Page 17 of My Italian Stepbrother

I pull away from him and run back into the bathroom to quickly shower, thinking about him lying in bed without me, taking care of himself. Maybe I should tell mom I’m not feeling well?

She just looked so excited to spend time with me, and I couldn’t do that to her.

I slip into one of the dresses she bought for me, knowing it would make her happy to finally see it on me.

We drive to the shopping center without speaking to each other, but we listen to the radio and sing along to some of the songs, though. I feel guilty not sharing what happened last night with mom, at least not sharing that there’s a guy in my life. We always used to talk to each other about everything, and now I had to withhold something huge from her.

What if this becomes something big? Like, what if Benito and I want to get married or we have a kid? What the hell are we supposed to do then?

I suddenly feel nauseous thinking about it. This is a lot more than I thought I could handle. Maybe starting something with him just based on this attraction isn’t right. This can’t be a secret forever, and I don’t want to be in love with someone I can never be seen in public with.

I have to talk to Benito about this.

Mom and I walk around the store, looking at different home goods and clothes. I’m happy for her. She genuinely loves Enio, and he does everything he can to provide for her and make her happy, and that includes giving her access to a black card. She and I used to shop at discount stores, and now, she gets to look and buy at luxury shops.

We finish up at the department store, and she takes me to Barnes and Noble so I can look at books. I happily walk through the aisles, looking for new series to read and worlds to escape into.

“I’m going to go grab our drinks,” she says and I continue looking through the fantasy series in front of me.

Someone comes up behind me, and I look at them for a brief moment. Feeling their eyes on me makes me uncomfortable, so I move away, but they follow me. I don’t want to cause a scene so I ignore them, thinking my mom would be back any minute.

“Excuse me,” the man says, and I hesitate before looking up from the book in my hands. “Are you Brie Morrison?”

My mouth hangs open for a moment. I decide not to answer but realize quickly that by not responding at all, he must assume he’s right.

“My name is Lewis O’Malley.” He reaches into his pocket to hand me a business card. “I’m a private investigator. I’m working on a case, and I think you might be a good person to talk to. It’s about your stepbrother. There are some things you might like to know about him.”

Before I can say anything else in response, he turns and walks away. I stare at the card for a second before sliding it into my purse. As much as I love being with Benito, I still don’t know if he’s dangerous. If the private eye has information, it might be wise to hear him out.

13

BENITO

As much as I want to stay in bed and make love to Brie all day long, when she left, my father called an emergency meeting with me, Jimmy, and Henry. I have no idea what it could be about, but given the altercations I’ve been having in the past few days, I’m a bit worried it’ll be about that.

Henry is already in his office when I get there. He’s standing behind my father’s desk with a folder that they’re both looking through. Jimmy arrives a few minutes after me, and we all sit down, staring at each other and waiting for someone to start talking.

“Thank you all for being here. I asked Enio to call you both here because we have some trouble,” Henry begins. “There’s a PI digging around on all of us.”

This isn’t new for the family. Private investigators have been trying to dig up dirt on us for years. None of them have ever produced anything worth worrying about, though. And if they do, we buy their silence. Everyone has their price.

My father hands me the envelope I saw them both looking in earlier, and Jimmy peeks over my shoulder to look, too. There are several zoomed-in photos of this middle-aged man handing cards to people we work with.

“You tailed him?” I ask Henry.

“Briefly, only because he happened to be nearby, but I couldn’t stick around for long. He’s been reaching out to a lot of our affiliates, offering them financial freedom from us if they give information away,” Henry explains.

“Do we know what he’s looking into?”

Henry shakes his head and looks at my father.

“I would assume it has something to do with the warehouse murder and the circumstances around that,” my father chimes in.

I lean back in my chair and sigh. I paid my dues for that crime.

“What do we do then?” Jimmy asks nobody in particular.

“What do you think, Benito?” my father turns to me.

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