She stopped in the doorway, her silhouette cutting against the light. “You really want her to hate you.”
A grin twisted across my face. “Hate makes her fuck better.”
Mia rolled her eyes and flicked her hand at me. “You silly boy.”
I rushed up the rest of the way and went straight to the office.
As soon as I entered, I locked the door. The clock started ticking louder, like it knew I didn’t want to hear it.
1 a.m.
Voices moved through the walls, faint but growing sharper.
I went to the bathroom, needing the shower, needing to wash it all off before I met Enzo at Punta Nora.
I walked through the park, the dark swallowing the woods with every step until I reached the path that led to the cliffs of Punta Nora.
That’s where Rocco buried Rio.
The shovel rested on my shoulder as I moved deeper in with a cigarette hanging from my mouth and a smoke trailing behind me.
Enzo was already there, standing near a bush of oleander flowers with a small wooden cross beside it. His shovel was half-buried in the dirt.
Every time I saw him, I couldn’t help but stare. He was the spit image of me, just thinner. Same height, same frame. The only difference was his eyes. One blue, one brown, and his long blond hair tied low at the back of his neck.
“You’re late,” he said, crossing his arms.
“What are you talking about?” I looked at the watch on my wrist.
3:01 a.m.
I raised a brow and set my shovel down, blowing out the last drag of smoke. “Anyway,” I sighed, dropping the cigarette and crushing it under my shoe. “Why are we here?”
“We came to say hello to our brother,” he said, shoving his shovel into the dirt and turning the first patch over.
I laughed. “You saying you missed him that much?”
He grunted, working the shovel harder. “So much I saw him walking in Rome.”
I tilted my head. “You think he’s alive?”
“Very much so.” He grunted again, digging deeper. “A little help?”
I blinked, then drove my shovel into the ground beside him.
“Well, fuck me. If he’s alive, I’ll be next underground.”
Enzo stopped and looked up at me.
“What did you do?”
I smiled, blinking slowly.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “One fucking thing he forbade us both to do.”
I kept smiling, the corner of my mouth curling before I bit my lip and sank the shovel back into the dirt.
“He asked me to keep an eye on her, make sure she’s taken care of,” I said with a laugh. “Well, I did.”
