Twisting around, she strode straight to him and shook her fist in his face. “Gino, so help me, you better listen and listen good, because I willnotsay this again. I will never marry you. Ever. Leave me the hell alone. We may have grown up together, but I don’t like you right now. I really don’t.”
And if her throat hadn’t closed on her, she would’ve told him to get lost.
“But I’ve been working my ass off getting jobs this summer so we can have a big wedding,” he said, truly clueless to how close she teetered to the edge.
Tony stepped forward, expression dark, jaw tight as he wedged himself between them. “You heard my sister, she said she doesn’t want you. Don’t ever harass her again.” He slapped the keys to the idiot’s chest. “Take the van and get out of here. You can pick me up at my parents’ house in the morning.”
Something in her brother’s tone must’ve gotten through to the guy’s thick head, because he closed his mouth and got in the van.
By this time, her bravado and strength were just about spent. Her whole body shook.
“Come on.” Tony slid his arm around her. “Let’s get you inside and you can explain to me what the hell just happened.”
She snorted. At least, that was what she was going for but a strangled sound came out instead. “The man I love hates me,” she muttered, leaning against him as he helped her inside, and upstairs into her third floor apartment.
He sat her down on her couch, then disappeared into her kitchen and returned to shove a glass of water in her hands. “Tell me what’s going on,” he said, sitting next to her.
After sipping some water, she set the glass on her coffee table because her hands were shaking too much. And she was cold. God, she was so cold. Fighting tears, she told him briefly about her relationship with Ryder, and then about how their company was underbidding and hurting his business.
Tony blew out a breath and shoved a hand in his thick, dark hair. Although she loved her middle brother dearly, right now, she wanted to smack him, too.
“Why were you even bidding in Pennsylvania, Tony?” she asked with a shake of her head. “Surely there’s still enough work in New York?”
He dropped his hand and twisted to face her. “It wasn’t me. Gino’s the one who’s been doing the bids.”
“Gino?”
Tony nodded. “I confronted him after you’d called about that ice cream parlor bid. Turns out he’s been dividing his crew in half and working two areas. I put a stop to it. He was overworking his men. I made sure they got paid.” He set a hand on her back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know until you’d called. I assumed he was just working the New York jobs I gave him.”
Anger fisted tight in her chest as she focused on the company. It was safer than letting her thoughts drift to her mess with Ryder. “Did he at least pay the workers?”
“Yeah. I made sure of it.” Tony scowled. “I also went through the material receipts on the jobs he did, and had to go in and replace a few things to make sure the job was up to Colarusso standards. I appreciate the initiative but not the execution.”
“What was he thinking?”
“That you were going to marry him, I guess. Although, that’d be over my dead body.” He smirked.
She was too raw to respond to that. “Does Dad know about this?”
“Yes.” Tony nodded, easily going along with her subject change. “And Gino’s on probation. Doesn’t matter how good of friends Dad is with his dad, he won’t stand for jeopardizing the Colarusso name.”
Her control was starting to slip, so she just nodded, and fought through the burning behind her eyes.
A strangled sound rumbled in her brother’s throat as he pulled her into his chest. “What can I do to help?”
“Nothing.” She sniffed and burrowed closer. “Ryder was right. I should’ve told him.” The damage was done. It was up to her to try and fix things. To explain. And, oh yeah, she was definitely going to track him down and explain. But it would have to wait until she could go back to the Poconos.
She just hoped it wasn’t too late.
Hoped it was enough.
Chapter Eighteen
Ryder cracked open a can of beer as he sat at the edge of his dock and stared out at the lake. Still vast. Tranquil. Loaded with fish. Sun still glittered off it without mercy. Nothing about the vista had changed over the past four days.
Unlike him. He hadn’t been the same since New York.
Hell, he didn’t even really remember driving home the other night. He’d been numb, operating on autopilot. It wasn’t until he’d passed a frowning Ben by the armory that his dazed brain had realized he was back in Pennsylvania.
