“He’d deserve it for being such a fucking dumbass and the biggest slut.” Reluctantly, she lowers the weapon, flipping the safety and tucking it into the back of her jeans. Her evil grin is the only warning I get before she lifts her leg and knees me in the balls.
“Fuck,” I hiss through gritted teeth, crouching over and cupping my groin as pain flares between my legs. Black spots flash behind my retinas as my eyes water. Crippling pain gripsme, and I’m panting as I struggle to push through it. After a few beats, the excruciating pain settles, and I straighten up, glowering at my future sister-in-law. “That wasn’t fucking necessary. I don’t disagree, and for the record, I haven’t fucked anyone in weeks. I’m turning a new page.”
She arches a brow. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Sarcasm laces through her tone.
“Those girls need to learn a valuable life lesson, and I’m going to be the one to deliver it.”
Her eyes glisten with interest. “I want in.”
I pin my brother with a smug grin. “I thought you might.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I’m going to make them regret every single hurtful thing they’ve said to Lili. By the time I’m done with them, they’ll wish they were dead.”
Chapter Fourteen
Elisa
“They’re arguing again,” Aria whispers, her pretty brow scrunched in concern.
“It’ll blow over,” I say even though I have no idea why Mom and Dad have been fighting almost nonstop since yesterday. They rarely raise voices to one another, so I understand why my little sister is scared. This is not normal for them.
I’m old enough to remember screaming matches between Mom and my prick of a bio dad. Though mostly it was him shouting at her and her screaming when he hurt her. I haven’t forgotten how terrified it used to make me feel, but I always downplayed it for my brother.
Romeo used to cry, shake, and sometimes pee his pants whenever that monster went off the rails. He was always berating Romeo. Mostly for being too soft. But he was only a little kid, and there was no justification for the awful things our dead father said to him. Thankfully, my brother doesn’t remember much. Even if he sometimes has nightmares when his subconscious attempts to remind him of how that bastard taunted and scared him.
“Don’t worry.” I reach over and hug her, inhaling the scent of peaches that always clings to Aria’s hair. “They still love one another, and they’ll resolve whatever it is.”
“I hate when they shout,” she admits, coloring her picture as she sits at the desk beside me. She is so careful with the lines, wanting it to be perfect. From the time she was three, Aria has drawn pictures for her papa every year for his birthday. I still draw for him too, and I love that my little sister is following the tradition. “Mariah says her mommy and daddy are always shouting at one another. It’s something to do with the maid.”
Yikes. That doesn’t sound good.
“That’s sad for Mariah, and I hope everything is okay. Every couple has disagreements, and at least our parents don’t argue that often.” Or if they do, they usually do it behind closed doors.
“I’m never going to argue with my husband.” Her tongue peeks out as she focuses on coloring neatly within the lines. “I’m just going to kiss him any time he tries to shout at me.”
My lips twitch at the corners. “Sounds like a good plan.”
She lifts her head and stares at me. “Do you have to go back to college tomorrow? I love it when you’re home.”
My heart melts into a puddle at my feet. “Me too, cupcake.” I mess up her hair as an idea comes to me. “How about a slumber party tonight? Just you and me? We can build a blanket fort in the playroom, and we’ll do our nails and put on face masks, and then we can play Monopoly and Candy Land and watchThe Princess Bride.” We’ve already watched it a billion times, but I’ll watch it a billion more times if it makes my sister happy and helps to distract her from whatever is going on with our parents.
“Yay!” She hops up and spins around, sporting a wide smile. She flings her little arms around my neck. “I love you, Elisa. You’re the bestest sister in the whole entire world.”
“I could say the same of you.” I kiss her soft cheek. Her excitement has helped to take the edge off my hurt.
“I’m going to get blankets,” she says before racing off.
I’m smiling as my phone vibrates across the desk. It’s probably Sebastien again. I’ve been ignoring his calls since I left the city, which is unfair, but I’ve got a lot on my plate, and I don’t want to explain. I’ll call him in the morning and arrange to meet him tomorrow night.
But it’s not Seb. It’s my bestie. “Hey, Gigi,” I answer. “I’m okay,” I reassure her, assuming my meltdown on the phone with her yesterday is the reason why she’s calling me again. I laid into her for not telling me Anais was at Caleb’s place, but she explained how she didn’t want to upset me and if she’d known I was going to drop by on Thursday she would have forewarned me. “I haven’t jumped off a bridge or overdosed on sleeping pills.”
“Don’t even joke about something like that.”
“You’re right. It’s not something trivial I should joke about. I just don’t want you to worry. I’m hurt and I’m angry, but I’d never kill myself over a man or anything else. Caleb did me a favor. It’s easy to hate him now.”
A pregnant pause ensues, followed by a tired sigh. “I’m calling to give you a heads-up. Caleb is en route to Greenwich, determined to tell you the truth. I only just found out, so it’s possible he’s already there.”
