Page 18 of Dirty Heirs

I looked at Aiden and winked. “It’s a date.”

Chapter Nine

AIDEN

It’s a date.

Sonny’s last words stuck in my mind. The pretty boy was such an arrogant asshole and got whatever he wanted.

And he wanted me.

Too fucking bad.

I was not giving in to his sexy smirks. He could try to charm me, but that shit would not work.

“You like Sonny.” Alex giggled on the drive home in the back of our grandfather’s limo. “I know you do. He’s cute.”

Am I that transparent?

I liked to think of myself as a human shield. For years, I practiced concealing my emotions. With parents like ours, I learned to hide my emotions. My mother would use them against me as she did to Alex. One of us had to be strong enough for both of us.

I slid my arm across the bench behind her and groaned. “Knock that off, Lexie. I don’t like Sonny. He’s too pretty for me.”

It was a total lie.

I should have told Alex. She knew everything about me and didn’t care when I swung the other way.

“Yeah, right.” Alex sipped from a bottle of expensive water that only reminded me of the difference between our old and new life. “I saw you looking at Sonny. I mean, I get it, Aid. If I didn’t have to marry one of the Salvatore brothers, Sonny would be my next choice.”

“After what they did to you today, which one of them will you choose?” I bent down and got in her face. “Hmmm? Do you like being treated like shit?”

I was being a dick.

I knew it.

But I needed her to see the Salvatore brothers were monsters. They would destroy my sweet, innocent sister if she let them.

“I like Marcello a lot.” She folded her hands on her lap and smiled, ignoring my question. “He’s cute. Did you check out his arms? Oh my God! They’re so big.”

“That’s not the only big thing about him.”

Alex bit her lip, and her eyes wandered out the window. “Yeah, I noticed.”

Earlier, Marcello wore a fitted T-shirt and tight track pants that outlined his big dick. If he appeared that big in black pants, I wondered how he looked in gray sweats.

“You don’t know how to handle them. And you can’t trust them. The Salvatores are criminals. Pops told me their family is connected to the Italian Mafia.”

She gasped. “Really? The Mafia?”

I nodded. “Be careful, Lexie. That’s all I’m saying. Don’t lower your guard with them.”

“I won’t. I know better than to trust anyone but you.”

We drove through the tall, iron gates that loomed over the estate, passing rows of red maple trees that lined each side of the long path to our new home. Our last house was a tiny piece of shit that barely had enough room for a kitchen table and a couch. My bedroom was the size of a closet, and you could hear everything through the walls.

The limo stopped in the circular driveway out front of Wellington Manor. Yes, our grandfather’s house had its own name. We didn’t even have a driveway at my last house. Our parents were so poor they could barely afford a car, let alone a limousine.

I grabbed my bag from the floor and took Alex’s in my other hand. My dad never taught me much and was pretty useless. But he always showed my mother respect, something I learned from him and passed on to my sister.