Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
S even Months Later
Bianca
I’m late. I’m fucking late. This is what I get for staying up late last night reading when I should have gone to bed after the fourth chapter.
Out of my room, I’m desperately searching for my keys when the front door opens. I startle to find Sandro and Gaetano entering the suite.
“Hey,” Sandro nods at me. “I thought you had class.”
“I do. I’m late. Have you seen my keys?” I don’t dare do more than acknowledge Gaetano with a nod.
“Nope. Give me a minute, Gaetano. I left it in my office.”
“Are you trying to get men off wearing a dress that short?” Gaetano grits out the words.
I look down at the dress. What the hell is he talking about? It’s past my mid-thigh. “What I wear is my business. It’s not that short. And it’s a hundred fucking degrees outside. I’m going to be running around campus, and one of my classes has shitty a/c, so fuck you very much.”
“Seriously? I can’t leave you two alone for two minutes. And really, that’s a short dress, Bianca. Can’t you wear shorts underneath it or something?” Sandro is back carrying a thumb drive.
Hurt and angry he’s agreeing with Gaetano. “You two are the biggest hypocrites in this city. The last woman I saw you with, Sandro, I could tell how recent her bikini wax was, for fucks sake.”
Sandro rolls his eyes. “That’s an exaggeration.”
“No, it’s not. You know what, I don’t have time for this. I’m late.” I grab my backpack and head downstairs, opening up the app for a car service to come pick me up.
“Forget the app. I’ll drive you.” Gaetano sighs from beside me in the elevator.
Sandro shakes his head. “You can take my car.”
“Fuck you both. I’m not in the mood for either of you right now. I’ll get myself to school.” I’m so pissed I’m shaking, and I’m not sure why exactly. Anger has a hold of me and won’t let go.
The moment I walk out of the hotel, Gaetano is on me. “Quit being a brat. I’ll take you.” Gaetano growls at me.
“Fuck you,” I growl right back. “The driver is four minutes away.”
Before I can blink, I’m up over his shoulder as he walks me to his car. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m not spanking your ass the way I want. So you should be grateful for that.” He smacks my ass as I try to get off him. Opening the door to his SUV, he slings me on the seat like I’m a sack of potatoes.
Slamming the door shut, the asshole engages the lock. I watch as he tells the driver that he isn’t needed.
“What the hell Gaetano?” I demand the minute he opens the door.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out. Put your damn seatbelt on.”
I consider saying fuck it and go upstairs and taking a nap. This day started off bad with me sleeping through my alarm. I’m shaken out of my head by Gaetano reaching over and grabbing my seatbelt and him buckling it for me.
Annoyed at my body for betraying me and Gaetano for being such a jerk, I refuse to look his way.
“What the hell is going on with you?”
“I haven’t seen you in months. You don’t say, hi or hello or anything in the realm of a greeting. All you do is jump to yelling at me for a short dress. Which is bullshit. From you and Sandro. I’m so fucking tired of it. I show my knees and I’m a slut. Yet the women you guys are around regularly flash their nipples and whether they’re wearing panties. I’m sick of it.”
“I didn’t call you a slut. And I didn’t yell at you,” he grinds the words out between his teeth. “I didn’t even raise my voice.”
“That’s what it felt like, all the way around. I’m tired of being around Sandro and made to feel like I’m going to hell for what I’m wearing. Yet, watching him with chicks who are wearing half of what I do. Meanwhile both men and women I’m around in school call me a prude for what I will and won’t wear.”
His sigh is heavy. “Look, I apologize. It surprised me seeing you in something so short. Whether you want to believe it or not, we’re simply looking out for you. If a man sees you in a dress that short, he’s going to like what he sees. Which means it could be a problem if you don’t like him or welcome his attention. Because what’s going to happen is he’s going to overstep a boundary. You know me, and you know your brother. What’s going to happen if someone messes with you, Bianca?”
Closing my eyes, I want to sink into nothingness. A place where I don’t have a mafia brother and Gaetano who wants me but doesn’t want to, or… I’m not even sure anymore. “Someone’s going to, at best, break their jaw, and where you both love to go so much—dead.”
“It’s not where we love to go. It’s simple, efficient, and we can move on.”
I exhale a laugh. Efficiency.
We’re almost a mile away from where I need him to drop me off and direct him to turn.
He catches me staring at him. “What?”
“The reason I’m wearing this dress is because a guy I’ll see in one of my classes today told me that I should never wear this dress. I looked too much like a sausage. Since he said that three months ago, and I’ve lost ten pounds, and wanted to show him I didn’t care what he had to say about me wearing this.”
Those black eyes are deadly. “Point him out to me.”
I laugh. “No, he doesn’t deserve it. He’s miserable. You killing him would be a relief. Let him live in his pitiful existence. But I will point out right there, can you stop please?”
His jaw works as he slows the car and turns off the child safety lock on my door. “Be careful.”
“I will. Thanks for the ride.”
Three Months Later
Bianca
I groan at how short the dress is. Please don’t let Sandro see me in this. He’s going to flip his lid when he sees it. Especially since I had the talk with Gaetano, and I paid more attention to hemlines and did my best to find the sweet spot between the sex appeal of the dress and how long it was. Sandro even went so far as to tell me that he appreciated the changes only two weeks ago.
This is different, though, it’s a Halloween costume. The party is in a fraternity on campus. If I wear something under it, everyone will think I’m a weirdo. I have no doubt there are going to be far more risqué costumes worn tonight.
The minute I open the door to my bedroom, I hear the television in the living room and consider hiding in my room again. Sandro should be working, it’s a night that’s usually pretty busy in Vegas for partying. I check the time, only a little after nine. I told Adam that I would meet him at ten. With how bad traffic is going to be, and there was no mention of going out to eat, I wanted to roll through a drive-thru on my wait—just in case. If I wait until Sandro leaves, I’ll be late.
Shit. Both Sandro and Gaetano or on the couch watching a football game. Immediately, both look pissed.
“Go change, Bianca.” Sandro is harsh.
“What the hell are you even supposed to be? Looking for a job in a brothel?” Gaetano snipes at me.
“For your information, I’m Dorothy, and Adam is the Tin Man. Just because you’re the same thing every year—miserable old man doesn’t mean everyone wants to be the same.”
Sandro frowns. “Who is Adam?”
“He’s in my economics class and is pre-law. His dad is a lawyer and on the city council. The costume was his idea. He thought of it and planned it, and I’m not changing.”
“Was it his idea to let everyone see your ass if the wind catches the back of that dress?” Gaetano murmurs.
Flashing him an exaggerated smile. “I don’t have to worry about the wind inside.”
“Do me a favor. When you bend over, make sure you get cash from the men who see it.” Gaetano murmurs. “It’s only fair.”
I flip him off as I walk out the door.
Gaetano
“You’re really going to let her leave looking like that?” The words are out before I can stop them.
Sandro sighs and leans back into the couch. “What am I supposed to do? It’s not like I can force her to wear more clothes. Intimidation is all I have. I’m losing my edge when it comes to her. There’s a reason why we’re here now. She mentioned the date in two sentences while I was busy. That’s something she does when she doesn’t want me to know what she’s doing. I was hoping he would come and pick her up, and I could get a look at him and scare the fuck out of him.”
I watch him go through his phone. “Shit. At least she’s honest. Adam Blake is supposedly a good kid from a good family. I sure as fuck wouldn’t have thought about costumes when I was his age. Exactly the kind of guy I should be glad she’s out with. I just wish she’d done it wearing more clothes.”
His phone rings. It’s clear it’s downstairs. They need him to go down and settle business. Ending the call, he stands. “Thanks for coming over.”
“You need help or want me to go keep an eye on her?” I hope to fuck he can’t tell how badly I want him to order me after her.
“Nah, don’t worry about it.”
We go down in the elevator.
“Drinking started at noon, be careful going home.” He urges me.
Nodding, I go one way out of the elevator when he goes another. I bring up the app for the tracker on Bianca’s vehicle. Fuck that. I’ll be watching her ass until she’s home safe.
A search on Adam Blake pre-law for UNLV gives me a fraternity. A fraternity that has photos of the place decorated for a party tonight. Address locked down, I check her tracker and find she’s got another half-hour before she gets there.
Two hours later and the fucker is trying to get another shot down Bianca. The fucker knows how to play it, smiling, teasing—not pressuring her to make her uncomfortable. She’s hesitant but accepts the third shot from him. Then she dumps it into the red plastic cup of warm beer she’s been carrying around all night. He tried to refill it for her almost half an hour ago, and she managed to hold him off.
The problem with Bianca is she’s such a lightweight when it comes to drinking the one cup of beer, and two other shots she’s already had, have her unsteady on her feet. She stands, pulling her purse close to her—clearly, she’s talking about leaving. He’s shaking his head, and I’m frustrated as fuck I can’t hear what’s going on.
I’m plugged into cameras for the fraternity house. My car fits with the ones around me, but there’s no way in hell I could go in there and fit in.
His hand wraps around her arm to keep her in place. I’m not sure if it’s on purpose or not, but the contents of her cup are all over him. He backs up, pissed and yelling. I blink, and she’s out of the building. Good girl.
Weaving unsteadily on her feet, she makes it to the edge of the parking lot, where I see her SUV parked. Sonofabitch. She’s not going to try and drive home, is she?
But no, she’s not leaving. Almost ten minutes later, I have the answer to the question: a car from the app she uses for rides pulls up. She gets out of her SUV and into the back of the car. I’m relieved as fuck. Now, to figure out how to kill Adam without it coming back to me.
Bianca
Three Months Later
“Sorry, I’m late. Luca wanted to confirm some things before he left tomorrow. He also had this for you.” Sandro gives me a kiss on the cheek as he puts the box on the table.
Ooh, pretty box. I open it to find a gorgeous leather handbag I never would have asked for let alone thought I would carry. “It’s gorgeous. He didn’t have to do that. It’s amazing already that he’s allowing me, Joanna, and her mom to use the jet to go to Rome for my Christmas slash birthday present.”
He shrugs, “Your twenty-first birthday is a big deal.”
“For future reference, this is the kind of party I want. Every year. No club, no room full of people I don’t really know or care about.” It’s annoying that my birthday is so close to after Christmas that both usually get lumped together.
Sandro shakes his head. “Use your voice, sweetie. I would have listened. I’ll always listen.”
I shrug, self-conscious. “I kind of hoped you knew me well enough that I didn’t have to say it. But you’re right. That wasn’t fair.”
His smile is sad. “You’re right. I’m a bad brother?—”
“Hey, no. I don’t want to make you feel bad. I’m sorry. You’ve been an amazing brother. I’m very aware I’m lucky. And you’re right. I could have told you.”
A waiter approaches the table. We’re in the elegant, three-Michelin-star restaurant of the hotel on the strip.
“Even though it’s not her first drink, since it’s her twenty-first, let’s go ahead and start with champagne. How does that sound?” He asks me.
I nod with a giggle. “Sounds awesome.”
“Wow, princess, when you giggle like that, I would have thought you were far younger than twenty-one.” Gaetano is dry with no hint of a smile.
Our eyes meet, and the longing I see in his steals my breath before he blinks, and it’s gone. How dare he do that to me? To allow me to see it for even one moment—that he wants me as badly as I’ve always wanted him. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be busy kicking puppies?”
An eyebrow goes up. “Kicking puppies is on the weekend. Weeknights are for torturing bratty little girls.”
Sandro sighs. “Bianca, come on.”
“You didn’t tell her. Let me guess, you were going to wait until she was happy on champagne.”
“What is he talking about, Sandro?”
“Don’t be mad. But you have to know I couldn’t let you go to Rome by yourself for a week. So…Gaetano is going with you.”
This feels like a cruel joke. I’m supposed to wander around the city of Rome with Gaetano and not end every night begging him to fuck me? There’s absolutely no way it won’t be a complete disaster. “I’m not going by myself. We’ve already had this argument. I agreed to Joanna coming with me. Then that wasn’t enough for you, so her mom is coming with us. It’s one week in Rome, hardly a war-torn, lawless country.”
“Bianca, don’t be like this. Three women alone, two of them young and beautiful. No, you’re not going alone to another country where they love to traffic women who look like you.” Sandro is firm.
“Why can’t it be someone else?” If it isn’t someone else…
Another sigh from Sandro. “Because it’s a week near Christmas when we’re spread thin as it is.”
“Fine. I’m not going.” Swallowing my disappointment, I shrug at Sandro’s frown. “This whole thing was your idea. I didn’t ask to go. Thanks for the idea of it, but I’m not going with him. He’s an asshole who takes enjoyment in being an asshole. That is not who I want to spend a week in Italy with.”
Please don’t let him see through me. Don’t let him see that the only thing I want in this world is Gaetano. It’s too embarrassing, because Gaetano might want me, but not enough to give me what I need. He got over me making his cock hard once or twice. I still haven’t gotten over being held in his arms and would do anything to feel it again.
Gaetano rolls his eyes, and I want to smack him—hard. It wasn’t fair that he didn’t know how it felt to be so haunted by someone. “Quit being a brat. It’s ridiculous not to consider your safety.”
“I’m not being a brat. Fuck you. I don’t want to go. Cancel it, Sandro.” I demand.
Sandro shakes his head. “Enough. Fine. You don’t want to go then I’ll cancel it.”
“Good.” I swallow my relief. Joanna is going to cry. Whatever.
“You’re serious.” Sandro is stunned. I guess he thought I would back down.
“Very.” I double down. All we’ve done is be in the same room for more than ten minutes, and I feel like I’m coming undone from the need to touch him, taste him… What the hell is the matter with me right now?
Shaking his head, “Fine.” Sandro looks to Gaetano. “Never mind, man. I appreciate you agreeing, even if she didn’t.”
Disgusted, Gaetano pushes up from the table. “I’m relieved. Happy Birthday, princess.”
He walks away without looking back.
The rest of dinner is quiet, with Sandro obviously annoyed with me. I’m in bed by ten that night, crying over what I missed…the chance to be with him, to find out if we could…
When I open the envelope Sandro hands me at breakfast, I’m stunned. “What is this?”
“What does it look like?” He smirks. “You’re going to Italy. With security from Valdez trailing you, Joanna, and her mom. No Gaetano in sight.”
“Oh my god, thank you.” I hug him tight.