Page 68 of Driftwood Daffodil

“Ah,” Romeo filled his mug then looked over at me. “You want to fuck her?”

“No!” Why did everyone keep asking me that? And what the hell were they doing down here anyway? “Don’t you guys have some business or something to do?”

“Don’t worry Little Brother,” Romeo clasped his hand on my shoulder, making my jaw clench. “We’re just checking in with you.”

Bullshit.

The Mancini’s weren’t exactly what people would call a traditional family. The only time we sat around a table to share a meal was for Christmas, or when we needed to portray an image.

I spent more time with Darry and Atlee than I did with anyone I was related to. Don’t get me wrong, I respected the hell out of my father, but he didn’t do idle chit chat or check-ins unless it was job related.

“I’m fine,” I hissed through gritted teeth.

Romeo nodded and dropped his hand, thankfully before I punched him in the face.

Thinking that that was the end of my brothers’ ‘check in’, I twisted the top off my bottle, and swallowed down a mouthful of juice. I should’ve known better.

“How’s school?”

The urge to smack my brother around once again balled my fist. “You mean other than Novalee Ford invading my classrooms?”

My father sighed and flipped a page of his newspaper, “she didn’t do anything to us, Giovanni.”

Chit chat wasn’t his thing, but lectures sure as shit were.

“Since when does that matter?” Last week he put out a hit on an entire family because one of them stole from him. Honestly, I didn’t know what the hold up was. Anyone else would be six feet under by now.

My father had no one to blame for my bad mood but himself. He was the one that signed off on her scholarship.

“Kato Ford is paying for his crime.”

That made me snort. Sitting pretty in a jail cell was not paying for his crime.

“Kato owes us a life debt.” As long as he was still breathing, that debt was owed. Though, he probably wouldn’t be breathing too good tonight. I made a call after leaving Nova yesterday.

“Yes he does,” my father arched a brow over his newspaper at me. “His sister does not.”

I huffed out a breath and shook my head, “don’t tell me she’s still too young.”

“Is she eighteen?”

Should’ve seen that retort coming. My father had certain rules about children. Technically Novalee was a minor, but she wasn’t young enough to be considered a child. Then again, I was eighteen and he still treated me like I was a kid. Why else wouldn’t he let me take theOmerta.

“No.” I begrudgingly grumbled back.

“Then you will leave her alone until she is.”

He returned to the paper in his hands as if the matter was closed. And as far as he was concerned it was. My father was the boss after all. His word was law.

What I didn’t expect was for Romeo to interject.

“I don’t know, the Ford siblings are close.”

Suspicion tipped my head towards my brother. Did he just argue my point?

Not that my father would listen. “The girl will not pay her brother’s debt.”

Like I said, his word was law.

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