Page 11 of Broken Prince

Arabella.My heart squeezed as a wave of nausea hit me. Was it the alcohol or the guilt? I was not sure—probably a bit of both.

My phone beeped on the desk. I’d forgotten to turn it off after ordering a case of whisky.

‘I’m sending Savio.’ I guessed ignoring my uncle for six weeks had been pushing it.

Fuck. Me.

Savio, my asshole cousin, the newly self-proclaimed underboss of the family. My uncle’s perfect brawn. He’d always been envious, jealous, and angry—just like the rest of us—but he was too stupid to go for what he wanted.

After my accident that had incapacitated me in more ways than one and my father’s murder a few months later, my uncle Benny stepped up as head of thefamigliaand I could not have cared less who took over. The whole famiglia could have disappeared for all I cared. Savio was now the underboss and a pain in my fucking ass.

I would not deal with all his fake solicitude and shitty Hallmark shit. ‘Time heals all wounds, Gianluca’, ‘They are immortal in your memories’… Fucking blow my brains out and spare me more TED talk.

I picked up the phone and called my uncle.

“I knew that text would get your attention,” he announced gravely.

“What do you want? I don't like being threatened.”

“You take a visit from your cousin as a threat?” He let out a low chuckle. “That’s not very nice.”

“I’m not nice. What do you want? I’ve things to do.”Drink myself to sleep.

“is that a way to talk to your uncle?” he asked, coldness tainting his tone.

I knew that he wanted to say, ‘Is that a way to talk to your boss?’ But he couldn’t because no matter what happened, I was still the legitimate heir. I could walk over there and throw him off the throne if I wanted to—only I didn’t care, not even a little. He could keep it.

I simply sighed. I was not going to entertain him or his ego. I was just going to wait until he said his piece.

“I just wanted to remind you not to scare that one away. We’ve scraped the bottom of the barrel with that one. She’s barely grown-up. If this one runs, I’m not sending Stewart anymore. You’ll have to fend for yourself,” he warned me.

Did he really think I cared? “Understood.”

I suddenly heard some music in the background for a couple of seconds and I knew he was not in the usual Montanari offices but in the strip club’s office. I rolled my eyes; that was Uncle Benny to a T.

“Anything else?”

“The famiglia’s meeting next week—it would be good if you joined.”

I had to laugh at that. It was not joyous but dark and cold and broken—just like me. “God, I can’t think of anything worse! Let’s not and pretend I did.” I shook my head. Half the family hated me; the other half pitied me.

“At least think about it,figlio.”

I wanted to tell him that I was not his son, I was an orphan—mostly by my own hand.

I sighed again. It seemed to be my only way of communication these days. “I won’t. And please only call when it’s important. Bye.”

I hung up before he attempted any further useless chatter.

I exited my office, walking barefoot back to my room. I was not even sure why I bothered leaving my room during the day. I took a few steps out and stopped. Frowning, I walked softly to the side of the stairs and listened.

She was humming. I didn’t recognize the tune but it felt like a lullaby—sweet, soft, comforting, just like this little woman with a sweet voice probably was.

I knew she’d taken the job out of desperation. I was sure that after the seventh nosy bitch left the place, I was done for, and it took weeks to find a replacement and then she came along.

She didn’t belong here, in the middle of the ghosts, the pain, and the guilt, but here she was, reviving a spark of life I wasn't sure I deserved.

Don’t be absurd. If she saw you, she’d run away. Like number three did…or was it four? I shook my head. Dom had been certain it had been my beastly attitude that made her run and not my beastly looks. I was not certain and I didn’t care; this house was not for the faint of heart.

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