“I will wait there until you’re finished here.”
Her face fell. “Why?”
“The car keys, Zahra.”
“It’s not that deep. I already apologized—”
“I wouldhateto argue in front of an audience.” I looked over at the Tatty woman, who did not bother to hide that she was looking and listening.
Looking back at Zahra, I put out my hand. She sighed, fishing in her small bag for the keys. When she found them, she dropped them into my palm.
“Elio—”
I was already walking away from her and out of the shop, itching with a need to project my anger, the jealousy twisting my gut from her blatant ignorance regarding what that man had wanted to do.
They might have been friends who groped each other—if there was a friendship of that sort—but she hadmenow; it should have gone without saying that there was a fucking line neither of us should cross with other people.
Or maybe she saw no need for that line because whatever this was, it wasn’t serious for her.
Overbearing and controlling were the last things I wanted to be. Those traits set off her alarm bells; I saw it in how she had locked her shoulders when I told her we were leaving; Iknew she would bite off my finger instead of allowing me the space to demand we leave.
I wasn’t blind to the privileges she had given me, the little trust she had let in, and I did not intend to misuse it. So I had to leave that space to contain myself because acting on my primal thoughts would have resulted in something more serious.
I did not want my anger to take away the little trust we seemed to have built. Or to supply her with the notion that I was exhibiting traits like the other men who had fed off the control they had on her.
It was apparent that, like her, I was clueless when it came to relationships.
I sighed, breathing in fresh air, before I got into the car, grabbed my phone, and placed a call to Angelo.
It rang three times before he picked up.
“Marino?”
“Do you recall that time I told you that if I needed relationship advice, I would come to you?”
“Uh… yeah?”
“Good, now is that time,” I told him. “I need relationship advice.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Zahra
“Men, am I right?” I raised my hands, dropping them with a tight smile as I approached the counter. Tatty shot me a knowing stare that made me slump my shoulders and groan in exasperation.
“When I realized you two were together-together, I regretted not having popcorn to see Julio get beat up,” she admitted.
Despite my worry, a smile tainted my lips. “Me too… kind of. But that’s me and Julio, Tatty. That’s how we play.”
“Letting him touch your tits in front of a man who givesI can squash you till you’re dustenergy? Yeah, no, you were playing with Julio’s life at that point. Besides, you’ve got yourself a man now; you can’t be letting Julio touch you like that anymore, or talk to you like that in front of your man. That’s not cool.”
“Yeah, probably, but you don’t know Elio, okay? He’s—I mean, he can be a little extra sometimes, and it’s not like I knew he would get offended. Besides, he ignored me throughout the ride here, and you don’t see me being a bitch about it, in fact, I didn’t care. Why? Because I am mature and I will not be that person. I’m bigger than that.”
Tatty laughed, shaking her head. “I did not miss that attitude.”
I grinned. “I know you love me, everyone loves me, they just like to pretend they don’t love me, but I know they do. I am very lovable.”
Her stare gaveReally?as she snorted and said, “Okay, Zahra.” She shook her head. “How did it go with that Devil kid, though?You guys still roll?” she asked, assembling different needles to racks.
