Page 23 of Light It Up Red
I reach out an arm and wrap it around her waist. “Yeah, you’re not going anywhere near that fucker.”
My eyes scan over to Alessandro, who’s leaning on the far wall while pretending to ignore our conversation. His body language tells me he’s heard every word, though. He pushes off and I watch him pull his phone out of his pocket and dial a number.
He says something in Italian to whoever is on the other end before holding it out to Lili. “It’s Ma. She wants to know where we are.”
Lili glances over her shoulder, oblivious to the fact her brother was the one to make the call in the first place. She takes the phone and quickly covers the receiver. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move,” Lili tells me before walking farther down the hallway.
Once she’s out of earshot, Alessandro turns his glare on me. “What’d he say?”
“Who?” I try to play dumb.
“The guy you laid out the second the puck dropped. Fucker said something about my sister, and I want to know what it was.” It’s a demand, not a question.
“Trust me, you really don’t want to know,” I tell him.
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know,” he counters. “Now, you can tell me or you can tell her. Either way, I’ll find out.” He shrugs as he gestures to himself, then his sister. “I’ll leave it up to you to figure out which option is in your best interests.”
“He said something about wanting to take her for a spin… and he didn’t mean out on the ice,” I tell him through clenched teeth.
If I thought Alessandro looked pissed off before, now his blood is boiling. I can nearly see the steam coming out of his ears, his jaw so tight he’s lucky if he doesn’t crack a molar. “I gotta go handle something. Do me a favor and don’t let her out of your sight. I’ll come find her later,” he says, walking off before I can respond.
Not that I would have argued with the guy. Keeping my eyes on Lili isn’t a hardship.
Alessandro whispers something to Lili, takes his phone from her hand, and pockets it. She watches him go for a few seconds, then makes her way towards me while her brother storms off in the opposite direction.
“What did you tell him?”
“You ready to get out of here? You hungry? Have you eaten?” I ask instead of answering her.
“Travis, what did you tell my brother? Because I know there is no way he’s leaving me alone with you without a damn good reason.” She folds her arms over her chest.
“You don’t want to be alone with me?” I lift a challenging brow while my lips curl into a smirk.
“Of course I do, but I want to know what has Alessandro walking out of here looking murderous first,” she says.
“That Nashville player… he said something about you I’d really rather not repeat. Your brother wanted to know what it was,” I tell her.
Lili’s eyes widen. “And you told him? Shit, fuck,” she curses under her breath as I watch her dig her phone out of her bag.
Chapter Eleven
Idial Lorenzo’s number. It almost rings out by the time he answers it. “Lil, I’m a little busy at the moment. What’s up?” he asks.
“I need you to come to Nashville. Now. Alessandro is going to do something really stupid,” I tell him.
“What’s he doing?”
“He’s going after a hockey player. You need to get here and stop him.”
“The one I hear you’re shacking up with? Yeah, that’s probably not a good idea. I’d be more inclined to help him get rid of the body, Lil…”
“No, idiot, a different hockey player. Look, just get your ass out here and help me find him,” I hiss.
“It’s at least a two-hour flight. But I’ll be there as soon as I can.” My cousin sighs into the phone.
“Thank you.” I hang up, contemplating if I should call my father next and quickly deciding against it. Because he actually will help Alessandro bury the body. My father has a short fuse when it comes to protecting family. An even shorter one when it comes to me.
I have no idea what that guy said before the game, but I do know it was bad enough for Travis to fight him… and to have my brother looking to spill some blood on his own. Without taking backup.
