Oh, fuck!
Looking to Marko and Enzo, both brothers were leaning against the far wall, watching intently as Marko grinned eating his bag of popcorn while Enzo typed something into his phone. Instead of protecting me, they were enjoying this interaction.
“Where is my sister?” the woman shouted, making me jump.
Moving quickly, I got off the couch and rounded on my cousins. “Do something? You’re supposed to protect me.”
“Actually, we are only supposed to make sure you stay here. Gio said nothing about protection. Besides, she can’t weigh more than a buck-fifty. She seems scrappy. I’m suggesting you duck and cover.”
The woman in question smarted, “I weigh one-twenty asshole.”
Marko bowed then said, “My apologies, ma’am.”
The pretty woman sighed, looking around the room before saying, “Look, I don’t know what kind of my little pony set up you have going on here and I don’t really care. Just tell me where my sister is and I will leave you alone.”
“What?” I questioned as she cocked her head, waving her arm towards all the romance movies Enzo had pulled out to watch. It didn’t take me long to figure out what she was insinuating and when it sunk into my brain, I shouted, “I am not gay!”
“No need to get upset about it, Sparkles. This is 2022. Being gay is great. I have several LGBT friends. I say own it, baby. Wear your flag loud and proud.”
Marko and Enzo were now laughing uncontrollably.
Fucking assholes.
I was never going to live this down.
“Look, miss,” I began when she interrupted. “Donnie, it’s short for Donatella Stevens.”
“Donnie?” I questioned. “That’s a boy’s name.”
The young woman narrowed her eyes and I instantly put my hands up in surrender. “Sorry. It’s a nice name.”
“Sister. Where is she?”
“Uh,” I sputtered, looking at Marko and Enzo, who shrugged their shoulders. Shit. Why did I have to tell her? Why couldn’t I just send her to the precinct and let the professionals tell her? I was just an innocent bystander.
“Fuck, okay,” I sighed, sitting on the couch. “You better sit down.”
I waited until the woman did as I asked before I continued, “I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just gonna be straight with you, okay?”
She nodded.
“Friday night, when I got home, I found your sister in my apartment. Someone killed her.”
The pretty woman didn’t move. She stared blankly at me. Continuing, I added. “Donatella, I know this is a shock. It was to me too. Penny and I had been friends for years. I don’t know who killed her but the Chicago police are working hard to find her killer. I am so sorry.”
I didn’t know what more to say. Dead was dead. It wasn’t like I could snap my fingers and bring her sister back. So instead, I sat there waiting for her to give me a hint or something. However, when I watched a lone tear roll down her face, I couldn’t stop myself from gathering her in my arms.
Don’t know why I did it but it felt like the right thing to do.
God, she smelled so good and she fit perfectly in my arms.
Silently sitting there, holding her as she quietly cried, I did what I’d seen my brother Luciano do many times. I rubbed her back and stayed quiet as she processed the information. It wasn’t easy losing someone you loved. I should know. I buried my father four years ago and recently my mother. That one was hard. Refusing to think about her, I concentrated on the woman in my arms when she gently broke the embrace.
Had to admit, I was kind of hoping to hold her a bit longer.
“Where is she?” Donatella sniffed, wiping her eyes.
“The Chicago police have taken her to the county morgue,” Marko informed solemnly.