“I didn’t want to mention this with the girls around, but mother showed up at my gate this morning,” Romeo adds.
My muscles tense at the mention of our mother. The scarred cross over my pec stings like it was burned into me only yesterday. “What the hell did she want?”
“She looked like she was high off something and kept repeating herself.”
“What did she say?” I ask again, annoyed he ignored the question.
“She was spewing some shit about Demi and kept saying she had photos to prove it.”
That woman is never happy unless the whole world is burning.
“What was she saying about Demi?” I try to control the rage burning in me. The only way she would know that Demi is back in my life is if she’s keeping tabs on us.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I couldn’t follow along, didn’t want to. I sent her away with a few hundred bucks to give us time to do something about her.”
“She needs to greet our father in Hell,” Savio responds, looking just as angry as I am.
“If you’re not ordering a drink, move so that others can.” The annoyed female voice comes from behind us and we all turn, unimpressed, to find Sienna standing there with a big ass grin on her face. I watch as Max takes his time looking her up and down before he switches his smile into the less crazy, more charming one.
She steps in, giving me a hug. I freeze and shoulder her arms off me. She mouthssorryand turns her attention to my brothers. It’s not uncommon for her to join me for functions like these, and they all know her.
“Babe, when you said you couldn’t come with me tonight, I asked someone else,” Maximus cockily responds.
“Yes, I met her earlier. Lovely girl.” She turns her body to dismiss my brother. “Dante, I want you to meet my date.”
I suck in my lips, trying not to laugh in my brother’s face. I extend my hand to the silent tall guy behind her.
“Not him.” She rolls her eyes and this time, Max is the one laughing. “He’s over there.” She points.
I glance over and what I see has my knuckles turning white as my fingers try to crush the glass in my hands. Jameson. The one guy I should have crushed when I had the opportunity. I haven’t seen him in the flesh for a decade and most traces of the young man in the photo on my board have vanished.
Everyone is looking at me oddly and I realize my face has just revealed a side of me I try to keep hidden. My lips lift into a gentle smile, the muscles fighting against the action. My brothers relax, except Savio, but I appreciate the mask of indifference he wears. I’m going to hear about it from him once we’re away from prying eyes and ears.
“I’m going to go do my big brother thing for Sienna. I’ll be back,” I tell the guys before I stroll over to Jameson.
“I’ll keep her in good company until you return,” Max offers, taking Sienna’s arm to lead her away.
“I’ll distract Demi for you,” Savio replies, having my back like the good brother he is.
My walk is stiff and Jameson looks all too pleased with himself when he sees I’m coming to him.
“I didn’t realize they allowed riff raff in here,” I say, my polite tone a stark contrast to the words.
He extends his hand and my eyes glance down before they flick back to hold his gaze. I refuse to mirror his motion, unwilling to shake his hand. He looks like a snake waiting for an opportunity to strike.
“You need to fucking leave.” My lips pinch together.
He makes a show of leaning past me, looking at Demi, then fixes his eyes back on me. “I think I’ll stay.” He flashes me a cheeky grin that I want to punch off his face.
My hand dips into my suit jacket and I show him my gun, hoping to scare him off.
“I can play at this game too.” He does the same thing with his suit and gun.
My fingers interconnect, and I crack a few of my knuckles.
“You have no fucking clue, do you?” His tone is taunting. The urge to shoot him dead in the middle of this room is digging deeper into my skin.
“I can kill you, with a hundred people around, and no one will remember seeing anything that happened. They won’t even recall me being here.”