Chapter 60
ALEX
I woke up confused the following day until Marcello explained that The Devil’s Knights temple wasn’t a dream. Luca brought me there in the middle of the night to scare me and help me remember the past and the role I would play in their future. All he accomplished was giving me a panic attack.
I curled up beside Marcello in bed and lay my head on his chest. “Do you like to read?”
“In my line of work, I spend a lot of time waiting and planning. Books help kill time.”
I peeked up at him with a smile. “What’s your favorite book?”
“ The Iliad .”
“What do you like about it?”
He shrugged. “The themes, I guess.”
“Brad Pitt looked pretty hot as Achilles in Troy . That’s all I’m sayin’.”
Marcello’s laughter shook through me. “The movie version isn’t the same as Homer’s poem.”
I rolled onto my side so I could see his face. “What themes do you like in the book?”
Marcello turned his intense gaze on me, searing my skin with one look. “Homer’s story focuses on the glory of war, fate, mortality, honor, duty, friendship… and love.” His blue irises held mine as he said the last part. “I can relate to it.”
“Do you remember the party your brother threw the day before I left for my final year at RISD?”
“How could I forget?” Marcello licked his lips. “You wore that red bikini that barely covered your tits and ass. I had a front-row seat to the lap dance you gave my brother.”
I waggled my eyebrows at him. “Did you want me back then?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation.
“It’s funny you like The Iliad so much. At the party, Luca said I was his Helen of Troy.”
“And you told him to start a war for you.”
I sighed at the years of heartache I’d brought upon myself after that night. “My first year of college sucked because of Luca. Whenever a guy asked me out, he suddenly canceled on me.”
“The war was with you,” he pointed out.
I drew a breath between my teeth and nodded. “I’m afraid it will never end.”
“It will,” he promised. “Luca needs some assurance that you’re his.”
“But I’m not.”
“Until you give in to him, he will continue to act out. When my brother sets his sights on something, he always gets it. You are the biggest challenge he’s ever faced. He doesn’t realize he needs to accept his feelings to keep you.”
“How do you understand this, and he doesn’t?”
Marcello smirked. “My brother is a genius, but he’s too fucking stubborn to see what everyone else can see.”
“What’s that?”
“You love him,” he said with sadness in his tone. “And you would marry him if he’d return your feelings.”
“I don’t know what I want anymore or how I feel about him.” With a groan, I covered my face with my hand. “I need time and space to wrap my head around everything. Aiden is still missing. Men tried to kill me. You almost died. We have more important issues to worry about than me marrying Luca.”
“I’m not normally home this much.” He brushed his fingers down my arm, creating tiny bumps on my skin. “Luca will have more time for you.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. Every time we discussed the possibility of us having a future, Marcello steered me in Luca’s direction. I could tell he cared about me. So why did he keep championing Luca? Was he so loyal to his family that he would rather give up on us?
I pushed my feelings aside, maintaining a calm exterior so he couldn’t see how much it hurt me. “What exactly do you do for Salvatore Global?”
“I lead Alpha Command.”
“Yeah, I know.” I flipped onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. “But what does that mean?”
“On the books, we handle security for the largest companies in the world.”
“And off the books?”
Marcello’s fingers caressed mine, snapping my attention back to him. “I lead a team of mercenaries. When corrupt men need an army with no affiliation or interest in their conflict, they hire us.”
Knowing Marcello was the leader of a badass army turned me on for some sick and twisted reason. I almost drooled on myself, imagining what he would look like in camouflage pants and no shirt.
“Do you steal?”
He gave me a nonchalant shrug. “Whatever the job requires.”
“So you’re like the anti-Robin Hood,” I said with a chuckle. “You steal from the rich and give to the rich?”
He shook his head, a ghost of a smile crossing his lips. “Yeah, I guess that’s one way of looking at it. But no, it’s not that simple.”
“What attracted you to that kind of work?”
“Luca’s book smart. My father knew that his mind works in ways mine never will. My dad said I had to find my place in the family.”
“Yeah, he’s kind of an evil genius.”
Luca got into Harvard University without using any of his family’s connections. He let his SAT and test scores speak for themselves. That crazy asshole was accepted without bribing anyone or donating a new wing at the school.
Marcello bobbed his head in agreement. “I hated school. It was boring and didn’t seem to have a point.
I wanted to attend York Military Academy, but my dad refused.
So, I begged him to let me train with some of his men at Salvatore Global when I was a sophomore in high school.
It was basically like ROTC, but it was more intense. ”
“If you could do anything, what would it be?”
“People like us don’t have choices,” he pointed out.
“My parents didn’t want me to paint. Look at how far I’ve come with my career.”
“You don’t know my dad well. None of us had a choice.”
“Luca’s never complained to me.”
He shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t. Luca is where he wants to be. He’s my father’s twin. Two megalomaniacs plotting world domination.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” I laughed. “When your dad moves, Luca moves with him. I’m surprised they’re so close after seeing Luca’s back and chest.”
“Luca took the brunt of the punishments.”
“You’re loyal to Luca, even when you shouldn’t be. Do you feel you owe him for helping you?”
“In some ways, yeah, I guess. We were never close as kids, but after my mom died, he would throw himself in front of me and take my dad’s punishments. I think he liked it.”
“Yeah, I get that,” I admitted. “The way he’s treated me over the years… Your brother is a monster.”
“He cares about you, Alex. I know he has a funny way of showing it, but Luca needs you.”
“If that were true, he would have treated me better. He doesn’t love me. Most of the time, I think he hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you, not even close. My brother can’t process emotions. When he was younger, my parents took him to different doctors. They thought he had alexithymia, but none of the doctors could pinpoint his diagnosis.”
“What is alexithymia?”
“It’s a disorder that prevents a person from expressing and feeling emotions.
He gets angry, confused, and disconnected from people.
That’s why he’s not affectionate and lacks empathy.
But Luca doesn’t have any of the underlying medical conditions associated with alexithymia.
So, the doctors refused to label him. My parents forced Luca to talk to psychologists and psychiatrists.
His doctors thought he was making progress, but he’s so fucking smart he figured out how to play them.
They all fed right into the palm of his hand. ”
“Even as a child?”
Marcello nodded. “You don’t know how manipulative Luca can be.”
I snorted with laughter. “I know what he’s like. Sociopaths don’t have feelings.”
He tapped his fingers against mine with a serious expression on his face. “You’re trying to rationalize your feelings for Luca by adding a title to his bad traits. It’s not that simple with my brother.”
“I just want to understand why he’s like this. You’re nothing like him.”
“We had different roles to fill within the family. Luca will unravel if he loses you. He’s been slowly falling apart since the meeting with your grandfather.”
“Marcello,” I breathed. “I think you already know this, but I need you, too.”
He squeezed my hand. “I’m here for you, but I think you and Luca need each other more.”
“I have given him years of my life, getting nothing in return.”
“In his own way, he loves you.”
“His actions are not loving,” I shot back.
“I won’t make excuses for Luca, but I will say this. Talk to him. Tell him what you want. And if he tells you no, then you have your answer.”
I stared into his eyes momentarily and had the itch to draw my Lonely Boy. “I like you, Marcello.”
He wet his lips with his tongue. “I know.”
“And I think you like me, too.”
“I do.”
I released a sigh. “So, where does this leave us?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m in the mood to read,” I told him, mostly because I needed a reason to leave the bedroom. “How about I read The Iliad to you?”
He smiled, a real one that lit up his face. “Yeah, that sounds good. It’s on the table at the center of the library.”
I climbed off the bed and stepped into a pair of fuzzy slippers. “I’ll grab it and come back.”
I stepped into the hallway. Dom leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. He dressed in a suit, a gun at his waist, and gave me a quick nod as I walked toward him.
“Everything okay, Miss Wellington?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Just grabbing something for Marcello.”
I rushed down the corridor and ascended the stairs to the third floor.
The library was in the west wing. Luca’s office, bedroom, and library were on this floor.
I flung open the heavy wooden doors on my right, and my eyes widened as they traveled up and down the two-story library.
The large room had vaulted ceilings and endless bookcases.
I strolled toward a long wooden table piled high with leather-bound books.
As I flipped through the titles, I recognized a few classics like The Canterbury Tales and The Great Gatsby .
I wondered who read these books. Did Luca sneak in here late at night and devour the pages?
Was this where Marcello hid from his family?