Page 18 of Tammaro DeLuca

“You think whether I like men is a reason for you to step to me the way you just did?” He swung, hitting my jaw at the same time that I went for his gut again. “Umph. Fuck you, Ro. All that pissing around in Italy has made you fucking soft.”

I swung and hit him in the mouth, tired of hearing him talk. It pissed him off, and he charged at me, knocking us both to the ground. Hands flew, landing punches where they fell. He shut the fuck up, though.

Did I really care about the fact that he was gay? Nope, he was a target for my anger and frustrations. A place to put all the bullshit I was feeling right now. We kept fighting, not caring about the fact that the same blood flowed through our veins. It wasn’t a factor right now. The only thing we both cared about was kicking the other’s ass. Massimo threw a punch that landed in the corner of my eye and I swore I saw stars. I swung anyway, hitting him where I could. Win or lose, this wasn’t about to be easy. Pain throbbed in my face and head, but my body still had fight left in it. It could have been adrenaline and how good it felt to let out my frustrations, but I wasn’t finished either.

“You’re the fucking pansy.” Massimo said while punching my thigh repeatedly. “I can barely feel anything you’re doing. But you want to call me out? It remains that you don’t bring anybody the fuck here, bitch!”

“Shut the fuck up!” I swung at his face again and he was slow to dodge it. I hit something but couldn’t see what, since closing my own eyes felt better.

“You–”

All talking and fighting stopped when cold ass water sprayed on us and then a huge downpour of water was dumped on us. We rolled away to see the guard holding a metal tub, and Martina was still spraying us with the water hose.

“I understand that the two of you missed this kind of adolescent fun because you didn’t know one another, but you will not do it at my house. Not like this. Look at you!” Martina dropped the hose and for the first time, I noticed the tears. “Ro, get your shit together all around. Simo, you know better.”

“Tina, I’m sorry.” Massimo stood and wobbled toward her.

“Don’t you dare.” She put her hand up and motioned it between us. “Don’t bring this shit to my house again.” She went inside and slammed the door. The guard followed, but when the door was locked, he had to knock to be let back in. She opened it and slammed it again once he was inside.

“See what the fuck you did?” He scoffed at me, picked up his gun from the grass, and put it back in his waist. “Like she said, get your shit together, including the fucking driver.” He walked around the house and disappeared, leaving me sitting on the ground.

I smiled because even though I felt like shit suddenly. Not just from the pain of the fight, but because I’d never meant for things to escalate, I noticed his limp. I may have a killer headache, but he couldn’t walk straight. I stood up and shit became less funny when my thigh protested.

“Fucker!” I shouted at him, though he was probably long gone.

I limped to the front and got into the car with my driver. I hated to admit that he was right about one thing. It was time to put this driver on the payroll. I couldn’t have things being unsafe for Martina. That was on me, and I was going to make it right.

YOLANDA

Sitting across from the dinner table from Asmaria, I watched as she picked at her food. I wished I had answers for her, but I was only beginning to wrap my head around all this, too. Ro was once the love of my life and now he’d betrayed me in one of the most fucked up ways. I wished that I would have asked all the details before I signed, and now I was trapped for the next five fucking years.

“How long do we have to be here, Mommy?” Asmaria asked.

She only called me ‘mommy’ when she was afraid. That pissed me off even further. Then he had to fuck up his chance at redemption by walking out on Asmaria. I didn’t expect him to be overjoyed at the fact that he’d missed out on fourteen years, but I didn’t expect him to walk out either. I guess it was best that I do not think I know anything about the man that had just screwed me over. No pun intended.

“This is home now, baby.” I tried to reassure her.

“I thought we were a team. You always tell me everything before we do it. Now, because he’s here, we’re moving suddenly and doing things differently. He doesn’t care about us, or he wouldn’t have walked out when he met me.”

“Baby, I think that’s more about him than you or us. Remember how I explained to you that I couldn’t find him even though I’ve tried repeatedly? You’ve known that he’s existed almost forever. He only found out about you today. That’s a lot to catch up on.” I explained it to her, but it sank in for me, too.

I don’t know what my father and Puff Real Estate have done to him, but now that I know it wasn’t because of Asmaria, it made me more curious about what prompted the blackmailing. Why was I the thing that settled the situation between them? I don’t think that my father would bargain me away, so Ro specifically demanded my hand in marriage. It could have been an arrangement based on sex, but no, he chose marriage. Of all the things he wanted me. Again, why?

“So, you think the way he reacted was normal?” She asked, after dropping her fork onto her plate.

“No. I think different people react to things differently and that I can’t judge how he reacted to finding out that he has a fourteen-year-old daughter.”

“Almost fifteen.”

“Almost fifteen.” I corrected myself to give her feelings some grace. “I don’t think you should take it easy on him for hurting your feelings. However, as much as we don’t understand his reaction, we have to respect it. He probably doesn’t understand ours, either.”

She nodded, and it gave me relief that it’d calmed her even a little. I wouldn’t be nice at all to him when he came back. She’s fourteen and my little girl. Hurt her and I’ll fuck you up. He did, so obviously he had one coming.

My phone beeped, and I picked it up to see Ro’s name on the screen. I opened the message, curious about anything that he could have to say.

Let me know when she goes upstairs.

Why?

---