Page 114 of Mafia Don's Secret Twins

And anyone who stands between us is going to get wrecked.

My hand is on the knob of my shitty barracks room when I hear a rap from the other side. Cautiously, I open it, peering out.

Johnny’s on the other side.

I tense; the look on his face is enough to make my chest tighten. “What.”

“It’s your turn, bro,” he whispers.

Fuck.

Marisol and I had such a fuckin' good night together, I forgot about the next task from her father.

“How did yours go?”

Johnny’s face, already drawn and pale, gets even whiter. “Man… I just… I don’t…”

I clap him on the shoulder. “You did what you needed to, Johnny. That’s all you need to remind yourself.”

He gulps.

I know that feeling.

Humans only have a certain capacity for violence. We aren’t born that way. I know there’s all kinds of shit out there claiming that humans are like violent, hateful creatures or whatever, but few of us pop out into the world screaming for blood.

Some of us learn to have a higher capacity than others, though, when it comes to giving the world as good as we get. If the world was a cruel place full of harsh shit to us then, well…

Some of us learn to be even more cruel.

From the look on his face, though, I can tell Johnny isn’t one of those people. I don’t have time to baby him through this but…

Fuck.

The guy’s been good to me. I owe it to him to at least check and see if he’s alright.

“You good?” I ask, a little reluctant to open this fuckin’ can of worms.

Johnny shakes his head. “No. I… As soon as you give me the word, man, I’m fuckin’ tellin’ Marco to pull me.”

Jesus. Way to layer on the fuckin’ guilt as well. “You can leave whenever you need. Marco doesn’t know shit about me or what I’ve done, and I don’t fuckin’ need his charity.”

This gets Johnny’s attention. “So you knew about how to get into the pool all by yourself? And that your girl went for a swim? That was all you?”

Fuck me. “Man, I didn’t mean?—”

He holds up a hand, cutting me off. “Look. You have a big-ass chip on your shoulder, and I get it. I really do. I’ve watched the De Luca boys for a long time, man, and I know exactly how your family fucking functions. But shit. You keep throwing help back in my fucking face, and in other people’s fucking faces, and you’re going to not get it. Ever. Fucking. Again.”

I blink.

This is the most aggressive that I’ve ever heard Johnny be.

Like.

Ever.

“Johnny…”

He shrugs me off and walks away.

---