“I don’t want it,” Leo says, snatching it off his friend and placing it back in the box. Then he inserts it in the main box and hands it back to me. “I’m not accepting this.”
Tears stab the backs of my eyes. “Don’t be an asshole. It’s a gift. Say thank you like normal people do,” I snap, hating how my voice wobbles a little.
“Nat?!” My brother shouts at me from behind, and I close my eyes for a second, preparing myself for it. I set the box down on the table.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he yells, coming up alongside me and taking my elbow. “And what the hell are you wearing?” His blue eyes turn almost black with rage.
“Fuck off, Mateo.” I yank my elbow out of his hold. “It’s a party. I’m here to party.” Turning around, I take Frankie’s hand. “Let’s dance.” She doesn’t let me down, linking her arm through mine and letting me push our way into the middle of the dance floor. Archer stands guard with Brando from the edge of the dance floor, both looking uneasy. Over their heads, I spot Mateo and Leo exchanging harsh words I know are about me.
I feel eyes all over me as I dance, but no one even brushes up against me. Everyone knows who I am, or if they didn’t before, they do now, and no one will risk even talking to me. Pity. Because using Santino to make Leo jealous worked like a charm the last time, and I wouldn’t have been opposed to doing that with some random hottie again.
We dance for a while, working up a sweat, but I’m not enjoying myself. I have lost sight of Leo and the blonde whore, and that cranks my anxiety up another couple of levels.
“You need to leave,” Mateo says in my ear, grabbing me from behind and spinning me around. “Papa would freak if he knew you were here.”
“Relax, Matty.” I push off his chest. “I’m eighteen, and it’s not like I can get into any trouble here. Everyone is afraid to even look at me.”
“This is no place for a girl like you.”
Anger resurfaces, trundling through my veins. I plant my hands on my hips and glower at my brother. “What the fuck does that mean?” I roar in his ear.
“It’s a compliment, Natalia. Jeez. You’re too good for a place like this, and I want you to go.”
I shuck out of his hold. “I’ll leave when I’m good and ready.” Mateo looks over my shoulder and purses his lips. Briefly, he closes his eyes before reopening them, a look of determination clear in the depths of his blue eyes. “I know what you’re doing, Nat, and it won’t work. He’s moved on. See for yourself.” He jerks his head behind me, and acid churns in my gut.
Frankie threads her fingers through mine. “Don’t look,” she says. “Let’s just go.”
Ignoring the blood thrumming in my ears, I spin around, and the world falls apart around me. Pain slams into me, almost taking my knees out from under me. Leo is dancing with the blonde, and they are all over one another. I see his tongue as it plunges into her mouth, and his hands are splayed across her ass, squeezing and kneading her bony butt. She’s grinding against him, basically dry humping him in public, not caring who sees her.
A sob bubbles up my throat, and my heart is pounding against my chest cavity, screaming to be let out. Air oozes from my mouth in heavy spurts, and I can scarcely breathe over the pain infiltrating every part of me.
Leo grabs her waist, pulling her tighter against him as he thrusts his hips into hers.
A crack forms in my heart. So loud I feel like everyone must have heard it.
His eyes dart to me, thick with lust, as he whispers something in her ear.
I stand rooted to the spot, wanting to leave but incapable of forcing my limbs to move.
Grabbing her hand, Leo tugs her through the crowd, and I watch as they disappear down a hallway, out of sight. Tears are screaming to break free as I realize where they are going and what they are planning to do. But I refuse to break down in public. I refuse to give him any more power over me.
I push my way through the crowd, holding my pain inside as I desperately flee the place.
The second I’m outside, the dam breaks, and I burst into tears, stumbling along the side of the club to get out of sight before someone sees me. I throw up when I reach the top of the parking lot, clinging to the corner of the building, while my heart shatters and my stomach heaves. I can’t even move at the sound of approaching footsteps, and I’m all out of fucks to give.
“I’m sorry, Nat,” Mateo says, reaching out for me. “I know you’re upset, but it’s better you know.”
“Get the fuck away from me!” I yell, swinging around and slapping him in the face. “This is all your fault!” I say, taking the tissue Frankie hands to me and dabbing my mouth. Archer and Brando hang back. The former looks like he wishes he was anywhere but here, and the latter looks troubled. “I know you told him to do this,” I hiss. Because I know Leo would never be cruel to me on purpose.
“I know you want to believe that, but I don’t tell Messina what to do. You’re naïve to all of this, Nat. I get that you’re mad, and if you need to take that out on me, so be it.” He shrugs, like the red handprint on his cheek doesn’t bother him in the slightest. “But I’m not the one with my tongue down Mandy’s throat and my hands on her ass. I’m not the one inside fucking her right now. That’s all on Leo.”
“I hate you!” I cry, wrapping my arms around myself. “And I hate him. You can both go to hell.”
24
Leo
My phone pings with an incoming call, vibrating across the top of my bedside table, but I can’t summon the strength to answer it. It’s been the same this past week, and I know I need to pull myself together. Angelo has left me alone to grieve, but I’ll be expected to return to work on Monday. Life must go on. Even if it was only yesterday that we buried my best friend,my brother, in Union Church Cemetery.
