Page 25 of Broken Mafia Prince
“You’re hiding something,” she says, wagging her finger at me. “If it’s a boy, you should tell me all about it so I can give you some advice.”
She likes to make a big deal about the three-year age difference between us, like it automatically makes her smarter and more experienced. Well, in her defense, she’s led an exciting life, while I’ve stayed stuck in the same limbo that I’ve been in since Mama and Val left us.
Meeting that blue-eyed boy is the highlight of my day, and I have my fingers crossed that he’ll still be there when I get back.
“Girls.” Papa’s voice rings out as soon as he spies us at the door. “Come and meet my business associates.”
I paste on a smile, knowing that I’m about to be paraded before Papa’s friends… or business associates, as he likes to call them. Nothing about the tattooed, suited men who crowd our retreat cabin screams business. It’s almost as if, as the days pass, the sleazier the men become.
For the next few minutes, Isa and I have to hang around the cabin and pretend that the men’s beady eyes don’t make us want to crawl under the nearest table and hide.
“Nobody’s paying attention to us,” Isa whispers from the corner of her mouth after a while. “We could just leave.”
“But Papa hasn’t said we can leave yet.” I gnaw on my lower lip, peeking over at him where his head is thrown back, laughter spilling from his mouth.
That familiar achy feeling in my chest when I see him happy around others slams into me with full force, and I rub at the tightness in my chest. I don’t feel so lonely now that I have Isa, and maybe that’s all thanks to him, but I can’t help but feel a little resentful that he’s handed me off to Isa so I won’t bother him anymore.
“You can stay if you want, but I don’t plan on being stuck in here with old people,” she informs me, already headed for the door.
There, she pauses, spins around, and eyes me. “Are you coming?”
I glance over at Papa one last time before following after Isa. While she goes off to join the other kids our age, I hurry through the orchard in search of my mystery boy. I’m beginning to think I must be lost when I hear the dog bark.
Smiling happily, I push through the shrubs keeping us apart and come to a screeching halt.
“The monster and his little doggie,” a boy I don’t recognize is saying to the scarred boy.
On his part, he looks nervous about the bigger boy’s presence there, and it causes something hot and fierce to roar to life inside of me. I don’t think twice about stepping out of the line of trees, fingers curled into fists at my side to confront the other boy.
“Cut it out!” I hiss, approaching the two boys.
Their heads turn slowly, and they stare at me. There is relief on the scarred boy’s face, while the other boy just looks confused by my presence.
“Who are you?” he sneers.
“Someone who doesn’t like bullies,” I reply.
The bully’s face screws up in surprise. “My cousin and I are just having a discussion. And no little girls are allowed in this conversation.”
If he thinks calling me a little girl is going to hurt me, he needs to think again. I know kids like him, kids who try to bring everyone around them down just to feel superior.
“If no little girls are allowed, how come you’re standing here with me?” I drawl, making a show of checking my nails.
The taller boy’s face tightens, and he squares his shoulders, his entire focus shifting from my new friend to me. “Who are you?” he spits.
The scarred boy looks like he just wants to get as far away from this situation as possible and nothing to do with the tension that’s brewing. I open my mouth to respond, but the taller boy isn’t done with me.
“You think you can just put your nose into whatever and get away with it?” the boy barks at me, stepping forward intimidatingly. “Well, you’re not going to get a free pass just because you’re a girl.”
At that moment, I realize I’ve navigated us into a corner. My new friend and I are now standing between a dense line of trees and the other boy. A hint of nervousness trickles through me at the menace shining in his eyes.
“Just leave us alone.” The scarred boy speaks up for the first time, stepping forward. “We don’t want any trouble. Just let us go.”
“And here I thought that you were going to stay mute and let your rabid dog fight for you,” the boy taunts. “What is it with you and dogs, anyway?”
Anger rocks through me. “Why don’t you go back to whatever hole you crawled out of,stronzo?”
The three of us freeze as the word flies out of my mouth.
