The fear in his eyes is the right amount now. I grin. “Yeah, now I think you understand us.”
This motherfucker pisses himself. The door to the bathroom opens and I turn my head slowly. Dante stands with his mouth open.
“Come in and close the damn door,” I grunt. “Lock it behind you.”
“I just needed to pee.”
I nod my head toward the urinals. “Handle your business. This doesn’t concern you.”
He hurries past us as I turn my attention back to this bitch in front of me. “Have we made ourselves clear, Pissy Pete?”
He nods and whimpers. I drop him and return my gun to its holster.
“Is she okay?” Jace asks me in Danish.
I look him in the eyes and answer. “Andiamo.”
“What about him?” Dante asks as he finishes washing his hands.
“What about him?”
“Nothing.” He shrugs and heads out of the bathroom ahead of us.
CHAPTER 29
Normal
Gio
Hanging up the phone with Ma, I step out of the home office and pad barefoot up the hall, following the sound of the TV. When I make it to the living room, I find Jace and Ny on the couch.
“Everything okay?” Ny asks as her head rests in Jace’s lap as he’s stretched out on the lounger part of the sectional.
I move to lift her long legs and sit, placing them in my lap. My black sleep pants tent as I run my hand up her silky-smooth skin. I throw my head back and stare at the ceiling. I haven’t been this frustrated in a long time.
“They had to rush Barbieri to the hospital, but his fat ass is still breathing,” I mutter.
“That’s good, right? We can make our move soon.”
“Marone. No,” I bite out. “He’s expected to make a full recovery.”
“God, why won’t his ass die?”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Say the word, I’ll kill him, and no one would know,” Jace says with his arms crossed over his bare chest.
“It’s too risky. Trust me, I want to be done with this, but like Ma said, I could start an unnecessary war. That would be playing into Riccardo’s hands.”
“Ugh, that man isn’t about to ruin my night. This is a good movie. Watch it with us,” Ny says.
I remain quiet, but I’m still stewing. Ny sits up and crawls into my lap. She cups my face to turn it to her and presses her forehead to mine.
“We’ve been patient all this time. A little longer isn’t going to hurt us.”
I take her lips, needing her comfort. Jace clears his throat, causing me to look over at him. He has a pillow in his lap covering his gray sweats.
“Are you getting hard, motherfucker?”
“She’s in her bra and panties. I’ve had a semi for a while. You two making out is hot. I like to see her enjoy herself. It’s a turn-on.” He shrugs.
I think this over. We’ve never taken Ny at the same time, but I’ve watched her bring herself to climax. She’s gorgeous while she pleasures herself.
I shake off the thought of watching Jace fuck her. That’s not us. I’m not there.
“Marone. Go take a cold shower. This isn’t your personal LimeWire, asshole.”
He flips me off but doesn’t get up. Ny moves to curl into my side. I wrap an arm around her and hold her close.
“I wanted to watch this anyway,” she says.
“You guys hungry? I was thinking about ordering a pie.”
“Order two, I’m not getting any sleep tonight.”
“Anything to shut you two up so I can watch this movie.”
I punch her side and her laughter fills the air. It’s just what I need. For the next four hours, I hang with my two childhood best friends, eating pizza, watching a movie, and playing video games like we have no real cares in the world.
I pretend to be normal. Something I’ve never been in real life. Something I’ll never get to be.
CHAPTER 30
I Think
Nyla
It’s been a month since Gio’s been living in the States. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see him every day. Since they finished his apartment, he and Jace moved out. Or at least you can say they don’t stay in Tuxedo with me anymore.
It gets so lonely here in this big old house. Most nights, when Gio lets me know he’s not going to make it, I go to stay the night with Lizzy and Elijah.
Tonight, I decided to stay at the house to work on a paper for my online classes. I’m majoring in business. I don’t know what I plan to do with my degree when I’m done. This is just something for me, like Ava suggested.
I bite my thumbnail as I read the same page over in my textbook. My period is late. I don’t know how Gio is going to take this.
I know it’s his. Jace and I have been using condoms for the last year and we haven’t really had sex since Gio has been here. It’s like Jace is waiting for something.