My brother aims a suspicious glare at me and then over to the bodyguard in question. “Fine. But I’m not gonna stop fucking my wife just because you’re in my house,” he says. T throws out a fist, and I watch as my brother’s head snaps to the side. He wasn’t expecting that. “What the fuck?”
“That’s my sister, asshole,” T groans at him.
That’s a whole situation on its own. We recently found out that our cousin isn’t a Valentino by blood and that he had a half-sister in Italy. It’s a long story and not really mine to tell. But we should note that my brotherdidn’tmarry our cousin. Our family is close, but not that kind of close.
“My wife, and wife trumps sister, asshole.” Neo shoves at T’s chest. They don’t look like it right now, but those two really are best friends.
“Pack a bag, Marco. You’re coming to our place,” Angelica says, ignoring the two grown men still shoving at each other like teenagers.
“How did we end up getting stuck with these two?” I ask her.
“I don’t know. But I like your brother an awful lot.” She laughs. “He does this thing with his tongue…”
My hands shoot up to cover my ears. “La, la, la… I can’t hear you!”
“Stop being so juvenile,” Neo tells me.
“Juvenile, really? Okay then, how about I start telling you all aboutmysex life? You know, I met a guy just last week. Went home with him, and let me just say, those fingers…” My sentence is cut short by a growl. But it’s not from my brother or cousin. No, it’s from Marco. “Problem?” I raise a brow at him.
“Yeah, you’re currently being threatened by an ex-boyfriend. I really don’t think now is the time to sit and recall your past conquests,” he grunts. “I’m gonna pack a bag.” Those words are thrown over his shoulder as he walks away.
“Charming, that one.” I roll my eyes. “You really know how to pick 'em, bro.”
“Why do you think I picked him? Because I knew he’d be the last guy you’d fall for,” Neo says.
Guess the joke’s on him then, huh?Wait. No, it’s not. I haven’t fallen for Marco. I just happen to like what I’ve seen of him so far. And what I’ve felt. And the way he’s made me feel…
“Seriously, can you find Kye sooner rather than later? I can’t put my life on hold forever,” I plead, while doing my best to change the subject.
“I will find him. Don’t you worry about that. We have our best guys on it,” Neo says, pulling me into a hug. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Helena.”
Those words, while well meaning, don’t offer me any comfort. We grew up hearing the same sentiment and it did nothing to save my sister. I keep those thoughts to myself, though. I always do. Instead, I smile up at my brother and lie. “I know.”
Neo frowns at me. His mouth opens and shuts. Whatever he was going to say he chooses not to. And that’s probably for the best.
Chapter Ten
I’ve been pissed off ever since Helena started talking about some guy she met last week. I don’t want to hear about her being with other guys. What I do want is that fucking list ofhers so I can go and slaughter anyone who knows what she feels like.
It’s irrational, and I’m working really damn hard to control my rage. Because I know it’s insane. I barely know the girl. But every time I see her smile, something strange happens to me. And I’m left wondering what I have to do to see that smile more often.
“You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders,” Helena says, plopping down next to me on the sofa. So close that her thigh brushes against mine.
I shift over slightly. We’re in her brother’s house. I don’t need to give him a reason to have my head on a spike. Though I think he already suspects something happened between the two of us.
“I have some psychopath with a boner for a woman I’d like to keep in one piece. So, yeah, I have the weight of the world on my shoulders.” I choose my words carefully. You never know who’s listening around here.
“Well, you’re far too hot to be frowning. Try to smile more. It’s a better look on you.”
“You think I’m hot?” I ask, a grin already creeping up my face.
She lifts a shoulder. “You’re not,nothot,” she says, just as a blur of hair and little legs comes barreling into the room before the body they’re attached to goes leaping into Helena’s open arms.
“Zia Helena, you’re having a sleepover with me!”
“I am. I hope you have candy for me.”
“I have so much, but we have to hide it from Mama,” Izzy, my boss’s daughter, says.
