Page 16 of Forbidden Surrogate

“It would be anhonorto be like our father. He might be a scumbag, but his way has kept this city safe for the past twenty years. We ought to be grateful for that.”

“Easy for you to say. His rival didn’t break your feet.”

“I’m looking after you, sis. That’s all I want.”

“Then that’s what I’m doing. Looking after you.”

“By encouraging me to knock up a black woman knowing that…”

“That what? Our family accepts liars, cheaters, murderers and God knows what else. She’s black. If we want to stay in control of this city, we can’t be racists.”

“It’s not about race. It’s about culture.”

My words sound and feel hollow. Angela rolls her eyes.

“You already fucked her,” Angela says. “How much do you really care if you have to let your little sister hear you losing your virginity?”

“I’m not a virgin.”

Angela laughs. “Men are so sensitive.”

“That’s enough discussing my sex life.”

“What?” Angela teases. “You’re going to lock me in the condo until I think about what I’ve done?”

“Pretty much.”

She continues probing at my sex life despite my obvious discomfort. “And go back to the lake house to fuck your black girlfriend in secret.”

“Shut up.”

“God, you really are Italian,” Angela teases me. Heat rushes to my cheeks. This conversation is inappropriate on so many levels and I can’t wait to escape this situation and have her safely imprisoned alone for a few days until she grows to appreciate me.

“Did you not hear me?” Angela continues annoyingly. She drives me crazy. Absolutely fucking… wild.

“Oh, I heard you.”

I can’t wait to get Angela out of my car. When I get to the penthouse, I walk her upstairs and make sure she has enough food and television to entertain herself before I pack a duffel bag with enough clothes for a week. She pesters me about where I’m going and I grace her with a portion of the truth.

“I’m going to work out with Mikey before I go back to the lake house to check on her.”

“She probably figured out how to escape by now.”

“You know better than anyone that I don’t leave my property unguarded.”

“There are gaps in even the best systems,” Angela says hopefully. She has no proof of any “gaps” in any of my systems. If she tries to escape, which she has in the past, I will swiftly discover it and send one of our cousins to get her.

“You remember what happened the last time you tried to leave.”

She gets all huffy with me because nobody in our family will forget the backlash that followed from Angela’s first, and last, successful escape attempt.

“I’ll wait,” she grumbles nervously, just in case I overreact. “Don’t take too long.”

“It’ll just be a few hours, Angela. FaceTime Renzo if you need entertainment. They’re in Sicily. Six hours ahead. He might need help with his homework.”

I drag myself away from the conversation and leave. Captives have a tendency to bore you with conversation when you try to leave them alone. Not unique to Angela. Mikey texts me that he’s ten minutes from the gym and calls me a fat fuck, which motivates me to speed over to the warehouse with the Tahoe for a serious upper body session.

I need to clear my head of all the bullshit with my sister and even more fucked up, the bullshit with Delphine.

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