8
MATTEO
“He marries today,” Alessio commented as we sat in my lounge, playing pool. He took his shot and sank his ball before going in for another as I watched from my seat.
“A fool,” Klaus muttered, shaking his head.
I nodded my agreement. “Lorenzo De Luca is as smart as his father was.”
“We liked Anthony,” Alessio pointed out.
I grunted. “That was a long time ago. Then he took Delilah. And Anna. And it is the difference. I do not like Lorenzo. At least with Anthony, I gave a modicum of shit once upon a time.”
“Anna was his sister-in-law,” Klaus said. “Technically, she went willingly.”
“She went because I was a worthless husband and she feared me,” I said, swirling my whiskey in my glass. “And not a great father.”
“She went because your father told her to go,” Alessio said, missing his shot and cursing softly. Klaus stepped up to play his turn.
“You know this,” Alessio continued. “It’s a moot point, my brother. Why dwell on it?”
“Because maybe I could have made it work,” I said before shaking my head. I didn’t know what the hell was the matter with me. I was never this weeping guy. Lately, I’d been struggling, and I knew it was because of the things Sylar told me.
Things I knew couldn’t be undone.
We all had a part to play, after all.
He still hadn’t sold me on any of it, though.
And then there was Bianca. I was drawn to her like a moth to flame. I found myself standing outside her bedroom countless times, eager to open the door, if only to see her face.
I’d step back each time because she currently belonged to Alessandro, and I did not want a rift with my boy. He said he’d marry her. Real or not, it didn’t matter. In all senses of the word, she belonged to him now.
“I’m just tired,” I muttered. “I need to get out of this house.”
“We can get women to Klaus’s.” Alessio looked over at Klaus.
“They are dirty and don’t clean up. No.” Klaus shook his head. “Every time you bring a woman to my place, they get drunk and throw up and leave beer cans and wine bottles. I’m not running a college dormitory.”
Alessio chuckled. “Take one for the team.”
“I have taken several. Let’s go to your place,” Klaus countered.
Alessio scoffed. He hated bringing women to his place. He was a bit of a strange man in that respect. He’d rent a hotel room to fuck in before hauling a woman to his high-rise.
“We can stay in. I am not so hard up that I feel like listening to Alessio bitch about his leather sofa getting middle-class pussy on it.” I drank some bourbon and looked out my window at the darkening sky. “Where is Drake?”
“Likely sulking in his room.” Alessio shot and missed, cursing softly again.
That seemed likely. All that kid did was sulk. His catching me coming out of Bianca’s room had been mildly uncomfortable. I knew he had a thing for her. She was free to have him if she wanted. I assumed if Dominic was against it, he’d simply have him killed.
It was no business of mine.
We continued to play pool, each taking turns on the winner until we’d had a little too much to drink. Klaus and Alessio went to their rooms upstairs, and I sat around, drinking another glass.
By nine, I was standing outside Bianca’s door, staring at it like it would open and tell me the secrets of the world.
What am I doing?
