Page 11 of Hexed
Aria hums, nodding.
I step from the car and take a second to stare at the mermaid fountain before walking around to meet Aria as Scotty helps her out.
“Bring our bags in,” I tell him.
He nods, his thin fingers tapping against the side of his thigh as he glances around. “You got it, boss. You want me to just wait around after, or…?”
“Go grab a bite or whatever. Check into the bed-and-breakfast spot I hooked you up at.” I wave him off. “Just keep your phone close.”
“You ready, babe?” Aria asks, her eyes sparkling up at me as she grabs my hand.
I nod and escape the death grip she has on my fingers, placing my palm at the small of her back as we walk between the white pillars lining the wide concrete steps and up to the wrought-iron double doors.
My phone rings, and I pull it from my pocket, Giovanni’s name flashing across the screen.
“E…” Aria starts.
“Don’t. I’ll be right behind you.”
She stands still for a second, defiance flashing through her gaze, before she gives in and walks into the house without me. My jaw clenches as I watch her go, and then I’m swiping the screen of my phone and heading back down the stairs.
“Kitschy,” Gio states before I even say hello. “‘Considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way… ’whatever the fuck that means.”
“And your dad said you’d never amount to anything.”
“Yeah, well, what’s he know?” Gio replies.
“You’d better be calling to tell me good news.”
“Do I ever call withbadnews?”
He has a point. In our line of business, we can’t handle bad news over the phone, especially in this day and age where everything is susceptible to tapping.
“They accepted our offer on that Brooklyn Heights spot,” Gio continues.
“Excellent.”
“And your pops is hounding me for you to call him.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll call him.” I sigh, running a hand through my hair again. “As soon as I settle in here.”
“Good. You know, it makes me nervous when he uses me to teach you a lesson.”
“He’s notteachingme a lesson, you fucking goon. He’s just checking in.”
“Oh!” Gio lets out a laugh. “I’m just saying, I don’t like being the go-between. Your pops ain’t all there these days, you know?”
“Careful,” I warn.
“How’s it going out there anyway?”
“Define ‘it.’” I look up at the gaudy estate and cringe.
Small pebbles crunch beneath my shoes as I hit a gravel pathway that leads into the back. I squint, looking into the distance. There’s a giant infinity pool that drops off with nothing but ocean beyond it, but to the left of that, there’s what looks like a two-story mother-in-law suite bigger than any house in the neighborhood I grew up in.
“Thatthingyou’re marrying, for starters.” There’s a teasing lilt to his voice, but I hear the truth between the words. Giovanni’s never been a fan of Aria, claims she’s untrustworthy and shallow. Which, to be fair, she probably is. But she’s a good person deep down. Bad people don’t save strangers from bleeding out on riverbanks.
Besides, what do I care if she’s shallow? I’m not marrying her for deep conversations; I just need her to keep her mouth shut and her legs open, let me put a couple of kids in her belly, and look good on my arm in public.
