Page 20 of Salvatore

I’ve moved half a yard of highly relieved distance when a strong hand grasps the crook of my arm, making my coffee slosh over the rim, the hot liquid scalding my fingers.

He infiltrates my comfort zone, his aftershave in my lungs, his presence like a conjoined twin at my side as his breath brushes my ear. “You’re hiding something, troublemaker. And although distractions derailed me from learning your secrets this week, I’m now more determined than ever to find the truth.”

My stomach plummets. I can’t remain on his radar. I never should’ve been on it in the first place.

“If what I think you’re hiding happens to be true…” His fingers find my hair, his dominant grip on the strands reminding me of how stupidly mindless I’d been for him last weekend. “Isuggest you don’t bother running from me again. I’ll always find you.”

5

SALVATORE

She walks away,her defiance invigorating. The view of her ass in that professional form-hugging funeral dress isn’t half bad either.

I should’ve made it a priority to dig into her life, but I hadn’t lied about being distracted.

Remy has been a basket case all week due to Carlo’s death and his rabid affair with Olivia Pelosi. I’ve had to help manage his club, as well as his other business interests, along with his safety, while also maintaining my normal duties as I learn to take over the reins of our uncle’s unlawful business.

“How are you?” Abri stops beside me, her concern confusing.

“Fine.” I scowl. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“No reason. I just thought seeing as we’re at a funeral of someone you were associated with, I’d test the waters to see if you’ve grown a heart. Turns out you haven’t. No surprise there.” She focuses on the people filling the room, their mindless prattle growing louder as plates and cutlery clatter. “You need to keep an eye on Remy. Unlike you, he’s not doing so well.”

“I’ve noticed. His self-pity is hard to ignore.”

“Just like your psychotic god complex.”

“That sounds like jealousy, sister,” I muse. “Are you and Bishop still envious that I’m about to take over from Lorenzo?”

“The only time Bishop and I think about you is when we’re discussing how long it will take you to drag us into an unnecessary war with the cartel. He’s convinced your ego will have us dodging bullets days after you gain control. I foolishly thought it would take longer, but not a minute goes by that I don’t question my logic.”

Joke’s on them. I attempted to instigate war weeks ago but Lorenzo forbade it.

I clap her on the shoulder. “If you’ve got money on that wager, I’m giving you the inside tip that you’re going to lose.”

She sighs. “Why are you like this? Did Mom drop you on your head as a child?”

Maybe. My mother has admitted guilt to a lot of things over almost two years isolated in a prison cell in the basement of Lorenzo’s Virginia Beach mansion.

It’s amazing what information you can garner when you’re the only child that visits your recently widowed womb donor.

“Now, now, Abri.” I give her a patronizing pat on the head, earning a glower as she jerks away. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for the sibling with the most mental issues from parental trauma to be making judgements on others.”

“I don’t have mental issues,” she snips.

I shrug as I eye the plate of an elderly woman who passes with an array of sandwiches, my stomach growling. “Your choice in lifelong partners contradicts that statement.”

“Grow up, Salvatore.” She pivots and storms off, only to come to an abrupt halt before turning and thundering back toward me. “You’re an asshole. Do you know that?”

“I’m well aware.”

“Well, you should also be well aware thatallof your siblings are trying to create less volatile lives after what our parents putus through. Matthew is succeeding with Layla. I am with Bishop. And Remy now has?—”

“Remy has nothing,” I cut her off. “Don’t include the two of us in the fairy-tale movement. We’re both still digging in the trenches to create some semblance of a future. What Matthew has is wealth, thanks to Lorenzo. And you have a fucking sugar daddy for the same reason. So don’t judge those of us who are still trying to gain a foothold.”

“Youhavemoney, Salvatore. We all received the same cut of the family assets.”

I have a few mill and a business or two. It’s not enough. In fact, it equates to pocket change when what I was raised to believe my future held was generational wealth.

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