Page 147 of Square Deal

“Yeah, it fuckin’ matters,” Steve yelled.

I balled up my fist and pressed it against my mouth before looking over at Chase. He was probably the one who saw her after I left that day. Hell, maybe he witnessed it happen.

“Is she okay?” I croaked.

Chase looked at me, dumbfounded. “No, she’s not okay, you dumb fuck. Do you think we’d be here if she was okay?”

I sighed and hung my head. “I had to do it.”

“Bullshit.” Steve shook his head and paced. “You’re too chickenshit to man up and go after your girl, so you’re getting shitfaced on booze and cheap dancers.”

“Camilla was not cheap,” I argued, pointing my finger at him. I quickly retracted it when he looked like he wanted to snap it off my hand and shove it down my throat.

Annoyed, Luca stood up and put his hands on his hips. He had the same aneurysm face he got when he was pretending to be an asshole on television. “Why’d you dump her?”

There was no sense in lying. Not to Luca. “She wants to get married someday. I don’t do marriage. It’s black and white.”

“And why the hell don’t you want to marry her?” Luca asked sternly. “I’m not saying go buy the girl a ring tomorrow. I’m just asking why it’s not even on the table. You’re the one who always tells me to consider every option.”

“It’s not an option for me!” I shouted. “It might be easier for you guys, but it’s not for me.”

Steve cracked a smile. It was the flash of teeth you see before a lion devoured its prey. “Why? Because we’re not billionaires?” He glanced at Luca. “Well, me and Chase aren’t.”

Luca shrugged. He hadn’t quite made it from millionaire to billionaire status, but he would someday. I had faith in him.

I scoffed. “I haven’t seen a single successful relationship in my entire life, much less seen a marriage work. Why the hell would I bet on a losing horse?”

Steve lunged for me.

“I wasn’t calling Hannah a horse,” I said quickly as Chase held him back.

“Do you still love her?” Luca asked.

I sighed. “Yeah. I, uh, I do. But it is what it is. Y’all coming up here isn’t gonna change that.”

The hazy clouds of alcohol were starting to clear, and I caught the Three Musketeers laughing under their breath.

“What?”

“You said ‘y’all.’” Chase smirked.

“I think you know where you’re supposed to be,” Steve said. “Who you’re supposed to be with.”

Maybe once upon a time, but not anymore. “Why arey’allhere?”

“I just wanted to kick your ass,” Steve said casually.

Luca was more reasonable. “We’re here because you’re making the biggest mistake of your life.” He paused and added, “I’m here because when the roles were reversed, you rerouted your plane the minute I told you I thought I had lost Maddie. I don’t know if I would have gotten her back if you hadn’t done what you did.”

“Nonna got to her first,” I pointed out.

There was a knock at the door. Had I just conjured Luca’s grandma?

Chase opened the door. There stood the three feet of Luca’s ornery Italian grandma.

The lines on her face were deeper than the last time I had seen her. Her hair was in the same silver braid it always was. Her decades-old purse was hanging from her shoulder. In one hand was a bottle of wine, and she had a giant Tupperware container in the other.

Rapid Italian flew off her tongue. Luca responded just as quickly, but it was making my head spin.That last glass of whiskey was a bad idea.Then again, so was the first glass.

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