Page 9 of Whatever You Need

I leaned forward,setting my elbows on the bar. “Did Mom put you up to this?”

My brother, Matteo, sat on the stool next to me. I left my mother’s house with my brother hot on my heels. I just wanted to get shit-faced and not have to explain myself to anybody. Just me and my thoughts and no one to judge me or ask questions that I didn’t want to answer.

“Mom didn’t have to put me up to it, Marco. I figured you could use the advice of your wiser older brother right now. You know she would never choose her sister over you, but the grudge you’re still carrying around is killing her.”

My cousin and his family were going to be in town for the holidays, and my aunt wanted the entire family to get together. The problem was, my cousin’s wife was my ex-girlfriend.

I sat up on my leather stool and glared at him. “So, now I’m an asshole because I don’t want to sit across the dinner table from my ex-girlfriend who cheated on me, or the cousin who stabbed me in the back?”

Sienna and I were high school sweethearts. We fell in love during the time of puberty, braces, and spin the bottle. We were each other’s first. First kiss, first time, first heartbreak. When she cheated on me with my cousin, it divided our close-knit family right down the middle. Everyone was forced to pick a side; you were either Team Marco or Team Antonio. Of course, my mother chose me and Aunt Connie chose her son.

He rolled his eyes while I tried to stay calm. “It’s been over a decade. I get that you may never be able to fully forgive, and you’re entitled to feel the way you do. But, dude, Mom lost her husband and is alone, she denied herself a relationship with her sister because of her loyalty to you. Don’t you think she’s suffered enough? Try to put your own personal feelings aside and do what’s best for her.”

His words gave me pause. I wasn’t a selfish prick who didn’t give a shit about his mother’s feelings. The last thing I would ever do is bring her any more pain. Despite what I knew in my heart to be true, I hated the thought of her being sad. It wasn’t my fault she chose not to talk to her sister.

“I’m not the bad guy here.”

“No, you’re not.” He blew a breath out in frustration. “So, don’t be the guy that keeps his mother from her family. Aunt Connie and Antonio want to make amends, it’s time to put this foolishness behind us. Mom isn’t getting any younger, and please don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s time for you to stop thinking about someone other than yourself.”

“What the fuck.” I pinned him with a deadpanned glare. This lecture was the reason why I wanted to be left alone. My brother, no matter how much I loved him, just couldn’t help himself. He was only two years older than me, but always felt the need to keep me in line as if he were in charge of me.

He held his hands up in surrender. “What they did was wrong on so many levels, but it was ten years ago, hermano. Let it go. I’m not saying that you guys need to be best buddies like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, but you can co-exist for a few hours in Mom’s living room. They live on the other side of the country, so it’s not like you’ll see them very often anyway.”

I have a lot of regrets over the years, but cutting my cousin out of my life wasn’t one of them. He didn’t just make a mistake; he crossed a line that he can never come back from. Even when my father died, he never tried to reach out to me once. If he was ever going to try to mend our relationship, that would have been the right time. If my aunt was still hurting, then my piece of shit cousin had no one to blame but himself. But my mom was a different story. I’m sure that if I took the time to look deep enough inside my fucked-up head, I would acknowledge that he had a point. Still, I was too headstrong to admit it.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t think Marco, do.” He played with his watch on his wrist. “Maybe a few days to cool down and think things through will do you some good.”

“Maybe,” I grumbled and downed the rest of my drink.

Matteo patted my shoulder. “You need a ride?”

“Nah, I’m going to stay awhile. Go home to your family.”

My brother was a good man, and I was a spitting image of him. We had the same dark hair, with the slight wave on top, identical brown eyes, broad shoulders, and the same height. But that’s where the similarities ended. Matteo was a family man who dressed in suits every day to go to his big paying marketing job here in the city. He was the one who got good grades in school, married the girl who he met in tenth grade, and followed every rule to a T. No matter how hard I tried, I could never be half the man my brother was.

His strong arms came around my shoulder. “The roads are getting slick. You might want to head out soon.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

He chuckled and slipped his coat on. “I’ll catch you later, bro.”

I glanced around the bar; the place was empty. It shouldn’t have surprised me considering we were about to get hit with a big nor’easter tonight. I turned around in my stool and looked out the window. The snow was coming down hard. They were calling for two feet by morning, and by the looks of it, the weather was getting worse by the minute. The large flat-screen TVs mounted along the wall had journalists in their parkas reporting on how this was going to be the storm of the century. I sipped my whiskey and decided to book a room here at the hotel using my phone. I was already on my third drink and it wasn’t like I had anyone home waiting for me.

Once I completed my reservation, I picked up the menu and figured I’d might as well order something to eat. As soon as I finished my order, I wrapped my hands around the crystal tumbler and scanned the lounge. My drink almost slipped from my hands when I saw the familiar blonde step into the restaurant.

Her long hair bounced along her shoulders in loose waves. She was wearing a sexy little black dress with matching high-heeled boots that carried her effortlessly across the room. Even in the dim lighting, there was still something about her that stood out. I couldn’t look away even if I wanted to.

Her steps faltered when she noticed me, and her face colored in surprise. My shitty night just got a whole lot better. There was no way she could act like she didn’t recognize me.

“Hello.” I tried to suppress my grin as she stepped closer. My greedy eyes drank up every inch of her. I wanted to commit every one of her physical features to memory, and not just because it was an occupational hazard. It was for purely selfish reasons. I ran my hand along my jaw, trying to get myself to relax. “It looks like we meet again.”

She set her purse down on the bar and gave me a suspicious once-over. “Hello, Officer.” She flashed me a nervous smile and flicked her gaze across the room.

“It’s Detective,” I corrected her over the rim of my glass. “How are you, Ms. West?”

“I’m fine. Thank you.” She dragged the stool out next to mine and took a seat. “I’m surprised you recognized me with clothes on.”

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