Page 20 of Bittersweet Endings
“Don’t fuckin’ touch her!” I barked, no longer giving a fuck about hiding what she meant to me.
“Tsk, tsk.” JP laughed. “She is a hot piece of ass and you just made the chase that much sweeter,son,” he said before cutting the call.
“Where the fuck is AJ?” I called out. Diego looked sick. “What?”
“He followed her to Lucky’s club. She made him, and the bouncers aren’t letting him in. I’m working on it.” He tapped on his phone as I resumed my pacing.
Without thought, I flipped the table over. My rage was making things unclear.How the fuck did JP slip past security? How the fuck did no one see him?
Grabbing my phone, I dialed her number. It rang out. I waited thirty seconds and tried again. This time, I heard the sound of the club behind her long before she said anything.
“Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
I’d expected anything other than this agitated tone. And I smiled as my palms tingled. “Now, why would I do that? You belong to me.” I could practically smell her through the phone. “Where is your guard, Octavia?”
She scoffed. “Where is AJ? There’s a song about that you know—lookin’ outside the club 'cause he can’t get in.” She laughed.
“This isn’t a game, Octavia! JP is in New?—”
“Octavia!” a deep voice shouted. “We need to go. Now! Ragetti downstairs.”
“You’re here?” The hope that lifted her words was like a knife to the back. It was also the last thing I heard before the line went dead.
“Tell AJ they’re leaving and to fuckin’ find her. Now.”
It felt like days as my brothers sat in the office with me, silently waiting. In the back of my head, I was berating myself for ever letting her go.
JP saw it. Fuck, everyone saw it. The moment he wanted her, I let her go. I should’ve known she’d become his target.
AJ’s name flashed on my phone. I answered it to the sound of feet running and guns firing. He was panting as he barked out orders. “She’s. Safe,” he heaved. “They got her out. JP isshooting up the goddamn club. We bounced before he saw us outside.”
I commanded him to follow her and report back, before hanging up. My phone rang again a minute later. “What?”
“Did you send him? Did you fuckin’ send him, Carmine?”
“If you were home with daddy like you’re supposed to be, this wouldn’t have happened!” I shouted—my control gone. “Now be a good girl and go home to the compound. Because soon, Octavia…” I paused. “Soon, I am coming to collect.”
“I can’t believe you let him come for me. I know I’m dumb for thinking so many things about you. But I never thought you’d let me get hurt,” she huffed. “Not by him.”
And then the line went dead. I closed my eyes and dropped my head in my hands. JP needed to die. Horribly. Painfully. And I was going to stretch it out for days.
My phone chimed a second later and a devious sense of satisfaction washed over me. The old man thought he’d won—I knew it. He’d assume I’d fall back in line. So, I was going to paint a picture of indifference, give him the impression that hisuseless kidswere back to being useless.
My brothers stared at me. “What the fuck is that look on your face?”
“Shut up, Lorenzo.” I tossed back my drink as we all stood up together. “Let’s go. I need to get drunk.” Matteo sat still, glaring. “We’ve got a present waiting on us.”
Maybe enough booze and loud music could drown it out—the guilt gnawing at me. For not protecting her when it mattered. For letting her walk away when every instinct in me screamed to keep her.
***
“We look like we’re ready for a funeral.” Lorenzo adjusted the buttons on his sleeves.
He wasn’t wrong. The three of us were in black slacks, black button-downs, and shiny black loafers. It wasn’t the type of club for jeans but also not upscale enough for jackets.
“Let’s go. I need to fuckin’ get laid.” Lorenzo clapped his hands, following me out the front door before sliding into my Maserati. Matteo and Diego hopped into one of the SUVs, followed by more men, and we headed off.
“Feels fuckin’ good to be back.” I smirked at Lorenzo, revving the engine.
