2. Elio
ELIO
Valentino took a hard hit to the side of his face and went down. I kept moving, hopping on the balls of my feet, back and forth, and took in the pathetic form of my friend.
I shook my head as he picked himself up, sweat dripping down his face.
“You’re distracted,” I said. “Distractions can get you killed.”
He got up, and we circled each other once more. “I thought this was supposed to be practice. You didn’t need to fucking hit me that hard.”
“And you think the fucking Russians will hold back?”
He didn’t say anything, just spat out a mouthful of blood and saliva.
Hell no. It had only been a few months since everything went down at Giulia’s birthday party, with Andre leading the fucking Devil’s Wings MC along with the Novikov Bratva in to kill us.
Andre was dead, the MC was weak and barely hanging on by a thread, but the Bratva was as strong as ever, ruling over the East Coast with an iron grip, even with the pathetic excuse of a human being, Anatoly Novikov, as the pakhan.
It was his boy we were worried about. Boris Novikov was like a big, annoying fucking headache that wouldn’t go away.
And the fucker was only twenty-two. I couldn’t imagine how things would be once he gained a little more experience and his old man finally kicked the bucket.
Boris would have a fucking army at his disposal.
It could cause us some real trouble someday.
Which was why I needed everyone to be on top of their game, especially Valentino.
Valentino threw a punch. He was fast, but not as usual. I managed to move out of the way at the last minute.
“What’s got you so distracted?” I asked, dodging his kick.
“Isa.”
And just like that, Valentino managed to tackle me to the floor of the boxing ring, paying me back for that punch he took earlier. And the fucker didn’t hold back. I let out a grunt as the taste of metal exploded on my tongue. I tapped his side, and he finally got off me.
We sat in the middle of the ring, looking at each other and breathing hard.
“What about your sister?” I asked, keeping my tone casual.
Fucking hell, but the little brat had been ignoring me.
It happened the year of her eighteenth birthday when she confessed her feelings toward me, not that she had been able to ignore me fully, considering we were both a huge part of Valentino's life. She got better at staying away from me after her twenty-third birthday. I didn’t know why this shit was bothering me so much.
I wanted her to get over her silly little crush on me, didn’t I?
I did.
At least, I had when she was nothing more than a little kid, but now…
I wanted her to get over her little crush, but I didn’t want her to cut me out of her life like this. And now, it felt like there was this heavy pressure on my chest that I didn’t know how to lift.
I didn’t fucking know where my head was at.
And just the mere mention of her name and Valentino managed to tackle me to the ground.
“My old man is pushing for marriage again.”
I tensed. “And what did you say?”
He shot me a strange look. “I said she wasn’t ready. And she’s not. I promised her that whoever she married would be her choice, but she is not even seeing anyone right now.”
“You sound confident about that,” I said.
He nodded. “I am. You know what a shit liar she is. Her face would give everything away. My sister hasn’t even had her first kiss. You think she has someone she wants to marry?”
I didn’t say anything to that. I was fucking glad she wasn’t seeing anyone. In my mind, no motherfucker would be good enough for her.
“Do you think she’s lonely?” Valentino asked me suddenly.
I looked at him. “I think you would be better at answering that question than me. Why’d you bring that up?”
“Just the way she was looking at me when I dropped her off at my apartment this morning. You think I should get her a puppy?”
“Does she want a puppy?” I asked with a laugh.
Valentino reached over and punched my arm. I grunted. Fucker.
“I’m serious.”
I shrugged. “She might be more of a cat person,” I answered. After all, Isa’s personality aligned more with a cat, but then again, what the fuck did I know about that?
The last time I saw her genuinely smile at me was… fuck, when she was eighteen, right before that confession. Why couldn’t things just go back to the way they were before that night?
I stood up and held my hand out to him. “Come on. Let’s clean up and get back to work.”
He grabbed it, and I helped him up before we hit the showers.
I pulled up to the huge house, just one away from my own.
It wasn’t the same home I had grown up in, filled with nothing more than abuse, violence, and test after test, delegated by my monster of a father, that my brothers and I needed to pass just to fucking eat.
He wanted us to prove ourselves worthy of the De Luca name. Shit had been rough for a while. I was fucking glad Massimo killed him when he did. My only regret was not being able to take part in that. I would have loved nothing more than to feel the fucker’s blood turn cold in my hands.
I shook away the bloodlust coursing through my system from the thought and walked up to the front porch. The front door opened before I could knock, and a small bit of a girl ran out with a squeal.
My body instantly went on full alert as I wrapped my arms around Luna to stop her from running off. “What happened?”
I pushed her behind me and pulled out my gun.
“Elio, no! It’s fine,” Luna yelled out.
“Stay behind me,” I said.
She grabbed the back of my shirt as I ignored her and aimed my gun. Massimo came running out, a devilish smile on his face at first, until he saw me. He stopped in front of me, his eyes assessing. I kept the gun out, wondering if there were going to be any other people coming out, but…
What the hell was wrong with his face? Why was my brother smiling like that?
“Fucking hell. What's happening?” I asked.
“Put the gun away,” Massimo said calmly.
“You were smiling,” I commented, tucking the gun back under my shirt.
Luna came up to my side. I wrapped my arms around her affectionately, pulling her in closer. Massimo narrowed his eyes at the move, and I held in a grin. My brother knew I thought of Luna as nothing more than a sweet little sister I wanted to protect from all the ugly shit in this world.
Didn’t stop the fucker from being possessive as hell.
“Hey, little brother?” he said, his eyes still focused on where Luna and I touched.
“Yeah?” I said, tightening my arm around her a fraction. She pressed her hand against my side, and I looked down to see gray eyes glinting a bit in the sunlight. She was much more mischievous than I initially thought. Marriage with Massimo obviously agreed with her.
“Let go of my wife before I break your arm.”
Luna gasped while I laughed.
She pulled away from me and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at her husband.
“Don’t threaten to hurt your brother, Massimo. It’s not nice.”
“Yeah, Massimo,” I said in a mocking, hurt voice. “It’s not nice.”
“Even if the little shit deserves it?” he asked.
“He does not,” she argued.
I laughed. Obviously, there was no threat. The only thing out of place was the fact that my brother was smiling.
“Why did you look like that?” I asked.
“Like what?” Massimo asked dryly.
I shrugged. “I don’t know… all creepy and shit.”
Luna made a slight sound in the back of her throat that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. But when I looked at her, her expression was neutral. She was getting better and better at controlling them.
“We were playing a game,” she explained.
“Luna,” Massimo said sternly, as if trying to keep her from saying anything.
“A game,” I repeated. “My brother? The one who seems to have a perpetual stick up his ass?” Luna shot me a slight look of reprimand. I didn’t know what they were going to do once they had kids because she could not pull off the stern look to save her life.
Massimo glowered at me.
I bit the inside of my cheek. This was fucking gold. Wait until Romeo and Matteo find out about this. Especially Matteo. He was never going to let Massimo live this down.
“What kind of game?” I asked.
“I don’t know. He was just chasing me around,” Luna said with a laugh at the same time Massimo said, “None of your fucking business.”
I threw my head back and laughed.
“Elio, it’s not nice to laugh at your brother,” Luna admonished.
It was nice to see her gaining a little confidence with each new day. The Luna I had met back in Chicago wouldn’t have said anything at all.
I nodded and tried to put on a serious face. Massimo reached over and punched me in the arm. The same arm that Valentino had punched earlier.
I grunted while Luna gasped, looking at my brother.
He didn’t fucking hold back. He grinned and turned to his wife, his eyes softening.
“Why don’t you go eat something, sweetheart.
I have things to discuss with Elio. And Matteo and Romeo will be here soon enough.
Can you tell them to meet me in the office? ”
She nodded, peering up at her husband adoringly.
I felt a small pinch in my chest, and I didn’t know what to make of it as I watched them interact.
I rubbed my hand over my chest as Massimo leaned down and kissed Luna sweetly, quickly.
She was blushing, avoiding my eyes as she moved back inside the house.
We stood there for a bit before Massimo turned and walked inside as well, and I followed.
While I hadn’t been keen on this marriage at first, especially since it had been our power-hungry bastard of an uncle who had arranged it with the Lombardi family in Chicago, Luna and Massimo seemed to bring out the best in each other. Massimo helped her gain the confidence she needed, and Luna…
I had never seen my brother like this.
Not soft, exactly, but…
Happy.
He was happy.