Page 89 of Highball and Chain

“Do you know how you’re going to fix it?”

I scratched my jaw. “I don’t have all of the information I need to decide my next move.”

Hildie slammed the knife onto the counter and marched around the island. Hands on her hips, she stared up at me. “Lorenzo Valente Marchionni, don’t be a fool.” She tapped my chest. “Everything you need to know is in here.”

My brows climbed into my hairline. She hadn’t used my middle name since I’d turned ten. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how much she and Shanna were alike. Tiny spitfires that took zero shit, but would give the shirts off their backs to help a person in need.

“You’re right.” I drew her into an embrace. “But you’ve been with this family long enough to know what we want and our obligations don’t always line up.”

She turned away. “Then maybe it’s time you start thinking about what you want instead of what’s best for this family.”

“Maybe.” I left her in the kitchen and walked outside.

Marco sat in the same chair he’d tripped over. He had his bandaged leg propped up on a pillow and his arm draped over his face.

“It would have been nice to have a little warning you invited Nico to stay here.” I sank into a nearby chair and forced Hildie’s advice to the back of my mind for the time being.

“I planned to, but we started talking about the security footage. Then Shanna showed up.”

“And after she went to check on Hildie?”

He shrugged. “I wussed out.”

I could respect the fact he’d owned up to his cowardice instead of giving me some bullshit story. “Do you need stitches?”

“It wasn’t that big a cut. Hildie patched me up with a couple of Steri-Strips.” He turned to me. “Where are the women?”

“Shanna took Nico upstairs to find some clean clothes.”

His eyes widened. “She didn’t have any with her?”

“Not even a purse.”

“Damn. I knew things were bad, but Nico without a wardrobe is apocalyptic-level bad. She’s desperate.”

He had a point, but I needed the full picture before I let him, or Nico, off the hook. “Why is she here?”

“I offered her a place to stay because she had nowhere else to go. Think about it. She’s running from an arranged marriage. The last place anyone will look for her is with the person she’s being forced to marry.”

I couldn’t argue with his logic, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. “But her running doesn’t add up. She all but proposed to me in Sicily, and that was well before her father made any demands.”

“It sounds like a chicken and egg argument to me.” He picked at his bandages. “But our mother and the Lazios were putting pressure on her to make this happen more…naturally.”

I huffed out a humorless laugh. “There was nothing natural about the way she went about it.”

“Exactly. When has Nico ever acted that desperate? She’s not hurting for male attention. Why else would she stick around after you rejected her?”

“You may be right.” I needed to have a conversation with Nicolina, but first I had to find a way to tell Shanna the entire story.

“Like I said before, Nico’s as much a victim in this thing between our families as you and Shanna.”

“Do yourself a favor and don’t say that in front of Shanna. She’s lost her job, everything she owns, and her cat.” I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t suppose you have any idea what could have changed her mind about Nico?”

Marco ran his hand over the back of his neck. “I may have mentioned that Nico was on the run from her father.”

Part of me wanted to strangle him and part wanted to hug him for not mentioning the Lazios’ demand that Nico and I get married.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

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