Page 1 of Darkness and Duress
Chapter One
Marco
“End me now.” My cell landed on the counter with a clatter. It was way too early for my idiot younger brother’s shit. Scratch that—there was never a good time for his bullshit. Six o’clock in the morning was the worst time. I loved him to death. Hell, I'd take a bullet for him. I'd also just as soon put one in his head when he got up to his fucking nonsense. Especially since his nonsense came in every color under the sun.
Abandoning the offensive text messages, I left the coffee pot to do what it did best and returned to my bedroom to get ready for anotherfun-filledday of more bullshit. On top of Gianluca, I had to deal with Pops, and he’d been in rare fucking form lately. The fact that I was the only person who wasn't surprised that life had turned into a shit-show after the d’Ambrosio-Moretti marriage alliance pissed me off to no end. I told them it was a mistake—often and with a lot of passion. No one listened. Surprise, surprise.
Schick, schick, schick.The sound of the metal hangers sliding over the bar in my closet scratched at my brain in a particularly uncomfortable way as I tried to pick a suit that might inspire some vaguely pleasing response, but I honestly just didn't give a shit anymore. I was finding it harder and harder to care, lately. About the business. About my appearance. About anything. I picked a charcoal grey Armani at random and tossed it on the bed. It landed on the floor. Close enough.
Leaving it where it fell, I followed the siren song of the coffee pot beeping. Coffee would probably help me pretend I gave a rat’s ass. At the very least, it would ease the headache courtesy of too little sleep. As soon as I spied my phone beside the machine, my ire returned.Fucking Gianluca.As I expected, there were five more texts after the one that had started my descent into bitter anger.
To be fair, it was my own fault he was on this latest kick. A lesson hard-learned—don't get drunk and play stupid kid games with your little brother and his dumb-fuck friends. Never Have I Ever was not the right game to play with a bunch of infants pretending to be adults. Gianluca just had to ask the one question I never should have answered honestly.“Never have I ever fucked a guy in the ass.”
My answer had my brother convinced I was gay or bi or something, which was a terrible fucking assumption to make. No shade to anyone who was, but I definitely wasn't. It happened when I was in a weird headspace, horny as fuck, and frankly, I'd always been an opportunist. A hole’s a hole, especially behind bars. Unfortunately, Gianluca wouldn't hear reason. Every single day since then, he'd been sending me screenshots of the messages my new Grindr profile received. One he set up for me without my consent using a picture he snuck while we were at the gym together. I scoffed in horror at the audacious messages and tapped out a reply.
Marco: Delete it. Now. I'm not fucking gay.
Gianluca: idk man fucking a dude in the ass is pretty gay
Marco: I'm not gay. Gianluca, delete it now.
Gianluca: I think u should give twinkerbelle a try. Says he's good at deepthroating.
Marco: I'm going to murder you in your sleep.
Gianluca: tonight at 8 good for u?
Growling under my breath, I called him directly. Of course, he picked up on the first ring, but I could barely hear him over the loud music playing in his apartment.
“Gianluca, turn that shit off and listen to me!”
“Huh?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake. Turn it off!”
“What?”
“I will rip your fucking balls off and feed them to your dog!” I shouted into the phone and was met with a cackle of delight.
“Balls, eh? Figured you'd be more of an ass man.” He laughed again as he lowered the volume of the music.
“I hate you so fucking much.”
“Nah. You’ll thank me later. So, eight?”
My breath hissed through my teeth as I exhaled with a clenched jaw. “I'm not meeting up with twink-whatever. Delete the fucking profile. I told you I'm not—”
“Gay, I know. Bi is best.”
“I swear to fucking Christ, Gian. I'm not having this conversation again. Unlike you, I have actual work to do today. Grow the fuck up.”
“Whoa, hold the fuck on. Low blow.”
The scathing remark was right on the tip of my tongue, but if I didn't de-escalate this situation, no one would. “Probably. But seriously, delete the fucking profile. I'm not hooking up with anyone. Especially not a man. Delete. It.”
“Man, you're so stiff. Maybe, just maybe, if you hooked up once in a while, you wouldn't be so fucking irritating.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose with a sigh. “Priceless coming from you. Go bother someone else.”