Page 13 of Brando

Brando paces back and forth across the room, running his hands through his beautifully dishevelled hair. Even in anger, I can’t help but be mesmerized by him. He’s so beautiful, he makes my heart stutter.

“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” Uncle Mason screeches, not for the first time.

Frank’s call has literally sent Brando over the edge. He’s crazy mad, and he’s already put a hole in the wall after I hung up. The guy is not even supposed to be here, and now he’s putting holes in walls. He’s already taken Frank’s number and programmed it into his phone, God only knows for what, but the man is being impossible with his unjustified anger right now.

“What does he wantfrom you?” Brando asks. He looks at me with a certain level of mistrust, not altogether believing that we haven’t been in contact for the better part of a decade. He never did like Frank, and he never did trust him, either. But the thought that I could somehow be working with Frank against Brando tears at my insides like acid would.

“You were right there when I called him, Brando. You know what he wants.”

“Why now? And why the fuck would you turnourspot intoyour spot?”

“What the fuck, Brando. Are you fifteen again?”

“You two are fucked in the head,” Uncle Mason says, indicating the space between us. “If you think I can keep up with you two, I can’t! My brain is too small for your drama.”

“I need air,” Brando says, heading for the front door.

“Brando…”

He holds up his hand to stop me, even without turning around, then pauses at the threshold, before he shakes his head slightly and continues out the door.

“Let him cool off,” my uncle says, even as tears threaten to rush me. “Tell me what’s going on.” He throws me a concerned look, his hands on his hips in that way that tells me he means business and he’s becoming impatient.

“Brando and I met when we were kids. Just before high school. And we became friends.”

“Not an all too uncommon concept,” he says, when I pause for too long.

“I really don’t need your grief right now. This is painful enough as it is.”

Uncle Mason’s eyebrows shoot up as he stalks towards me. It would seem we’re all teetering on the edge of breakdown right now. He points a spindly finger in my direction, nods it up and down in warning.

“Don’t forget why we’re here, Mia. Your sisters are missing. Now is not the time for you to be getting all sensitive on me.”

“Leave us.” The command from the doorway is curt, short, and we both turn to find Brando standing there, hands in his pockets. He’s undone the top buttons of his shirt to reveal more ink climbing up his chest, his hair a moppy mess that sends my heart racing. “I need a few minutes with Mia,” he tells my uncle, before he shifts his eyes back to me again.

When my uncle brushes past him, he walks into the room slowly, his eyes never leaving me. He lets out a heavy sigh and scrubs a hand down his face.

“I’m going to forget everything I know about the past, because we have to do that in order to find your sisters and make sure they’re safe. Once they’re back, I will get you on a private flight out of here. But until then, you need to take direction fromme if you’re to find them; not listening to me will only prolong this longer than it has to be.”

“You’re the one acting like a crazy, psycho ex,” I remind him.

“No. That would be your actual crazy, psycho ex.” His sarcasm hits me like a slap to my face. “I don’t want to have anything to do with him. If you choose to have him in your life, that’s your decision, but I can’t be a part of that.”

“He’s not in my life, Brando. He hasn’t been for years.”

“Then why now?”

“You’d have to ask him that.”

He sighs and rubs a hand across the back of his neck, exhaustion radiating off him in waves.

“You’ll go to the meeting,” he says, after an extended silence passes between us. “The fact that he’s popped up now and he mentioned your sisters is too convenient.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“You don’t have an option, Mia. Mason will take you. I’ll arrange for some back up to go with you to ensure you’ll be safe at all times. He’ll have an address where to drop you off when you’re done.”

“I don’t want to meet with him, Brando.”

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