Page 76 of Light It Up Red
“About damn time. Okay, let’s do this.” She’s out of bed and getting dressed before I can come up with a reason to change my mind. This is why I love my cousin so much. She’s prepared to do anything for me.
I shove the blankets aside and get out of bed. Digging through my bag, I pull out a pair of jeans and a sweater. I quickly apply the smallest bit of makeup on my face. Because, well, I’m about to see Travis. I have no idea what I’m going to say to him, or if I’ll say anything at all. Right now, I just want to see him.
“Okay, I clocked eight out front, four on the right, and three on the left. Then there’s ten more at the back,” Aurora says. “It seems excessive, even for Zio Theo.”
She’s right. There are a lot of my father’s men keeping watch, double what was here two days ago. “Something is going on… Something they’re not telling us about,” I say.
“Isn’t there always?”
“We’re not going to be able to sneak out.” I sigh.
“Where there’s a will, there’s always a way.” Aurora smirks.
“I’m going to wake my brother up. He’ll take us out, and the guards won’t even question it,” I tell her.
“That would be the easy way to do things—although I’m all for the sneaking past them too.”
“Come on.” I open the bedroom door, and sure enough, there are two guards in the hallway. They immediately look up when we walk out. I smile as I pass them and enter my brother’s room. The minute I lean on his bed, Alessandro rolls over and points a pistol at me.
“What the fuck, Liliana? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he grunts as he drops the gun back down on the mattress.
My head tips to the side as I look at him. “Do you always sleep with a gun in your hand? That cannot be safe, Alessandro.”
“It’s fine. And it wasn’t in my hand. It was under my pillow.”
I actually hate that he feels like he has to sleep like this. Maybe me going to see Travis is a horrible idea.
“What’s wrong?” Alessandro asks.
“I… ah…”
“She wants to go see lover boy, and obviously we can’t break out of Fort Knox without you,” Aurora says.
My brother looks at me as he takes hold of my hand. “You want to go see Travis?”
I nod my head. “I think so.”
“You think or you know. Because I gotta be honest, Lil, you can’t go there and see him and then walk away again. The dude has more patience than Mother Teresa when it comes to you, but even he has a breaking point.”
My mouth drops into a frown. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I am always on your side, Lil. You’re my sister, but I’m telling you Travis is struggling with the fact that you’re not talking to him.”
“I know.” I can admit that I’ve done this to us, even if my intentions were to keep him safe.
“Okay, I’ll take you. But you might want to wait in the hall so I can get up. Unless you want to get an eyeful of my junk.”
“Ew, that’s disgusting.” I jump off my brother’s bed quicker than I’ve ever moved in my life.
My hands shake with nerves as we follow Grayson into the rink. I messaged him when we were in the car, telling him I was stopping by and to open the door for me.
“You owe me twenty K, Valentino,” Gray says to my brother.
“You don’t know that yet,” Alessandro argues. His hand finds mine and he grips it tight to stop it from shaking. I look up and he gives me the slightest reassuring smile.
“She’s here. I win.” Gray crosses his arms over his large chest.
“You win what?” I ask, my eyes bouncing between him and my brother.
