Chapter 14 #2
Spending any amount of time with Santo was like being around a gas leak. The toxicity gradually got to you until there was nothing left but loss. At that point, the metaphorical damage you walked away with was meaningless because it was for naught, making it all the more painful.
She leveled me with a look, her eyes momentarily gravitating toward the ring on my finger.
Whatever she was searching for, she wasn’t going to find it.
Unfortunately, she was tangling herself up in the Delucas so much so she would never be able to find her way out.
The labyrinth was too difficult to navigate, especially for someone who hadn’t been working on the creation of a map in the same way I had.
The only way to defeat the beast and make it out on the other side was getting to know them. I’d spent my whole life doing that.
Her long lashes fluttered as she curled a tendril of her hair with her finger. “That much I can tell. Then again, I never believed otherwise.”
Ignoring her comment, I crossed my arms. “It wouldn’t be good for our bottom line, but if it did come out, because you wanted it to, then so be it.” I wasn’t about to tell her what she should and shouldn’t do regarding her personal life.
“I have no intention of it ever coming out.”
A shrilling whistle cut through the air, alerting me the water had reached its boiling point.
“Sure, you should know you have the option. At least, as far as I’m concerned.
” I gladly left her gaze and tended to the kettle.
Then I reached over and grabbed the herbal tea from the assortment I had.
Lorenzo was always bringing me back something or other from his international excursions.
This was from the United Kingdom. Supposedly, nothing else compared.
Not that I would ever know whether that statement was true or not.
Black coffee was the only acceptable hot beverage, in my opinion.
Finally making herself comfortable, she approached a barstool, sliding onto it.
Gracefully. Slowly. Until she exhaled and reached for the mug I had placed on the counter.
“You didn’t have to make me tea.” She busied her hands on either side of the mug.
Puckering her lips, wrinkles formed around them as she strained to blow on it before taking a sip.
“You’re right.” Heat coursed through my veins as I contemplated the tight grip she had on her drink.
I knew her hands were soft, smooth, and when she wanted it, her grasp was sturdy, firm.
Like at my parents’ house. Like now. But what would it be like to have it wrapped around my cock?
Holding it still so it didn’t slap her sweet cheeks while she tried to take me.
Narrowing my gaze, I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt.
“Wait for that to steep. How are you feeling?”
Clearly forcing a grin, she peered down into her tea as though attempting to read her leaves, to find an answer among them. “Fine.”
“Nothing that conspired tonight could have been good for the baby.”
Her head snapped up as her eyes darkened. They looked menacing, but also, beautiful. Otherwise, her expression was unchanging. “Truthfully, I didn’t give any thought to it.”
Blatant lies had a tendency to piss me off, but I didn’t think there was anything dishonest about her statement. Anger climbed up my spine as I considered, not for the first time, how there was a deeper meaning behind what she had said. I cracked my knuckles and elevated a brow. “Why’s that?”
“I’m used to it.” She mindlessly took a spoon to stir her tea. There was hardly any emotion in her voice, which was arguably more troubling than the deal we’d struck with our deranged fathers.
I froze, my muscles stiffening at an alarming rate.
“It’s surprising our fathers aren’t friends or business partners or something. They’re quite alike,” she said.
While I knew Raf fell short as a businessman, not knowing his ass from his elbow when it came to intelligent, tactical decisions, and that he was just as cunning as Santo, I hadn’t known just how similar they were.
Was he manipulative? He had to have been.
Was it all under the guise of family loyalty like it was for Santo? The one thing he’d use to go to drastic lengths to get what he wanted.
Truth be told, Santo usually wouldn’t do business with someone who was similar to him.
It made more sense for them to be in a feud than an arrangement that benefited them equally.
Santo tended to have power issues in that he liked to be the man with all of it.
Which was why, knowing Santo, I still was going with the notion that he was getting more out of this deal with Raf than he let on. If not, he wouldn’t have agreed to it.
“Marco, just as you didn’t have a say in the matter, I didn’t either.” Her eyes widened, and she leaned back, grabbing the counter as she arched backward, stretching. “It’s a fatal character flaw, really. I’d do anything for my family, even at the risk of my own demise.”
I suddenly understood her. “They count on that.” I understood it well, probably better than most. It was a difficult thing because, for as much as I appreciated the belief that family came above all else, I detested it just the same.
“They’re family.” Her voice basically dropped to a whisper.
They were more than that.
They were fiercely devoted friends.
Important pieces to an empire.
Characters of a legacy.
Connections.
Someone to call on in times of need and crisis, knowing full well they would come without question, without wanting or needing anything. Except when it was their turn to cash in on a favor.
No matter the type of deed, it would get done by them, for us, because we didn’t turn our backs on family.
It was one of our most defining and demanding principles as Delucas.