Kane and I bonded over our shared love of coffee. After doing some light shopping, he brought me to a gorgeous shop located at the top of a Chicago skyrise where we could look out at the sunset over the city. It was stunning, almost as much as Kane himself. We didn’t just have coffee in common, but we were both mixed-race, and we found ourselves comparing notes. My dad was white and my mom was black, and his parents were the opposite. There were many similarities between our parents, and it was fun reminiscing about growing up with him. We exchanged more than one flirty peck as we chatted, Kane was just a kissable kind of guy.
Lastly, Brix took me to an amusement park, which was odd, because from what I’d learned about him, he didn’t like junk food, crowds, or thrill rides. As we walked around, we talked about our close relationships with our sisters. Brix had broken his back doing everything he could to make sure she had a great life, and it reminded me of Jada. He told me that Dante always wanted siblings, but was an only child. It made so much sense to hear it in that context and why he was so family-oriented. We concluded the night on the largest roller coaster in the park, which made Brix very queasy. I laughed at him as he bent over a garbage can, laughing himself, in between gags. In the end, he admitted he only brought me because he thought I would enjoy it, and I kissed him on the cheek for the sweet gesture.
I had so much fun spending the week with the guys and letting Dante recover. I learned more about them and realized that I fit more into their little family than I originally realized. I was glad that Dante pushed me to go out with them, almost as glad as I was to snuggle up in bed with him at the end of it all, and drift off to sleep with him sweetly caressing my back.
“Thank you,” Dante’s voice whispered into my ear as I was on my way out.
I kissed his pec beneath my face. “For what?”
“For teaching me that sometimes it’s okay to let people take care of me,” Dante replied.
“I’ll do it for as long as you let me,” I said.
Dante’s hand gently squeezed my hip, and he didn’t need to give me any response. His emotions flowed from his fingertips into my skin. He may not have been ready to admit that he was thinking about the future, but I could feel in his touch that he was, and seeing as I had only just started to come to terms with thinking about it myself, that was plenty for me for now.
Apollo
I was starting to get annoyed as hell. It felt like everywhere I went, people were giving me odd looks and whispering the second my back was turned. I walked into our Chicago offices and all of the employees were treating me the same way. If I looked at any of them, they would quickly avert their gazes, leaving me confused and steaming.
“Sir?” I looked over my shoulder and my P.A. was standing there with a look of fear and concern on her face. “Have you looked at the tribune today?”
I scoffed. “No? Why?”
She was shifting her eyes everywhere but right at me. “Maybe you should just look.” She scuttled away before I could probe her for more info.
I pulled out my phone and navigated to the website and my stomach flipped over. The headlining article was titled ‘Marcello’s Whore’ and had pictures of Sadie with Brix, Kane, myself and brother, and even Dante, locked in passionate kisses with Sadie. I dropped my head in defeat. We’d been so dumb. We all took her out and all kissed her and didn’t keep eyes out for paparazzi at all?
“Fuck,” I hissed.
I made my way back out of the building, grabbing someone’s copy of the newspaper as I went and rushed to Dante’s. I was hoping to make it before Sadie saw anything, but when I entered, I could see Dante sitting in his family room with her sitting on the couch sobbing next to him. I was too late. She had her phone in her hand and was scrolling through Twitter.
“It’s been relentless,” Dante said sadly.
“I’m a slut, I’m a whore,” she looked up at me, her eyes puffy and red, “I make prostitution look good!”
“I’m so sorry, Sadie,” I murmured. I sat down on the other side of her and rubbed her back, but no amount of comforting I nor Dante seemed to do was helping. Her phone rang and ‘Mom’ popped up on the screen and Sadie’s breathing hastened. “Oh my god.”
“Breathe,” Dante said.
Sadie kept trying to catch her breath, but it wasn’t coming easy. I pulled her phone from her hand, set it aside, and then knelt on the floor in front of her. I put my hands on either side of her face and massaged her temple.