“Whiskey and Coke.”
“I was hoping you had something sweeter in mind.” She winked, then headed back to the bar. She ignored the other patrons and delivered my drink right away. We’d hooked up a couple of times, super casual. She was a cute girl with blond hair and big tits, good in the sack. Nearly ten years younger than me, she was getting her degree in art history from the university, so she’d never had commitment on her mind—which was perfect for me. “Free tonight?”
Rocco’s eyes were glued to the TV like he didn’t even hear the conversation.
I could just tell her I was busy and that’d be the end of it, but I was incapable of lying, whether it was outright or by omission. “I’m seeing someone.”
“Oh,” she said, clearly surprised my dick was spoken for. “Well, maybe some other time.” The second she knew she wouldn’t get laid, she paid me no further attention. She focused on the other people at the bar because at least she might get a tip.
Rocco shook the ice in his glass before he took a drink. “So Aurelia is still in the game.”
“Yeah. She reached out a couple days ago.”
“That’s good news.”
“I helped her move her stuff out of that asshole’s apartment.”
“Did you see him?”
“Yeah.” I took a drink. “She’s totally out of his league.”
“Then he’s either gay or stupid.”
“Theotherwoman moved in with her two kids, so it’s gotta be the latter. Guy’s a fucking idiot. Mark my words—in a couple weeks, he’ll reach out to her. When the last tendrils of the dream clouds start to fade away.”
“You think she’ll take him back?”
“Not a chance. She can’t go from a stallion to a pony.”
“Are you the stallion or the pony?”
I fought the smirk from hitting my mouth. “Fuck you.”
He laughed then took a drink. He also had dark hair, but he was a lot burlier than I was, choosing mass and muscle over cut. He watched the game on the TV for a while before he addressed me again. “Glad things worked out. I know you’re into her.”
“Well ...” That wasn’t really the situation, and I could just stay quiet about it and keep it to myself, but I didn’t have a filter with Rocco. If I were to have a best friend, it would be him, but I wouldn’t say that pussy shit to him or anyone else. “It’s complicated.”
He turned back to me, his arm resting on the table as he waited for an explanation.
“She knew I was involved in organized crime before, but I painted a crisper picture for her.” She’d been a bit skittish when I’d mentioned it in Taormina, but she was able to quickly move on because we were in paradise. “I can tell it freaked her out.”
“This is the life we’ve known for so long that it’s easy to forget how normal people live.”
“Yeah.”
“What are you going to do?”
“She says she needs to heal and all that, so I’ll just take it slow. I know she needs time to adjust to the emperor thing, so taking it easy is really my only option at this point.”
“What’s the rush, Con?” He turned back to the TV, his head resting against the brick wall.
“Not a rush per se.” I shook the ice in my glass before I took another drink. “I just miss what we had. Ever since we got back, she’s been focused on her shit with Enzo and work and her friends.”
“You mean, like a normal person.”
“Why are you always a dick when there’s a game on?”
“Because I’m about to lose a mill on Manchester.”
