Page 77 of His Passerotta

I’m sitting at my kitchen table with a glass of water Corey set in front of me. I haven’t said a word to him since we left La Divina. If I open my mouth, I’ll probably cry, and after twenty-two long years, I don’t plan on breaking my streak.

“Your boyfriend might have broken my nose,” he says, steel in his tone.

I glance at Corey’s face. His lip is split, and he’s going to have an impressive shiner tomorrow morning, but his nose doesn't look crooked enough to be broken. Only bloody.

He dabs at it with a cloth while giving me a death stare. As if he has any right to be angry.

Maybe he does.

“He could’ve killed me,” Corey goes on. “You warning him gave him a chance. If you hadn’t, we’d be in no danger right now.”

“We’re not in danger,” I say, hoping it isn’t a lie. “I talked to him. He thinks you wanted to kill him because he kidnapped me. He doesn’t know the real reason.”

“That’s part of the real reason.”

My eyes narrow at him, and he lifts his hands to back off. He’s lying. I had nothing to do with why he wanted Anthony dead.

“You can’t kill him now.” My voice is low and hard. “He might tell his brothers about you, and if he does, they’ll come after you if something happens to him.”

“Yeah, no shit?” Corey chucks the cloth on my table. “Which are you more worried about, B, him killing me or me killing him? I’m your brother.”

I inhale a deep breath through my nose, trying to calm the fire he’s starting. When it doesn’t work, I slam my fist on the table, rattling the glass, and shoot to my feet. “And I’ve been trying to protect you.”

I shove at his chest, causing him to stumble backward. “I fucking warned you not to mess with these people, fucking begged you to leave Anthony alone, but you wouldn’t. You’re too much of a fucking idiot not to mess with the mobs, so who is putting who in danger? You seem to understand now what they’d do to you, but do you know what they’d do to me?”

I shove him again. “Did you ever once stop to think about that? Do you give a shit about me at all?!” One more shove, and his back hits the counter.

“I love you,” he growls, grabbing my wrist when I go to hit his chest. “I had everything under control before you decided to start fucking the enemy.”

“Oh boo hoo, the mobs won’t let you sell enough drugs.” I throw up my hands and let out a dry laugh. “Scratch that, Anthony isn’t even Irish, so what crime did he commit against you exactly? Not killing them off for you fast enough?”

Corey’s shoulders straighten as he perks up. “Did he say something’s happened?”

“What, is word not moving quickly on the street?” I bark out a laugh as I walk to my freezer to retrieve a tequila bottle. “I don’t know the details, but the first attack has happened. Congratulations, your plan is working.”

“Holy shit.” Corey runs a hand through his hair as a smile tilts his lips.

So much anger settles in my bones that I find my lip curling.

He’s happy. People are probably dying right now, dying because of him, and he’s happy.

“Get out,” I grit through my teeth.

He blinks and looks at me with surprise showing in his puzzled eyes.

“Get the fuck out of my apartment!” I take hold of his shirt and yank him toward the door. “Go, now!”

“All right.” He lifts his hands and walks to the door without another word. The phone in my pocket, the one he used to track me, suddenly feels obtrusive, so I take it out and follow Corey to the open door. I throw it at his back as he starts down the hall, and it bounces off his dirty hoodie. “And take your tracking device with you.”

Ducking back inside, I slam the door and press my back against it, tears running down my face before I’m even able to slide to the floor.

What am I doing?

I should go get Corey. Tell him I’m sorry, that I’m disgusted with myself for ever warning Anthony, thereby putting Corey in danger. That I’ll never let anyone hurt him, no matter who has to die to make that happen.

I should clean his wounds. Make him food. Explain myself to him.

I should do all those things, but I don’t. I don’t want to. Even worse, it’d all be a lie.

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