His question almost had me faint. The beads of sweat formed on my forehead as I struggled to find something to say.
“Home mostly,” I answer.
“That’s not what I heard.”
In full panic mode, I remained silent, unsure how to respond. Luca snapped his finger, which made Alfie pop open the trunk and pull out a man tied up, letting him fall to the ground.
The man’s face was bloody, so I couldn’t make out who it was, but he was begging for help through the cloth shoved into his mouth. Alfie kicks him in the which causes him to wince in pain.
“Bethany,” Luca said, “Do you remember his man?”
“No,” I was nervous.
“I thought you’d have more class than this,” Luca spat out. “Alfie’s friend Mark works at the mayor’s office. This prick was bragging about landing some hot blonde at a sex party. If it weren’t for Alfie's birthday picture on his desk, it wouldn’t have gotten out that he was referring to you.”
It felt as though I was burning at the stake. The man on the floor was Dillan from the sex party, but I didn’t go home with him or do anything sexual. It was the night Emilio dragged me out.
Luca said, “Emilio have you heard of those sex parties?”
“I have,” again he confessed.
“Have you gone to any?”
“Once or twice.”
“Have you ever seen Bethany at any of them?”
Emilio paused before answering, “I have.”
There was no way Emilio would lie to my brother. That’s the number one rule to being a Consigliere. Luca looked ready to rip his head off. Countless times, Emilio has saved my ass without expecting anything in return. This was my turn. So, I had to cut in.
“I didn’t fuck the guy if that’s what you’re getting at.” I held my breath, hoping to distract my brother from focusing on Emilio.
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?” Luca replied to me, then turned his focus back to Emilio. “Why wouldn’t you tell me something like that, Emilio?”
“You had a lot on your plate. Hosting a Cassariano, dealing with the Appollo brothers—the last thing you needed to worry about was Bethany at a party she didn’t belong. Like all the other things, I handled it without further problems.”
Luca stepped closer to him, “You should have said something at some point.”
I cut in to take away the tension from Emilio, “I begged him not to. I was embarrassed, and I promised not to do it again.”
“I’m supposed to believe it didn’t happen again?” Luca wasn’t convinced.
“I learned my lesson,” I plead. “After he spiked my drink, I– “
“Spiked your drink?” Luca repeated.
I gulp, “Yes. Emilio saw me just in time.”
Luca looked to Emilio, who nodded in agreement.
“It wasn’t worth the stress,” Emilio added, “But it won’t happen again. You have my word—regardless of what it is, I’ll inform you immediately.”
Luca took a deep breath. “You made a judgment call. I respect that. But don’t let something like that slip again.” He turned to Dillon, who was on the floor. “The prick drugged her; what do you think we should do?”
“We should teach him a lesson,” Emilio encouraged.
Luca smiled, “That we should.”
