“Right. Sorry, I panicked!”
I grab the basket and sprint for the stairs, whisper-yelling, “Cheese it!” over my shoulder at Lil.
We spread our food across the coffee table like the picnic of random shit it is and crack open our drinks. We’re halfway through an episode ofThe Office,and our sandwiches are almost gone when Anthony wanders into our living room. He stops and looks around. It’s much the same as it has been for years, except one of Luca’s sweatshirts is on the couch, the video games are a mess, and the caricature from the market is on the wall. He steps over to it, getting a better look.
“Nice setup you girls have. You must spend a lot of time up here.”
“Yeah, we do. Luca, too,” Lil tells him.
“Hmm. Care if I join you? I love this show, and I could use a place to hide.”
“Okay, but if you eat all our food, you’ll be sent down to the pantry to get more,” I say.
“Deal.” He holds his hand out and I shake it.
Two hours later, I’m dealing out cards. We taught Anthony how to play Fortnite but needed a break from getting our asses kicked.
“Just so you know, we’re not actually supposed to play poker anymore, so maybe don’t mention this to Dad,” Lil says as she looks at her hand.
“I just got here, and I’m already being dragged into your shenanigans?” Anthony asks with a laugh.
Grinning, I throw a chip into the middle of the table. “Welcome to the DeVille house.”
Almost all the chips are piled up in front of me when Dad and Luca walk in.
“Shit, no one warned Anthony about playing poker with Ariana?” Dad asks.
“I tried.” Lil shoulders go up to her ears.
“Not hard enough, Lil,” Anthony groans as he loses again. “I never stood a chance, did I?”
Luca chuckles. “Nope. Her poker face is only good for actual poker, but it’s phenomenal then. What do you owe her?”
“My vinyls. All of them. The boat. My ’67 Mustang.”
“Ouch. The Mustang, Minx? Really?” Luca raises his sexy eyebrow my way.
“I was going to see if she’ll take my only son instead,” Anthony teases.
Luca drops onto the couch, and I squeal when he pulls me up off the floor to sit next to him. I snuggle into him. “She already owns that, Dad.”
Mom shows up about an hour into the movie we put on.
“You assholes!” She plops herself down onto Dad’s lap. “I can’t believe you all left me down there with her.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at each of us in turn. “Disowned. All of you.”
Dad wraps his arms around her with a chuckle, and whispers something in her ear that makes her cheeks turn red.
Clearing her throat, she says, “Well, the rest of you are disowned, anyway.”
“Sorry, Mom.” I grin when she looks my way. “Would a boat make you feel better?”
Chapter 63
What the actual fuck?
Ariana
