Not wanting to draw more attention to the situation, though, I turned and went for my things. This time, no one would look at me. One girl started searching through the mess for whatever belonged to her. Another girl started cleaning. All of them started to move to avoid looking at him while he was watching.
Snatching my phone and the bracelet but nothing else—I refused to dig through the mess he made—I shoulder checked him on my way out.
I peeled out of Club D’s parking lot, for the first time feeding some speed to my ride. It was sensitive to my touch, ready for it almost, and it responded by giving me exactly what I demanded of it.
The gates nearly didn’t open in time as I flew through them.
For a second, the rush sent a surge of panic up my chest, knowing what could happen going half the speed I was going. It didn’t take much to send a body flying with enough momentum to crack and shatter glass. Even reminding myself that I had my seatbelt on, which I didn’t have when the accident happened, didn’t seem to help calm my heart. But when I caught sight of Aniello behind me, his black car easily catching up, I punched the gas even harder.
We were switching lanes, weaving around slower traffic, like a carefully orchestrated race. I was barely staying ahead of him.
He probably wasn’t trying to beat me. He was just following me home.
My tires squealed as I turned into the garage at the condominium. I barely put it in park before I jumped out and hustled to the elevator. The door opened for me a second later and then whisked me straight up to my floor.
“Ah!” I screamed in frustration.
Aniello waited at my door, arms and legs crossed, no emotion showing on his face.
Bastard must have taken the stairs! He didn’t even break a sweat doing it!
I angrily opened my door and tried to shut him out, but I knew it was useless. If I really wanted him gone, I’d have to say the words. Extra fluff (drama) wouldn’t budge him.
He turned to shut and lock the door, and when he turned around to face me, I flung one of Bambina’s balls at his face. It was pathetic, because when it hit, it would probably squeak, but there was nothing else to throw at him. We had no random knick-knacks.
For two chicks, we were as basic as two bachelors, except for all the ice cream in the freezer.
He caught the damn ball with one hand and then flung it in another direction. Bambina followed it, so excited to have someone play with her.
ShelovedAniello. Little traitor. Though she took the ball and jumped on the sofa with it after. She’d never caught on to the whole fetch and return game.
“You bastard!” I shouted, crossing my arms over my chest.
He was still close to the front door. I stood in front of the kitchen. We faced off.
He grinned.Grinnedat me when I was fuming. My head felt like it was about to pop off from the rise in my blood pressure.
“There she is,” he said in Italian, taking a step closer.
Whatever I was doing was pleasing him, which was only pissing me off even more.
I took a step back. “Stay away from me,” I said. I looked to my left and to my right, but there was only throw pillows to fling at him. I curled my hands into fists, not sure what I’d do with them if he came any closer.
“We both know I never will,” he said, his voice the exact opposite of mine. Cool. Calm. Collected.
“Because you’re obsessed with me, Assanti.” I sneered at him.
I wasn’t sure what did it. The word obsessed. Calling him by his last name. Or the sneer. But his entire face changed. It wasn’t so neutral anymore. I’d touched a button, and the mask had slipped.
“Good,” I breathed out. “Now you know how I feel.”
“What the fuck did I do?”
“What the fuck did you do?” I repeated. “They already hate me. Now it’s going to be worse. They know you went through all their shit looking for me! What? Did you think I was going to hide my things in another locker?”
“You’re worried about a bunch of petty women who don’t give a fuck about how you feel?”
When he put it that way…that still wasn’t the point. “It’s not about them,” I said. “It’s aboutme. I have to deal with them on a nightly basis. I see them in these halls. I take exercise classes with them. They hate me because they think I’m a…traitor to the oath. And not the one we take for Club D, but the one between women.”
