Page 4 of Weaponized

She isn’t looking at me. She’s watching my brother, who is watching her right back with interest. My fist clenches under the table.

“You thought to introduce her to us?” Matteo raises an eyebrow as if it isn’t Rowan’s finest idea. “Well, Gráinne,” he draws out her name, smiles his most charming smile at her. “I’m Matteo. Across from me is my brother, Luca, and our cousin, Anthony. We’re usually with our friend, Gianni, but that dumbass got beat up last night and went to jail, so—” He puts his hands up in a “what are you gonna do” motion. I have no idea why he’s sharing all this. Looking for a reaction, maybe. Like me, he probably sees that she should understand to stay away.

Something close to disgust flickers through Gráinne’s eyes. I’m guessing her dad kept his little princess sheltered from things like talk of prison.

“Well, that sucks,” Rowan mumbles, at the same time Gráinne says, “Why?”

Her voice. Fuck. Her voice. It has a soft, smoky quality that is gripping me by the balls. Her eyes flit to mine and hold. Is she asking me that question? What is she asking?

“Why did he get beat up or why did he go to jail?” Anthony laughs in response to her, apparently asking her to clarify her question. Her eyes linger on me for another few seconds before moving to him. He looks back at her with stars in his eyes.

“Yes, exactly. Why?” She repeats. There is no smile with her words, but also no malice. Simply interest.

“It’s a long story,” Matteo sighs, which everyone knows is a nice way of saying that he’s not going to tell it. Everyone but Gráinne it seems.

“Is it?” she asks my brother. Again, she asks it like a real question, as if she’s expecting an answer. It’s probably a valid query since he volunteered the information to begin with.

Her brother takes her by the elbow, gently angling her away. “We’ve got to head out, but do me a favor and look out for mylittle sisterif you see her on campus. Okay?” He’s not asking. He’s warning.I’ve introduced you, so you now know exactly who to stay away from. Ballsy move.

Anthony chuckles at this as Gráinne looks right at him. Then, she smiles. All three of us stop and stare. It feels like we are holding our collective breath as we simply behold her beauty. There is a pause. A heartbeat. Two. Three. The silence becomes awkward until she breaks it.

“It was nice to meet you,” she says sweetly. “Anthony. Matteo. Luca.” She looks each of us directly in the eye as she says our names with that damn siren smile.All three of us watch the sway of her ass as she walks away.

“Well,goddamn,” is Anthony’s assessment of the situation. Yeah, goddamn is right. No one responds, because there’s not much more to say.

“We should go see Gianni.” I break the silence. Anthony starts to unfold his tall frame from the booth.

We all follow suit. It is exactly then that the redhead Matteo was with last night rushes over, all smiles, to say hello. My brother brushes past her, giving her no words at all. She is no one to him, and I watch her register the rejection. I follow him out of the restaurant without a sound.

It’s a full hour later at Gianni’s that Matteo finally speaks. “Your story doesn’t make any sense.” It’s what I’ve been thinking. What we’ve all been thinking. It sounds to me like he was with this girl and someone caught him and kicked the shit out of him. Maybe her boyfriend? I don’t know why he wouldn’t just say that, unless she’s telling the truth, and some vigilante did save her from being assaulted. Of course, that’s also a weird as fuck story. Maybe it was only one puny guy who got the better of him instead of a group like he said. That makes the most sense. His story of minding his own business and getting jumped is crazy.

I think my brother is going to call him on his bullshit when he surprises me by saying, “This can’t be what you told the cops. You’re going to need to come up with a better story.”

I walk out of the room. He’s right. To get away with whatever he did, Gianni will need to come up with a better story.I just don’t want to be there when he does. Because if she’s telling the truth, I’d rather shoot him. Innocent people don’t deserve to be hurt.

Gráinne

“You’d do well to stay away from the Italians,” my brother warns me back at my apartment. He invited himself in and has made himself comfortable on the sofa.

“Get your feet off of my furniture,” I volley back, not wanting his opinion on the matter. He ignores me. I’m kind of sick of that, if I’m being honest. Rowan is supposed to be on my side. We are supposed to be a team.

“What is your assignment this time?” He sighs, looking at me as if he’s trying to see the answer on my face.

“Why do you suppose Luca Larozzi was glaring at me?” I ask instead of responding, genuinely curious as to why the big guy seemed so angry with me. I could feel the heat of his stare across the room, and he looked at me with an intensity I’ve never experienced before. It was as if he wanted to come across the restaurant and choke me for breathing the same air.

My brother laughs, “First, I don’t think he was glaring. All three of them had to wipe the drool off their faces when you said hello. Second, I think that’s just how he looks.”

“Resting bitch face?” I clarify and my brother bursts out in a full bellow.

“Luca Larozzi has resting bitch face. God, that’s perfect,” he snickers. He takes a few seconds, smiling to himself before turning to me. “Seriously, G, why are you here?”

My brother is no idiot, so I decide to tell him the truth. “To find a husband.”

He sighs. “Yeah, I figured. Who is it supposed to be? Liam?”

“Why would you say that? Maybe it’s Luca Larozzi.” I’m baiting him. Seeing what he knows.

“Tell me it’s not. Wait. Is it?”

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