Page 5 of A Very Rossi Christmas
I snorted and shook my head. "If something was going on over there, don't you think I'd have had the courtesy to tell you when I realized it?"
"No," she said, her voice sour. "You'd appreciate it by yourself for as long as you could, just so you could rub it in later."
Okay, she might have a point, there. Brooks and I had met in kindergarten and become immediate best friends—thanks in large part to Brooks telling everyone within shouting distance that I now belonged to her—and we'd never cut that particular cord, which meant we'd grown up as close as sisters.
With all the associated competition.
We'd basically both been trying to outdo the other ever since. And we'd both been failing at that particular mission.
Still. Some things were too important to hold back, and though there was nothing going on in the parking lot...
"I turned over because we have a visitor on our little beach trip," I muttered. "Not one I expected to see on this side of the country, if you know what I mean."
She took in a sharp breath ... and immediately flipped onto her butt to stare at the people closer to the water.
"Don't look!" I hissed, horrified.
"What?" she hissed back. "If there's someone here from— Oh. My. God."
Right, that hadn't taken long.
I wondered if he was still looking at us ... and if he was now watching Brooks discover him.
And so what if he is?a voice in my head snarled.What did he expect? You not to tell her that he was here?
Said voice was correct. Why would I care if he knew I'd told Brooks that he was here? There was no reason for menotto tell her ... and every reason for me to say something the moment I saw him.
He was, after all, the enemy. At least in theory.
I flipped over as well and sat up, my eyes going right to where Joseph was still laying on his stomach staring at us.
"What do you think he's doing here?" Brooks asked, all joking gone from her voice.
Brooks wasn't part of any family. But she'd been around mine long enough to know how serious it was when a member of a rival clan showed up out of the blue, at a time and place when I was without any protection.
"No clue," I replied in the same tone, my earlier ease and relaxation gone. "I haven't talked to him since the night we graduated. I doubt he's here for me."
"Do you, though?" she asked quietly. "The second-in-command of the Rossi family... It would be a pretty penny in their cap for him to take out the daughter of the biggest Irish family in the city."
"It's feather in your cap, not penny in your cap," I replied automatically. "Who the hell keeps pennies in their caps?"
"I don't know, people who're saving for a rainy day? Don't change the subject."
I snorted. Brooks was one of the smartest people I knew but was forever getting popular sayings wrong... and then pretending that she'd said them right and everyone else just didn't know the right way to use them.
It was just part of her charm.
"Either way, I vote we get the hell out of here before any shit goes down," she muttered.
"What, you don't like sitting on the beach in what equates to fancy underwear while my declared enemy lays there and stares at us?" I asked.
"Nope."
She was right, of course. I didn't have any protection here, and that put my defenses up right away. I hadn't even brought my usual purse, which had the smallest handgun known to man sewed into the lining, just in case.
I just hadn't expected to see anyone dangerous on the beach.
Turned out I was wrong.
