After he hung up, I announced I was going to my bedroom. What else could I do in a place with a stranger?
Later that day, I heard the front door open and close.
I didn’t see Bastian for three days after that.
16
Bastian
“What the fuck do you mean you’re on the way to my new place?” Why did I yell questions at my brother every time he was on the phone?
“I want to do a security sweep of the place and make sure the cameras are all doing what I need them to.”
“You can’t do that from Chicago?” I pointed to my driver and mouthed home. He was quick to steer in that direction. I probably would have gotten a smart comment from Dante but he’d gone to handle a job across the country.
“Well, no.” There was a pause. “Plus, we used a little bit of muscle for this Morina girl. I’m coming to meet her and, well, I’m babysitting.”
“You’re what?”
“I have our niece with me.” He grumbled, like he knew that omission would send me into a rage.
“Don’t tell me you have my niece on the jet right now.” I ground out. “Her parents will kill you. Please tell me you called Katie.”
“Well, no. They left me with her for half the day. What did they expect?”
“You’re fucking asking to die. I swear to you, Katie is a damn bratva queen.” I lowered my voice, used to talking in secret when it came to how our family used to operate. “She’s married to our enforcer. Do you understand the concept of babysitting for them?”
Rome and Katie had met when we were all just kids. As we’d taken our rightful places in powerful positions, their love had grown enough that they’d brought a child into the world. That four-year-old was our pride and joy, but also the thing we were most protective of.
“Ivy asked to go to an amusement park. They have one down there with characters and shit. We’ll go for a few hours.”
“You have to plan for a trip there, Cade. They book the damn park out!” I fisted my hand, trying to wrangle the fury I had with my brother’s flippant behavior. He was the youngest. He didn’t know responsibility like I did and he had a knack for doing things before he thought about them.
“Well, I hacked part of the system while we were flying.”
“Of course you did.” I sighed. “You can’t go today. Ivy is going to be too tired. And you better have my niece’s seat belt on.”
“Technically, she’s not your niece. Rome’s our cousin, you know.”
“Of course she’s our niece. We’re Armanellis. She’s famiglia, you idiot. Did you say that shit in front of her?”
“No. She’s squealing to go to the bathroom. I’m just trying to piss you off more, see if you’ll explode before I get there.”
He was making me go back to that damn penthouse and under these conditions. An explosion was warranted. “When’s the plane landing?”
“About 30 minutes. I intend to be there in an hour and we’re going to be hungry.”
“I’m not within an hour’s distance. Go eat somewhere first. I got Morina there and I haven’t…”
“You haven’t what?”
“I’m not really there.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. I didn’t need Cade questioning how I was handling this situation.
“You serious? You gotta play hubby and wifey and you aren’t even getting to know her? That’s not like you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means normally you can find common ground. You have a knack for making alliances, obviously. Is she that bad?”