Page 53 of Light It Up Red
“I don’t have an issue with Kathryn and Graycee. They can visit as often as you’d like… if they leave Gray behind.”
There isn’t any real reason why I don’t like the guy. His arrogance just rubs me the wrong way. I also don’t like how friendly he is with my girlfriend.
“Look, we can live wherever you want, but I would like to be close to Kathryn and Gray. They’re the only people I know in the area… It’s not that I need friends, or family even, but it’s going to take some time for me to get used to not being surrounded by people all the time. And you’ll be away a lot during the season.”
And now I feel like shit…
“If you like that development, we’ll find a house there. All I want is you. I don’t care where we live, babe. As long as you’re there, it’ll feel like home.”
“I’m going to get my Zia Savvy to come and decorate. She’s the best interior designer I know, and I’ve always wanted her to do my house when I got my own. Is that okay?”
“Babe, it’ll be your house, your home. You do not need to ask permission for anything,” I tell her.
“It’s our house, and I’m not asking permission. I’m asking for your opinion,” she says.
“My opinion is I like whatever you like. I want what you want.” I lean across the bed and kiss her gently before pulling back again.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Present Day
I’m numb. I’ve never felt this kind of terror before. I’ve never known this kind of pain. “He’s going to be okay, Lil,” Alessandro says while squeezing me tight in his arms.
My brother came through, did what I asked of him without question. He helped sneak me out of the house undetected. And by the time we arrived at the hangar, the pilots were ready to take off and all of my cousins, with the exception of Lorenzo, were on the jet waiting for us.
“You don’t know that,” I cry into his chest. It’s where I’ve been since takeoff. I haven’t said a word to anyone else. Alessandro led me to the back of the jet and sat next to me. As far as brothers go, I really did luck out.
“Lil, he’s Travis fucking O’Neil. He is going to be okay,” he repeats. “That guy takes harder hits than a bullet every time he’s out on that ice.”
“I’m not ready to lose him, Alessandro. I only just got him. I don’t want to lose him,” I say through hiccups.
“You’re not going to lose him.” My brother continues to rub his hands up and down my back.
I want to believe him. I desperately want him to be right, but I’m not an idiot. I know that just because someone says something with conviction, it doesn’t make it true. And even if Travis is okay, if he does survive this, he’s never going to want anything to do with me again. It’s my fault he was shot. It’s my fault he’s in surgery. And it’s my fault if this ruins his career… If he can never play hockey again…
I check my phone for the millionth time. Gray is supposed to message me as soon as Travis is out of surgery. There’s nothing yet. That can’t be a good sign.
Alessandro shifts me slightly as he retrieves his own phone from his pocket. “It’s Pops,” he says.
“I’m surprised he took this long,” I grumble.
“He didn’t do this, Lil. I know you don’t want to believe that right now, but he really wouldn’t do this to you.”
“I don’t want to talk to him right now. I honestly don’t know if he did this or not, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. Travis doesn’t have enemies, other than Dad.”
“Pops, what’s up?” Alessandro answers his phone with a carefree tone while holding me against his side. “Yeah, no can do… sorry.”
I can hear my father’s voice through the speaker when Alessandro pulls it away from his ear slightly. He’s pissed.
Good. Let him be pissed. Because right now, so am I.
“She might be your daughter, but she’s my sister. And you always tell me to protect her at all costs. Remember? To support her. And that’s what I’m doing. I’m choosing her because she needs me,” Alessandro says.
No one ever tells my father no. Not even us. My brother is risking his future with the family business, facing the full brute of my father’s temper… for me.
“You need to give her time,” he says. “And me some fucking credit, Pops. I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”
I close my eyes, only to open them again when Travis’s face pops up behind my lids. Can this jet go any faster?
