“You got my father to turn against me and you even took my brothers away.”
Before I can answer, Halo does. “He didn’t need to sway us.” Carnage whirls around to see Halo and Pope standing there, Vat and Omen standing behind them. “He proved to us years ago that he was there to help, you were just more concerned about pussy and making daddy happy.”
“The fuck I was!” Carnage explodes. Halo rushes forward until there is a foot of space between them. I press forward ready to intervene if I need to.
“You checked out on us long before he died!” I flinch at the hurt in Halo’s tone. I've always known Carnage’s choice to stay with Desire has hurt him, but he would never admit it until now. “You chose that bitch over us. She never loved Alex like you thought. She just wanted him because she knew Dad liked him more than all of us, he was her meal ticket. Roberto was going to hand the De Santis family over to him once he married her.” I stumble back a step. I look at the others and they all seem just as shocked as I am.
“What?” Car rasps out.
Halo smiles but its filled with malice. “Yeah, how’s that for a bombshell? Alex had no idea he was being used by that bitch. I overheard her talking to Roberto one night. She was furious that he was handing the family business to her future husband and not her.” Halo swivels to face me and I can see the regret in his eyes for keeping this from me. “I believe you. I know you killed him for us, but she used that against you. She wanted him dead because she knew you would become the new don of our family and Desire couldn’t allow that.”
Tatum
One week…
This past week has been filled with tension, everyone around here is on edge and waiting for the Cosa Nostra to attack. Alex is gone nearly every day, meeting with people and securing deals. I have no idea what that means but that’s what Omen tells me. Every night he comes home, waking me by sliding inside me and making me see stars.
Fuck, he’s an addiction I don’t want to kick.
I’m catching up on work. It’s hard working remotely. I tried to talk to Alex about me leaving to check on Lividica and the builds in New York and Miami but he flat out said no, then walked off. I’ve been trying to calm myself down for the past hour but it’s not working. Who the fuck does he think he is to tell me I can’t leave? I can’t even yell at him because he left right after he denied me. I called Omen and tried to get him on my side, but the bastard just laughed and said helping me wasn’t worth the beating. ApparentlyAlex is too pussy whippedaccording to Omen, so he wouldn’t take it well if they dropped me at the airport for the second time.
To my utter dismay Vat, Omen, Pope and Halo have gone with Alex today, leaving me alone with Carnage. I could go back to Alex’s house and wallow in my misery there but I’m too intrigued by Carnage and his pacing. I sit here and watch him for a while, wondering what has him so worked up that he can’t even sit still for a second. I know out of all of the guys, he’s been the one who is taking this whole thing harder. I can see the tension between him and the others, it’s clear he is the outcast and he’s struggling with that,
“Stop staring at me!” I jerk in fright. I shake my head to clear my thoughts and face Carnage. His eyes are narrowed and his upper lip is lifted in a sneer.
“Stop pacing then I’ll stop watching,” I fire back.
“Fuck off back to Alex’s house,” he snaps.
“Make me, asshole,” I clap back. When he takes a step toward me I slink further into the sofa, ready to kick him if he even tries to touch me.
“You have a bad mouth, anyone ever tell you that?”
I roll my eyes. “Have you missed the hundred million times Alex has told me to watch myvulgar mouth?” I say in a mocking tone. To my surprise Carnage cracks a smile, the sight of it on his face is strange to see.
“You know what, keep cussing, I love seeing the defeated look on his face every time you sayfuck.” Without consent, laughter breaks free of me. I’ve never cussed as much before in my life, but the fact I know it pisses Alex off, I try to do it as often as I can. Like yesterday, I just walked around the house sayingfucking assfor the fun of it. I watched him grow tense every time the word left my mouth, until he finally snapped and oh sweet baby Jesus he fucked me into submission and had me promising to never say fuck again… but clearly I lied, because I called him a fucking prick just before he left.
“You like fucking with him, don’t you?” I ask.
A sly smile works its way onto his face. “Yeah. It used to be one of my favorite things to do.” I hear the nostalgia in his tone.
“Why didn’t you go with them?” I find myself asking.
He sighs then rubs the back of his neck. “Apparently you can’t be trusted to be on your own, so someone has to babysit you.” My jaw slackens.
“That son of a bitch,” I hiss.
Carnage smirks. “He cares about you, he just wants to make sure you’re safe.”
“And you volunteered for the job today?”
He purses his lips. “Not exactly.”
I narrow my eyes skeptically. “Why didn’t you really go?”
“Because they are meeting with the Vatel family and let’s just say Carlito doesn't exactly like me.” I cock my head to the side and raise my brows, he rolls his eyes then adds, “I slept with his daughter, then I fucked his family over. There, happy now?” I just pinch my lips closed and nod.
“Yeah. That was exactly what I was expecting,” I admit.