Page 56 of Dangerous Contract: Part 1

Finally, there was someone who felt his pain. Bryce was already tipsy. How long had he been drinking? Cas snatched the bottle of whiskey from their cousin. Bryce reached for it, slurring something unintelligible. Shaking his head, Orazio sat down on the stool next to his cousin as Cas put a glass in front of Bryce and half-filled it with whiskey.

“That isn’t enough,” Bryce protested.

“Don’t drink yet,” Cas ordered when Bryce reached for the beverage.

Bryce glared at Cas. “If you knew what was going on in my life, you’d give me that entire bottle.”

Still holding the bottle, Cas walked around to the other side of the bar, grabbed another glass, then half-filled it and placed it in front of Raz.

Playing bartender, Cas told them, “I don’t have time to deal with both of you separately, so we’ll do this together. You can only take a sip after you tell me one thing that’s bothering you and after I give you my advice. Got it?”

Raz chuckled. “What kind of advice can you give us?”

“Us?” Bryce asked, facing Orazio. “Are you having woman troubles too, Raz?”

Was he having woman troubles? Not really. He was having trouble. And a woman was involved. She was at the center of his troubles, but she...Shit. Yeah, he was having woman troubles.

“He’s ashamed to admit it,” Cas said before Raz could admit it. “But, yeah, his head is gone over a woman, too. I hope this shit isn’t contagious.”

Bryce slapped Orazio on the back. “Join the club, cousin. And don’t be ashamed. Even the best of us go through this.”

“I’m not ashamed of anything I do,” Raz said. “And I’m not really having trouble. I’m... facing an obstacle.”

Yeah. That was a good way to put it.

“Is that obstacle a woman?” Bryce asked.

Yes. “No,” Orazio answered. Maybe he was a tad bit ashamed.

“Bullshit,” Cas yelled. “It’s just the three of us here. You can be honest.”

He wasn’t ready to be honest. Not with them. Not even with himself. Raz reached for his glass.

Cas pulled it away from him. “You can’t drink until you answer the question truthfully.”

“I’m not lying. Not really. My Rosa isn’t the obstacle. I...”

“Your Rosa?” Cas asked before bursting out laughing.

His brother was really starting to get on his nerves.

“Man, you really are in love, aren’t you?” Cas asked.

Bryce nodded. “That sounds like love.”

“It’s not love,” Orazio yelled. “Love isn’t real. At least, not for men like us.”

His words made everyone go silent. For a while, none of them said anything. Bryce was the one to break the silence.

“My mom hates my dad. My dad loves his mistress,” Bryce said. “My grandmother hated my grandfather until the day he died. My grandfather loved his mistress until the day he died.But neither my grandfather nor my father was loved. They were respected, feared, and admired but never loved by the person they loved. So, it’s not like the men in our family can’t love. We can. We love hard,” Bryce slurred. “We love passionately.” Bryce stared down into his drink. “We just can’t find anyone to love us back.”

The truth of Bryceson’s words hit Orazio like a ton of bricks. Before he could fully process those words, Bryce continued talking.

“And that’s just my grandfather on my mom’s side,” Bryce said. “On my dad’s side, the Cattaneo side, there’s even more fucked-upness going on.”

Cas nodded. “We are a fucked up family, aren’t we?”

“Take you guys’ dad, for instance,” Bryce continued.

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