Page 115 of Frayed Bonds

Another hit.

My stomach curls as I watch Ambrose try to stay upright, he's just standing there, taking it.

Gus eventually gains some semblance in himself and pulls Antonio off of Ambrose. Antonio rips himself out of Augustus' grip, tears fall from his eyes. I move towards him but stop in my tracks when his next words leave his lips.

“You knew I loved her.”

“Antonio, I didn’t want to fucking fall in love with her,” Ambrose says.

“You’re a piece of shit and an even worse brother. If you even cared about me in the slightest you would've stayed away from her, but all you care about is yourself. The amazing Ambrose Vitale could never give a shit about anyone but himself.”

I watch as Ambrose swallows back his words.

“What? Nothing to say now? You’re supposed to be our older brother, to be there for us but you treat all of us like shit.”

Ambrose sighs and turns to walk to his room.

“And you're too much of a pussy to even admit when you're wrong, you're a coward just like Papá,” Antonio yells as he storms off in the opposite direction.

Chapter forty-nine

Valerie

Istand, staring back and forth between the space where the two of them left. Stuck in the middle is an understatement. My feet feel as if they’re sinking into the hardwood floors while my heart beats out of my chest. I don’t know who to go after. Both of them mean something to me, and I know I’ll inevitably speak to them both, but right now my heart can’t seem to decide between the two. I settle on the brother in front of me in a similar position.

Gus gestures with his head for me to follow him and we walk out into the courtyard.

“C’mon, grab a seat, they both need a second to diffuse and I think you do too.” He pats the cushion next to him.

“I’m fine.”

He frowns at me. “Valerie, in the last six hours, you've seen your abusive ex-husband. Witnessed him and Adriano get shot, and to top it off, two of the most important people in your life just got into a physical fight. There is no way you're fine.”

I stare at him taking in his words and my lip starts to quiver, and then his arm is around my shoulder pulling me closer. His warmth envelopes me in a way I don't think it ever has. But it’s so comforting it draws another cry out of me.

“Why are you comforting me when I’m the reason your entire family is falling apart?” I sniff.

“That’s a bit conceited, don't you think, Val?” He laughs and I pull back at the sudden insult.

“Valerie, if you think my brothers did any of this for you, you're very mistaken. These are some of the most stubborn assholes I’ve ever met, they don't do anything they don't want to do.”

“But all of this only started because I came home. Hell, you guys wouldn't have even known about Mattheo if it wasn't for me talking to Horatio in the first place.”

“Val, yes I’ll admit a lot of this had you at the centre of it, but at the very least, Ambrose had that fight coming. Whether it was Antonio or myself. Adriano was also a matter of time. If you hadn't spoken to Horatio we would have never gotten our name out in the way we did. We have investors lining up and without that Vitale Holdings would probably be done right now. So yes you caused a lot of shit but it wasn't all your fault, besides I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ambrose smile this much since… Wow, since before he left to study in the States.” Gus sighs after the long speech.

“I don't know how to fix all of this right now.” I look down at my hands.

“All you have to fix is what happened between you, Ambrose and Antonio, more specifically between you and Antonio. Everything else is for my brothers and I to hash out.” He looks at me and I nod. “But maybe don't start with Antonio, let me go try and calm him down first because you and I both know Antonio doesn't listen to anyone when he’s like this.”

I lean into his chest and wrap my arms around his waist. “Thank you, Gus, for everything.”

“Anytime, Val.” He kisses the top of my head.

“Come in,” Ambrose calls after I knock on his door. Knocking feels weird, hell even coming into his room this way feels weird compared to the usual sneaking around the back.

He’s sitting on the corner of his bed, the muscles of his back are straining against his shirt as he hunches forward running his hand through his hair.

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask, walking around to stand in front of him.

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