Page 167 of The Devil's Fire

“Here.” Lorenzo handed her his card, and she happily snatched it out of his hand.

“That’s why you’re my favorite brother! You’re so cheap, Damiano.”

“I bought you a car last week. Which you crashed.” He crossed his arms, a crease forming between his brows.

“You were in a car accident!” I shrieked out in shock.

“Not really. Raffaele purposely drove into my car for being a sore loser.”

“Why in the world would he do that?”

“We were racing, and I beat him. He was jealous that my car was faster than his, so he crashed into it.” She shrugged.

I shook my head in disbelief.

“Thaia, remember that one time we took mom’s car, and we accidentally dented it in a parking lot?” Cara laughed, making me smile at the memory.

“Don’t you mean you dented it? You were the one who drove the car, yet I was the one who got spanked with the wooden spoon.” I scoffed.

“Your mom hit you with a wooden spoon?” Arianna looked at me, both surprised and amused.

“Mhm. My mom is not shy with the wooden spoon and would pull it out whenever we misbehaved. Cara, being the favorite child, got out of it almost every time. By the way, how does it feel to be the favorite child?” I asked with a fake, sweet smile.

“Amazing! You should try to be one.” She grinned with a wink, and I flipped her off.

“It was always me and Michael who got in trouble. Actually, Michael got spanked the most.” I chuckled.

As soon as I mentioned Michael, I could already feel Damiano’s gaze burning into me. I purposely kept my eyes down as I bagged the last dress.

“Who’s Michael?” Arianna asked.

“Just a friend we grew up with.” I said dismissively. “Here you go!” I handed them their bags, not wanting to talk about Michael when, clearly, Damiano had strong opinions of him.

Arianna grabbed her bags and practically shoved them into Damiano’s arms for him to carry.

“You’re too spoiled.” Damiano frowned but still carried them.

“I’m your baby sister. I deserve to be spoiled!” She said and dramatically flipped her hair back.

“See, this happens when you spoil them too much.” I shot him a look, and he returned it with a wink.

“With the shit I had to go through, this is the least they can do for me. I deserve to be spoiled for life for beating my ass in training.” Arianna scoffed and handed me Lorenzo’s black card.

“I bet he regrets giving you his card now.” I chuckled.

“Please, this isn’t even going to make a small dent in his bank account. While you’re at it, give yourself a hundred percent tip.”

“You are seriously enjoying spending someone else’s money, huh?”

“It’s fine.” Lorenzo said, not caring about the amount Arianna was spending.

“No, thank you. You bought half of the boutique and that is more than enough.” I smiled.

Just as we finished, the sound of the door opening caught our attention. My mother, who was distracted with rummaging through her purse while walking toward us, didn’t notice the rest of the company present.

“Hi, mom.” I greeted, trying to get her attention.

“Hi, honey.” She said while still distracted by whatever she was trying to get from her purse. “I have just put my phone in my bag, and now it has disappeared! How does that even work?” She said, frustrated, and let out a sigh of relief when she finally got her phone.

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