Page 44 of Did My Heart Love Till Now?

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “For some unholy reason, my sister loves you and she's my concern right now.”

“You're breaking so many laws.” I snorted, mocking the ways of my new world.

“Well, good thing violence is off limits in the church then huh?” He sneered peeking over my shoulder.

I glanced back to see the priest near the side door Martina had exited. He clutched something in his hands watching Nick and me intently. Side by side, we twisted our bodies toward the front of the church, bowing our heads.

“You might want to go get that cut on your nose checked out.” I muttered under my breath.

“Don’t worry about me.”

“Trust me, I’m not at all.”

“Gavino, when we find the betrayer, do us both a favor and kill him. You need to assert your dominance in your family.”

Someone behind us cleared their throat and we both looked back over our shoulders at the perturbed, elderly woman and her friend. Bowing our heads, we turned back to the front.

“I don't take orders from you,” I growled, “but I plan on killing everyone who can't be trusted.”

He sighed and pivoted to walk away but leaned back and whispered. “By the way, my father knows about you and Sofia, and he hit her.”

“What?!” I matched his tone.

Without another word, he marched down the main aisle toward the exit. Slowly, I narrowed my gaze to the crucifix. My anger turned to pure rage. My chest rose and fell as I took several deep breaths to control my temper in the religious establishment. Spinning on my heels I marched toward the exit. Yanking my phone from my jacket, I dialed Joey and placed the phone to my ear. The moment I stepped out of the church, he answered.

Hey, G.

Be at my house in ten minutes.

“What's going on?”

I peeked up from a Louis Vuitton duffle bag to see Joey leaning in the doorway of my bedroom. “Come in.” I mumbled as I scurried around, grabbing items and shoving them into the luggage.

With his hands burrowed in his pockets he strode across the space and perched on the arm of a navy-blue modern chair in the corner of the room. “Gav, where are you going?”

Dropping a wad of cash in the top of the bag, I spun around, gritting my teeth. “I’m going to murder Alphonse.”

“And you're packing for it?” He chortled, falling back in the chair and draping his legs over the arm. He grabbed a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

Huffing, I stomped to the window and opened it. With a smirk, he held the pack in the air. I nodded, accepting the offer and lit my own. Taking a deep drag, I tossed him his lighter, which he caught.

Falling onto my bed, I shook my head. “He hit Sofia and I'm tired of him looking at this place on the news.” I inhaled the cigarette once again. “I want to go stay somewhere else until this shit is over. I need to handle it from a distance.”

“Okay fair but—”

“Nick Barone came to see me at the church.” Leaning forward, I rested my elbows on my knees. “And I know what you're going to say but he’s the one who warned me.”

“And you're what,” he sarcastically chuckled, “going to let him plant that bullshit in your head? You’re a fucking leader now, of course he’s going to fuck with you.”

“Joe he was beat up bad,” I snorted, “like really bad, man.”

He stared off into the distance, smoking slowly.

Swiping the back of my finger across my thigh. I brushed stray ash off my formal slacks then stood. I mashed the cigarette into the center of the ashtray on my nightstand and strode into my closet. Grabbing three shirts and pants off the rack, I waltzed back to my room, laying them across my bed. I turned to Joey, “All this,” I circled my hand in front of my face, “was fucked up.”

“Good.” He rolled his eyes.

“He said the rat is in both the families. I don’t think it’s just the cameras outside causing them to know what’s up.”

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