“Quit talking crap and just say whatever it is you need to say,” I snap, sick of his shit.
All our fathers—Andrey, Joseph, and Giuseppe—used to be best friends until Joseph hooked up with Maria behind Giuseppe’s back, which resulted in Anthony.
The betrayal ruined the friendship, but our fathers—always putting business first—remained business partners, refusing to give up the power, money, and control they had been accumulating in Harbor Point. But according to Dominick, Andrey and Giuseppe have been trying to push Joseph out little by little.
“I’m going to marry Brielle,” Anthony says with a smug look on his face.
“Bullshit!” I bark. “My sister’s only in kindergarten, you fucking perv!”
I go to attack him, but Lorenzo holds me back.
“Not now.” Anthony rolls his eyes. “When she’s eighteen. And when I marry her, we’ll be family.” His gaze moves over to Lorenzo. “And Dominick has to marry Daniella,” he says, referring to Lorenzo’s baby sister.
“Stop your fucking lies,” Lorenzo says, “or I’m going to let Matteo beat your dumbass into this sidewalk.”
“I’m not lying.” Anthony cackles. “Don’t worry, Mattyboy. I won’t beat your sister the way your dad beats your mom, but I’ll make sure to fuck her.”
“You perverted fuck!” I yell, going after him again.
This time, Lorenzo doesn’t hold me back. I rain hit after hit on Anthony, not stopping until I’m being pulled off of him by a big-ass guy I don’t know.
“Stop it,” he demands.
“No! He’s talking shit about my sister!” I try to go back after Anthony, who’s lying on the ground, bleeding all over the place and threatening to tell his dad like the little bitch he is.
“Do I need to call the police?” another gentleman asks, standing in front of the store door.
“No, it’s over,” the big guy says. “Let’s go.”
“Fuck that!” I bark.
“Let’s go,” the guy repeats, pulling me away by the back of my shirt.
“Where?”
“You’ll see.”
He continues to drag me away with Lorenzo following.
But when we get over to his shitty car, Lorenzo eyes it up and down and says, “Hey, uh, I gotta get to my dad’s office. You know he gets pissy when I’m late after school. You coming, Matteo?”
I glance at the guy, who’s silently waiting for me to make a decision. I don’t know where he wants me to go with him, but since I have no desire to go home, I shake my head.
“I’m good. I’ll hit you up later.”
Lorenzo sighs and nods, but then takes off.
“Do you make it a habit of getting into cars with strangers?” the guy asks once we’re in his car and driving away.
I quirk a brow at him. “Are you trying to kidnap me? Because I don’t know if you know who Andrey Antonov is, but he’s my sperm donor.” I haven’t called him Dad since I was old enough to know what a piece of shit he was.
“Name-dropping while talking shit? Nice.” The guy laughs. “I’veheard about your old man, but he doesn’t scare me. Only pussies hit women and kids.”
With that one statement, the guy has gained more respect from me than I’ve ever had for Andrey.
A few minutes later, we cross the tracks that separate North and South Harbor Point. I’ve never had a reason to come to the south side of town, but I’ve heard Andrey talk about it. It’s where his men sell his drugs and run his hookers. He also has guys who collect protection payments from the local business owners to ensure nobody fucks with them.
We pull up to a shady, run-down building, and the guy turns off the car and gets out, so I follow suit, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. The sign on the outside reads …
