“I’m not either but this is a special brew of my mom’s. She swore by it. She said it was the next best thing to sex.”
“I doubt that,” he said unsure reaching for the steaming cup. I didn’t blame him for being a little apprehensive. I would have been wary of myself too. I mean, I only met them not even twenty-four hours ago but I did have my young southern charms. Who would suspect a hundred-ten-pound girl?
I would.
Regardless, I kept my mouth shut as both men took a drink.
They didn’t need to drink all of it. Just a few sips and it would be lights out. So, when Nico swayed, I moved quickly to grab the cup before it fell to the floor. Turning, Eduardo looked at me and was about to say something, when he too closed his eyes.
“Sweet dreams boys.”
Rushing back to the kitchen I dumped the rest of the liquid from their cups, washed them and dried them before putting them back in the cupboard. Returning the ingredients back to their rightful places, I headed upstairs to find Lorenzo walking out of his room.
“All packed?” I asked, seeing him dragging a large piece of luggage behind him.
“Yes. What about you?”
“Oh, I’ll just grab my bag and we can leave.”
After changing into a pair of jeans and a hoodie, I grabbed my backpack and met Lorenzo downstairs where he was staring at Nico and Eduardo.
“What the hell did you do to them?”
“Nothing. I just made them some tea. I guess they really liked it.”
“Did you kill them?”
“No,” I sighed. “I’m not a murderer. They will wake rested and full of energy in about eight hours and we will be long gone by then.”
“Remind me to never drink your tea.”
Rolling my eyes, I hefted my backpack over my shoulder and said, “Whatever. I make great tea. Now let’s go. I called us an Uber while I was getting ready.”
“We can take my car.”
“No, we can’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if your brother has a tracker on it somewhere. We stick to public transportation” I said nothing more heading for the front door. I wasn’t going to wait around for him to make a decision. I wanted out of this place. I needed to be doing something. Anything but sitting on my ass twiddling my thumbs.
“Why do I think you are not some simple country girl?”
“Because I’m not,” I said, opening the door to the waiting Uber. Getting in, I slid over allowing room for Lorenzo. Neither of us said anything as the Uber slowly pulled out of the driveway.
I knew the next couple of hours were going to be a test of Lorenzo’s patience. It wasn’t every day that a spoiled rich kid was forced to ride public transportation. To make matters worse, I was about to force him onto a bus. I would bet my last dollar the man had never been on one. Public transportation, in my opinion, was a Godsend. Not only did it get a person from point A to B but it also took care of the possibility of any police interference. It was the perfect mode of transport for any individual needing to lay low and relax without all the drama of driving. Plus, it was the one mode of transportation for which anyone could pay cash without anyone batting an eyelash.
I had to give it to the man. We’d been on this bus for over six hours now and in that time, he said absolutely nothing to condemn the public transportation department. In fact, he didn’t even complain once. Which was shocking because that was what I was expecting. Instead of criticizing the lack of luxury the man smiled and thanked the driver. He even talked with a few passengers as if they were long-lost friends. During the ride, I’d caught him smiling as he listened to an elderly man talking about visiting his granddaughter. A mother trying to get home to her kids and a teenager traveling back to school. It seemed that by the time the bus rolled into Fort Lauderdale, Florida Lorenzo Valentinetti had made friends with every passenger on the bus, including the driver.
I must say I was actually proud of him. I thought he would have complained the entire way, finding fault with everything around him, including the peasants on the bus. I really didn’t know what to make of the nice and kind Lorenzo Valentinetti.
Overall, the trip was rather pleasant and when we stepped off the bus into the sweltering heat of that was Florida, I wasn’t shocked when he stretched and said, “Thank fuck that nightmare is over.”
Yep. The condescending asshole was back.
I should have known it was all a façade.
“One more minute on that disease-infected box car and I would have contracted the plague. How people willingly use that mode of transportation is beyond me. Did you see the state of that bathroom? Cholera. That was what was festering and growing in there, cholera. Now, where’s a decent bathroom. I have to take a leak.”
“The public restroom is over there,” I sighed pointing to my left.
“Are you trying to kill me?”