36. Nico
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
NICO
E verything went to fucking shit today, and that was putting it mildly.
“I made a mistake,” Luciano gritted. It must have shaved off a few years of his life to say that. “It was Arianna all along.”
When my daughter abruptly took off, I hacked into her phone and then Matteo’s. For the first time in my life, I invaded my daughter’s privacy, betraying the trust of my longtime friend, Luciano, in the process.
As for that fucking Vitale boy… I wanted to strangle him, throw him into a ditch, then leave him there until both of my daughters had happily moved on.
Of course, I couldn’t say any of this because no one could learn I hacked into Arianna’s private messages. They’d all turn on me, no doubt.
How in the fuck did we get here? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“What in the fucking hell happened back there?” Alessio questioned, probably one of the few guests who’d steered clear of the gossip.
Raphael shot him a look. “Where in the fuck were you?”
“Autumn had an urgent… matter to discuss.”
Translation: he was banging his wife. Good for him.
Raphael snickered. “Isn’t Nico usually discussing an urgent matter with his wife?”
I glared at him. “I had to be present for my daughter’s engagement announcement.”
And the chaos that ensued.
“Shit, is this what I have to look forward to with my daughter?” Alessio muttered. “Maybe I should purchase a few more guns.”
“I own a whole artillery,” I grumbled. “It still didn’t help.”
“Maybe a remote island?” Cassio suggested. “It seems to work for Luca.”
Alessio scoffed. “His daughter is engaged to the eldest Marchetti boy, Enzo, so that didn’t really help him either.”
“Stop talking if you want to live,” Luca warned. The fact that his firstborn daughter was arranged to marry was still a sore subject for him.
Luciano scoffed. “These children will drive me bananas.”
“Why would Arianna punch Matteo if she wanted him?” Cassio questioned, putting a stop to the never-ending bickering. “The mistaken identity… fine, I kind of get it. We never saw signs of”—I glared at him and he cleared his throat—“ affection between the two. But then Arianna goes and punches him?”
“You really have to learn a thing or two about kids these days,” Luca remarked wryly. “But let me spell it out for you, and if that doesn’t help, I’ll draw you a fucking picture.” Luca cleared his throat, and I almost expected him to pull out a pair of glasses. “Matteo probably told Arianna she was his one and only…” Luciano and I both growled. “Cut to today, where tensions were high with both girls in close proximity. He and Arianna danced and probably whispered sweet nothings to each other, and then the announcement came… Tada, Matteo’s marrying her sister.”
For fuck’s sake. How do I fix this without breaking Hannah’s heart? And it fucking killed me that Arianna was out there with her heart breaking right now.
The door to the study swung open and Sasha Nikolaev strode in, leaving the door wide open behind him.
“You fuckers certainly know how to throw a party,” he drawled, taking a seat next to me. Fuck. “And I’m talking to you, Morrelli.”
“It’s not my party,” I said dryly, downing my drink, the bitter taste trickling down my throat.
“You and the Vitales always know how to make normally boring-ass shit exciting,” he continued, completely disregarding my remark. “I’m sorry I missed the broken nose.”
Luciano glared at him. “His nose is not broken.”
“And the boy said he ran into Arianna’s… hand. So it was an accident.” Why in the fuck was I even commenting on this shit? I actually wished she’d broken Matteo’s nose.
Sasha snickered. “I’m sure he ran into something .”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Is there surveillance footage I could see of the event?” Sasha asked, completely ignoring me. “Some popcorn and a movie would be good right about now.”
“Fuck. You.” Luciano’s hand twitched and I suspected he wanted to reach for his gun as much as I did.
Sasha turned to look at me. “By the way, I heard Nikola and your daughter might date.”
“Over my dead body,” I gritted.
“If my daughter ever even looks at any Russian, I’m going to kill the motherfucker,” Luca muttered. And that meant something coming from him because he knew how to egg people on. If he couldn’t handle goddamned Russians, I certainly wouldn’t.
“Tell Nikola to stay the fuck away,” I warned him. “From all my daughters.”
I liked the fucking kid, but as a distant acquaintance, not a son-in-law. I could already imagine how our Thanksgivings and Christmases would go. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“You can’t stop love,” Sasha drawled, smiling like a shark. “When Cupid’s arrow hits you?—”
“You better worry about my bullet more than anything.”
“Where is your wife?” Luciano growled, chiming in. “Shouldn’t you be with her and your kids?”
Sasha lifted his legs up and set them on the coffee table, making the whole thing rattle under his weight. “Nah, they’re good, thanks for asking though.” As if on cue, Skye Leone passed by and glanced in the office, and the crazy fucker’s expression actually softened as he signed, murmuring at the same time, “ You good, Skye? Need me? ”
Her eyes darted around the room. Poor girl, she didn’t stand a chance with two crazy motherfuckers watching over her—Dante Leone and Sasha Nikolaev. Maybe she’d get lucky and the assholes would kill each other?
The girl simply nodded and kept on walking, clearly not wanting to get involved. Good for her.
“Arianna is back.” Grace appeared out of nowhere, breathless. “With shopping bags! She’s also wearing a shirt that says…”
“What does it say?” I questioned.
“Between her and her brothers it says… Bang… Bang… Mudafuka .” Her eyes were wide. Sasha threw his head back and laughed, Luca and Cassio soon joining him. Luciano and I were the only ones not amused. “Does Arianna have a gun? Can she shoot? Her brothers wouldn’t let her shoot Matteo. Right?” She shook her head. “No, she wouldn’t shoot Matteo. They’re practically brother and sister.”
Brother and sister, my fucking ass.
I sat back down, my head suddenly feeling like it was about to explode. I needed to end this, one way or another.
“Can you picture Arianna waving her gun around? I mean, that girl can shoot, but kill…” Luciano trailed off with a worried expression, pushing his hand through his hair.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. This day better fucking end soon or I would start shooting, starting with this pale blue-eyed crazy motherfucker across from me.
“Why would she get a shirt that says that?” Grace continued.
“Maybe she wants to wound Matteo,” Sasha drawled. “Hurt him just a little bit. It’s only fair since he hurt her.”
The sound of my molars grinding filled the space before I gritted, “Isn’t there somewhere you should be, Sasha?”
“Nope, I’m staying. You’ll thank me later.”
“I sincerely doubt that,” Luciano hissed, shooting to his feet and pouring us all a refill. God knows we would need it to survive our kids. “Grace, let Matteo know she’s back too.”
“I’ll go get her,” Luca offered, shooting to his feet. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure there are no weapons on her.”
I shot him a look, clearly conveying I wasn’t amused.