Dario appeared next, running a hand through his hair. It was apparent that he hadn’t been sleeping. His eyes were red-rimmed, and the shadows underneath were dark.
“I needed fresh air,” he said, looking us over. “I heard voices.”
Thomas and Guido stepped out next. Like the gathering of six half-naked men out on deck was an every-night occasion.
“What the fuck is going on out here?” Mitch said, his chest pale white in the light of the moon and in contrast to the darkness of the water and the night.
“A party,” Romeo said, smirking.
Mitch rubbed his stomach, before he lifted his leg and let out a long, rambling fart. “I don’t know what we ate, but whatever it was tore my stomach up. I’ve been holding it in all night.”
Thomas let out a squeaker. “I agree.”
Mitch grinned. “You should have saved that for Abree.”
“How is Scarlett?” Guido said, nose scrunched up against the wind.
“She’s not feeling good,” I said.
“Another, ah—”
“Yeah.” I looked at Thomas. “Get Valentina for me. Then have the chef make some tea—lemon, with lots of milk and honey.”
Thomas hustled off, letting out another pop of gas before he disappeared below to get Valentina. Mitch watched him go, a look of dread on his face. It didn’t dawn on me until then that he had asked Thomas to sleep with them because he didn’t want to be alone with the woman, which meant that he was done.
The older he got, the more he yearned to be with Violet. He was starting to become angry about it, acting like his brother should give up his turn with the Greek toy and let him have her for a while.
“What?” he said, when he caught me staring at him. “I couldn’t do that in front of Val. It ruins the romance.”
All of the men nodded at this, but I had been a close friend to Mitch Malcom Lewis since the age of five. He had no qualms about ruining the romance. He wanted Violet. Instead, he found Valentina in his bed.
He was looking for any excuse to get out of it. A warm body was not cutting it for him anymore. As Romeo had put it, she was just a woman, any man’s woman, not the woman who made him claim her as his, not the mate who pulled the animal out of him.
I shook my head and said nothing.
“Rosaria enjoys the entire bed. She sleeps better without me in it.”
We all looked at Rocco.
“Is that what you want for me,fratello?” Dario’s tone was so smooth and collected that it took a moment for me to realize that it was more like an arrow aimed at Rocco.
All heads turned toward Dario.
The pressure between the two of them had been growing. Dario had made it clear that he was not going to let Carmen go without a massive fight. He refused to cancel the wedding. He told her that if she didn’t show up, he’d go after her until he got what was meant for him—her.
Rocco made it clear that he should let her go. He felt she had disgraced the family by treating him the way she had been. She was not meant for this life.
Dario trembled with repressed anger and frustration. He stared at Rocco as Rocco stared at him.
I nodded to Romeo, motioning for him to stand next to Dario. I stood closer to Rocco. The last thing I needed was for one of them to get knocked off the boat and into the water. I was off duty, and my wife was having a fucking moment in the bathroom.
“You are better off without her,” Rocco said in Italian.
Dario gave a mirthless laugh. “This from the man whose wife enjoys him more outside of their marital bed.”
“Abree is better suited for you.”
“And who else? Guido? Or the football player who enjoyed her bed?”
