or nation. Also, the fucking castle.

The next day, every family member involved in the theme park arrives. I explain my public relations strategy to contain the downside, and I explain we have to distance the castle’s theme park from Raven.

I tell them I don’t want to do it, but her out of character action is forcing me to do what is necessary.

The group listens, and they say little.

The strange part is, they seem just as pissed at me for losing Raven. As they talk loudly and animatedly like passionate Italians sometimes do, I realize they suspect something is off. And that they believe Raven loves Italy.

I agree, but I tell them we need to focus on the primary task, that being to protect the castle above all… Just like our ancestors had to from marauding invaders.

As we finally wrap up the awkward discussion, we rise and head for the door. That’s when the entire family attacks me.

Me!

They argue I chased her off. That I chased off the woman I love… Cared for.

I am close to losing it, and I am close to calling the jet and fucking bailing. The only thing keeping me here is the fact I’m likely the strongest male, and if I don’t hold the line to protect the castle, who the heck will?

As the last of them leaves, it’s obvious. They think I was the one who messed up. As if I wrote the damning travel article. Me, the guy trying to protect the castle walls.

It’s clear my family wants Raven back, and they have questions for her. They do not want blood; they just want to talk.

Heck, I do too, but she is still avoiding all contact and every effort I’ve made.

It’s the last thing I want to do, but I slide into the Ferrari, and I drive to my parents’. Salvaging my relationship with them is likely mature, even if I have to hold my tongue in the process.

After the media shitstorm, I’m in the corner of all corners. I just want to fly home to NYC and bury my head in my work.

It’s what I do and what I’ve always done. No more family bullshit, and no more women, ever.

As I pull into my parents’ driveway, I ready for an old school passionate Italian discussion.

Do not lose my shit.

Do not lose my shit.

Do not lose my shit.

My father called me yesterday, and it was halfway through the media chaos. Just as Raven rode away. He screamed down the phone, and it was just like he’d done when I was in boarding schools.

He claimed I’d ruined the reputation of this once great family. Heck, maybe I have.

It was messed up timing, as it happened just as Raven charged away on Olive, just when I wanted to race after her on my horse.

I could have charged down the cliff, and if I’d survived, I could have caught her on the beach. There, I could have forced her to stay. Instead, I yelled back at my father on the phone before hanging up, seething below the chopper that circled me and before the cameras that filmed me.

Returning home ashamed reminds me of being called back as a teenager. Thrown out of another elite school for not fitting in. For standing up to bullies. For not conforming.

I feel nervous, and the feeling makes me feel disgusted.

I’ve ruthlessly fought competition in NYC, LA, Paris, and London, and I’ve crushed European fashion companies who went up against me.

I play hard, fast, and rough, but for some reason here and now, my heart pumps fast. As I look at Tito in the passenger seat, he stares back at me in silence. There is something about Tito that I don’t want to lose. He may represent the castle, my past, or my grandfather. Who the hell knows.

I go to rub Tito’s head, but he pulls back. It’s not the first time he’s done it since Raven ran, and I get the feeling he doesn’t like me anymore. That is actually a lie.

Tito seems to hate my guts, and he’s just as bad as my relatives.

“Figlio di puttana!” I mumble.

Motherfucker.

Tito’s eyes twitch, and I shake my head. “Not you, the universe!”

As I enter my parents’ home, it’s like returning to the scene of a crime. Inside, they’re oddly calmer than I expect, but they do demand I clean up the horrific mess. I can tell they respect me for trying to keep the castle and for being successful in New York.

I push on and I explain my damage control strategy. I tell them I’ve hired the best PR firm in Rome, and I explain I’m focused on protecting the family name.

I secured the PR firm on the way down the coast over the phone, and I told them money is no object. They were well aware of the media shitstorm, and they have their best team on it.

My grandfather will have to understand my small investment, and I am not spending money on buying the castle, just protecting the family reputation.

As I pace fireside, my always distant parents remain calm. Then comes the pressure in a long rant ending with -

“And settle down, move back to Italy!”

I ignore my father’s ridiculous demand, and I force myself to breathe. “And find an Italian woman, Dante. And a woman who is at least… stable,” my mother adds.

They start to speak Italian, and for some reason they both let loose. I try to control myself, but I fail miserably. The discussion turns into an intense argument and all hell breaks loose.

The Italian words they just used insinuated Raven is unstable or mentally unfit. I finally snap, ranting like a hot-blooded Italian.

“Raven is a unique and amazing woman, and I will have no other! No one in the fucking world! She is the very reason we still have the family castle. Raven is also, a huge fan of Italy, and everyone knows that!” I try to stop talking, but I can’t.

“Something about the travel article stinks, and I will get to the bottom of it.”

I had not planned to lose my shit and yell, but screw it. Raven is worth protecting, and I protect who I…

Like.

I leave more dramatically than planned, and I shower the front door with pebbles. Tito looks at me weirdly as I race the Ferrari out of the gates. Screw it, the clock is ticking.

I have a castle to protect… And a girl to get back.