Page 30 of Prince of Malice

“No, he won’t risk doing something like that.” He knows that he’s just as involved in this as me now.

“Then what’s the problem? You’re all messed up. There’s more to this than you’re telling me.”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope.”

I sigh. I suppose he would find out about this one way or another. Angelo always had a knack for that. I should just tell him the whole truth. But can I actually say it aloud?

“We kind of got into it a little bit.” I keep my words vague. I wish it’s because I want to, that it’s a specific choice that I’m making, but it’s not. I just can’t bring myself to say what I want to.

“Oh, I get it.” He chuckles. “You beat him up. Really let him have it this time, right?” He punches my arm gently.

“No.” I pause. “Not quite.”

“You didn’t let him piss you off then run away again?”

“No, I—” I pause, praying for the rightwords to come out. “We… We kind of hooked up.”

“What?” Angelo explodes. “What do you mean you hooked up?”

“What else could it mean?” I shout back. “Now keep it down.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but how else should I react when you tell me you fucked your worst enemy and stepbrother all at the same time?” he fires back.

I bury my face in my hands. “How do you think I feel about this?”

“Then why did you do it?” “I don’t know.” I groan. “One minute, we’re screaming at each other, and then all of a sudden, I’m on top of him in the back seat.”

“My back seat?” Angelo roars.

“No, not your back seat.” I take a moment to admit the rest of the story. “It was his dad’s car.”

Angelo stares at me, his mouth agape. “You were in the back seat of Salvatore Valenti’s car having sex with his own son,” he clarifies the situation, as if either of us aren’t sure about it.

I look forward, not saying a single word. Still, it’s enough of an answer for him.

“Wow,” he mutters, crashing down onto the bed beside me.

“I know.”

He turns to face me, but my mind is still too busy tumbling over itself to notice.

“What’s that going to mean for you guys?” Angelo asks.

“Oh, you know, we’ll probably get married and settle down together,” I say sarcastically. “Obviously I don’t know what it’s going to mean! How could I? This just happened!”

“Alright, I get that. Just a lot to drop on me tonight after everything that happened.”

“Imagine trying to get your head around it when you’re the one that went through it, especially when it happened right after you got chased by the cops,” I shout, my own words switching me onto another train of thought. “Also, what the hell happened out there tonight? I thought the cops were busy?” Angelo stands up from the bed and paces the floor. “I don’t know what to tell you, man. I told you exactly what I was told. But I’ve got something else that can make up for it.”

“I’m not going to another race of yours.” I turn him down.

“It’s not a race. This is completely different, I promise. A lot lower profile, intimate event—you’ll love it.”

“I’m not interested.”

“Well, it’s tomorrow night, so just think about it.”

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