Page 116 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

He leaned back against the wall. “Your girl stirred up some shit today.”

“Fat Ricky will get over it.” That probably wasn’t the first time a chick threw something at him.

“Is she going to be a problem?”

Novalee and the word problem went hand in hand. “I’ve got it under control.”

“You sure about that?”

Why was he suddenly concerned? I was pretty sure he was all for the marriage part of the agreement. “Is this coming from you or him?”

The him being my father. He didn’t handle messy well.

“That girl’s got a big mouth, Little Brother. You might want to teach her to keep it shut before she pisses the wrong person off.”

A big mouth was an odd thing for Romeo to say. Yes, Nova didn’t know when to shut up, but she hadn’t seen or heard anything that she shouldn’t have. It all just sarcastic bullshit. That’s when it hit me.

“When’s he coming?”

“Next week.”

So, I had a week to teach Nova how to be polite. Fantastic.

GIOVANNI

I’d been watching Nova’s chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm for about an hour now. She was so peaceful right now. And quiet. If only I could keep her that way. Next week would be a test for not Nova, but for me.

My father would be watching to see how well I could keep my shit under control, and I couldn’t let him down. I needed to show him that I was just as capable as my brother.

Meaning Nova was about to get a tough lesson in actions and consequences. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it. For weeks, I’d been imagining that moment when she would break and end to my will.

The shy glance as she slowly fell to her knees, eager and willing to please. That’s what I wanted. At least that’s what I thought I wanted.

I looked down at the text displayed on Nova’s phone.

Darth: I need you Nova. When are you coming home?

I couldn’t shake the desperation in Nova’s voice earlier today.

“Why can’t I hate you?”

The girl was a master at pushing my buttons. Half of the time I wanted to choke the life out of her, and the slap her the other half. She was infuriating, a pain in the ass, and a complete mess.

A brat through and through. But there was another side of her. A broken wounded creature that held everyone else up on her fractured legs, while they completely disregarded her needs.

I knew what it was like to be ignored by the people who should care the most.

Based on the text history, I assumed this message was from her sister. The rest in the thread history weren’t any better.

Can you do this? Where are you? Come help me? And so on. Not once did I see an instance where Nova asked for something, or where her sister just wanted to see how she was doing.

It was all about Veda.

Romeo and I weren’t that close, but he still checked in. If I needed him, he’d be there. Where was Nova’s sister? She was the older one. Nova should be leaning on her, not the other way around.

The thing that pissed me off the most was that Veda knew about her sister’s arrangement with us. Romeo paid her a visit to let her know what would happen if she ever talked about what she saw at the Fiore house. And she still had the gall to message Nova because she needed her.

Nova signed her life over while her sister hid in the dark ignoring everything around her. I think I hated her more than their brother.

---