Page 49 of Bittersweet Endings
“No thanks. I’m good,” she said, reclaiming her seat. “You’re hot enough to fuck, but I’d scare you with the games I like to play, little boy.”
For the first time—ever—I watched as my brother was forced into submission. He had no clue how to handle her, and I loved every minute of it.
We jumped right into business. I was enthralled with the woman. Sybil was insanely smart, had an innate ability to drive business, and her attention to detail was impressive. She had four books out, but the one titledSkinwas going to take her places.
The market was already gobbling it up. I could take some things off her plate to give her more time to write. Because the series was going to be pure fire.
“I’ll be in touch. Thank you for this.” Sybil shook my hand. “Have fun in LA. Later, fuck boy.” She blew my brother a kiss and left.
“My dick is the hardest it’s ever been.”
“Ew! Marco! Too much, you idiot.” Letting my hair down, I removed my blazer and told him to go.
The car was filled with his excitement and it was starting to trickle over to me. We were heading to one of the most popular clubs in Los Angeles, and I was eager to experience it. It was different from New York, from the suffocating weight of my family.
“Mr. and Miss Agostino, this way, please.” A woman in a sexy two-piece met us at the door, ushering us past the line. “Your… security has already cleared the room and a path.”
We followed her while scantily-clad waitresses immediately flanked the outer edge of our team. Their flaming bottles, blinking signs, and confetti were a bit over the top. But hey, Marco was vibrating and smiling like an idiot.
Once inside the VIP area, I sat at a chair near the bar, sipping my vodka soda. The door opened behind Rocco, and I froze. Because pausing at his back was AJ. With his phone to his ear.
Fuck.
Chapter Fifteen
MATTEO RAGETTI
The night had been uneventful, but none of us were at ease. Each of my brothers had something weighing on their minds, and the silence in the room was heavier than usual.
Then Carmine’s phone lit up. He glanced down, and I caught the name flashing across the screen. AJ.
His expression sharpened as he answered, his voice low but tense. “What?” A pause. Then his jaw locked. “Where?”
I sat forward, watching the shift in his demeanor. Whatever AJ said had Carmine gripping his glass tighter, his knuckles going white.
“Keep her there,” he ordered. “Don’t let her leave.”
Octavia.I didn’t need to hear the rest of the conversation to know it was about her. Carmine ended the call and shot up from his seat, already moving.
“You’re really gonna do this?” I asked, pushing off the couch. “Are you ready to finally claim this girl?”
Hedidn’t answer.
“Carmine.”
Still nothing. He strode past me, grabbing his keys off the table, his movements clipped and precise. The conversation was over before it had even started.
The roar of his car engine filled the night as he threw himself inside, blasting rock music loud enough to shake the windows. It was deliberate. A wall between him and the questions he refused to answer.
I hopped into the passenger seat. “What’re you doing, Carmine?” My older brother thought he had everything figured out.
He didn’t. He was too involved with a fight that was going to kill him. His judgment was clouded. His head wasn’t in the right space. Usually, I was able to bring him back to the present. Not anymore.
Someone else was causing him too much damage, absorbing his attention. The problem with the entire situation wasn’t the fact that he’d fallen for the enemy’s daughter. No. It was that he felt like he couldn’t face it. That denial made him sloppy. Put us all at risk.
Thwarting my attempts at speaking to him, he continued to drown the car in angry rock metal and cigarette smoke. Lorenzo was a big kid… an idiot when he wanted to be. He couldn’t care less that our family was being held on by a thread. But not Carmine. He was the rock in all the bullshit.
“What’re you doing, Carmine?” I repeated the same question I knew he’d be unwilling to answer.
