Page 21 of Dirty Heirs

“From what I heard, your brothers are out of their depth with his sister. So I guess all of us got some fucking work to do.”

“I don’t even have to compete.” Marcello laughed. “After Carl Wellington reamed out my dad about how my brothers have been treating Alex, Dad whooped their asses. Luca won’t even look at Alex. Bash and Damian still fuck with her but haven’t touched her. She’s going to be mine someday.”

“No one fucks with The Founders,” I tossed back. “Even I’m not stupid enough to go toe-to-toe with Carl. He will follow through on his threat.”

Marcello nodded. “Luca is under strict orders to behave himself. Let’s see how long he lasts before he fucks all of this up for my family.”

“Look at it this way. Your brothers gave you the home-field advantage with Alex. We’re hanging out with Aiden and her on Saturday. This is your opportunity to finally beat Luca at something.”

A grin yanked at his mouth. “I’m sick of conceding to him just because he’s older and took all our dad’s punishments for me.”

Unlike me, Marcello didn’t come from a loving home. His dad became super abusive after his mom died and started treating them like shit. Sometimes, Marcello stayed the weekend on my yacht to get away.

We had opposite home lives. My mom baked me cookies, even though we had chefs. She told me I was special each morning before school and handed me a note with a positive quote to start my day.

A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others. ~ Confucius

The note was tucked into my pocket from this morning when she handed me a bagel with cream cheese and my latte at the perfect temperature.

My mom was the fucking best.

She didn’t come from money like my dad and liked to keep up the housework despite having staff on the premises. My dad worked a lot but never missed a football game. Marcello’s dad was there physically but put money and work above all else, even his sons.

“You wanna stay over on Saturday night?” I asked him. “We can sleep on the yacht if you want.”

He bobbed his head, blowing out a relieved breath. “I’d rather be anywhere but at my house. It’s been nothing but fights every night since Carl called.”

I tipped my head at him. “I got you, brother. Ready to head home?”

“Yeah, I have to stop by my locker first, and then we can go.”

On our way down the hallway, I spotted Alex between Damian and Bastian. She flicked her long, blonde curls over her shoulder, staring up at them with a smile.

She liked them.

Interesting.

I mean, it wasn’t like I didn't get the appeal of the Salvatore brothers. They were all hot and had smoking bodies. If they weren’t family to me, I would have been so down to fuck them.

With my elbow, I tapped Marcello on the arm and pointed at his brothers. “Why did Alex complain to her grandfather if she’s warming up to those psychos?”

“Luca,” he said, annoyance dripping from his tone. “That would be my guess. He forced Alex onto her knees in the dining hall on her first day. Embarrassed her in front of everyone and told her to kiss his boots.”

“Fuck,” I groaned. “What a dickhead. Your brother is a real piece of work.”

“Tell me about it.” His eyes followed Alex and his brothers until they headed in the opposite direction. “Luca doesn’t deserve her. Neither do Bash and Damian. She’s going to marry me in the end. You’ll see.”

“Confident,” I said with a smile. “Those three will give you a run for your money.”

“I’ll take care of her,” he promised. “She’ll be mine.”

Until Luca fucked up and got his dad upset, he thought he was taking home the prize. But now, Marcello had a real chance with Alex.

“You can show her how much you want her on Saturday,” I told him. “The Wellington twins are ours.”

Chapter Eleven

AIDEN

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