Page 33 of Explosive Union
His lips curl at the ends. “What the hell is wrong with that woman? I mean, she was fucking Dario too,” he informs me.
I glare at him. “You didn’t think to tell me?” I snarl. What the actual fuck?
He raises his hands in the air. “Bro,” he says quietly. “I had no idea you didn’t know. It was common knowledge. She made it known far and wide that you two weren’t exclusive.”
“We weren’t,” I snap, but that’s not the fucking point. “Tell me something, Elio; would you want a woman you’re fucking to be banging your brother too?”
“Hell fucking no,” he responds immediately. “But, bro, this is Dario. The little fucker is horny as hell. He fucks anything that walks.”
I don’t give a fuck.
“Had I known, this shit would have been put to bed a long fucking time ago.”
“Pretty sure she told Dario that she squared it away with you.”
I scoff. “Well, she fucking didn’t.”
I drive toward the restaurant, and the silence between us stretches. My anger grows with every minute that passes. I’ll find out what the hell the woman wants, and then I’m done. Fucking done.
“You may wanna stop and get a ring today too,” Elio comments as I pull up outside the restaurant.
My family doesn’t know, but I’m having one made. In this life, there’s no such thing as divorce, and as Jade’s Irish, they have the same beliefs as we do. We’re getting married, and she’s going to be my wife. I want everyone to know that she’s mine. I’m sick to fucking death of men looking at my wife with lust in their eyes. Once she wears my ring, my brand, then any man who looks at her like that will die.
“Mind your damn business,” I tell him as I step out of the car and pass the valet my keys. The kid's eyes light up when he catches them. “Not a fucking scratch,” I warn him.
“Yes, Mr. Gallo,” he assures me as he hands me a number and rushes toward my car.
“So, how is this gonna play out?” Elio questions as we step into the restaurant. It’s early, but our restaurant opens for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When Nonno owned it, Nonna wanted it to be this way, to feed the family whenever they needed it, so it’s open more than it’s closed. It’s never going to change.
“I’m going to find out what she wants and then make it clear that she’s not to contact me again.”
He lets out a low whistle. “The woman is not playing around,” he says and narrows his eyes. “She’s practically wearing her underwear.”
I follow his gaze and see she’s wearing a black dress that is closer to lingerie than an actual dress. The woman is gorgeous. Her blonde hair falls down her back, her lips are pouty as fuck, her eyes are smokey, and her gaze is firmly on me.
“Go get a drink or something. This won’t take long,” I instruct him.
He chuckles. “Good luck. I’m glad it’s you and not me.”
“Fuck off, asshole.” I sneer at him as I move away and stalk toward Monica.
She ducks her head the closer I get to her. The rage coursing through my veins is enough for me to take her head.
“Why have you been calling me?” I hiss at her as I take a seat.
She raises her head, and fear seeps into her eyes. “Rocco,” she whispers. “I don’t know what happened. One minute we were fine, the next, you’re dumping me.” The crocodile tears are a nice touch, and if I were anyone else, I may be affected by them. But I’m not, and watching this woman fake her tears makes me despise her even more.
“Fine?” I choke back my laughter. “Monica, we fucked. It wasn’t a relationship. It wasn’t a friendship. You would come to my hotel room, I’d fuck you, and then you’d leave. At what point in our agreement did you think it would be more?” My patience with her is gone. I’m not watching my tone, nor am I watching the words that are coming out of my mouth.
I let her down gently when I spoke with her the day I found out Jade and I were to be married within the month. I wasn’t an asshole about it. After all, she didn’t do anything to me. It was just time to move on. But this? This is bullshit.
She gasps at my callousness. “But we were good together.”
I shake my head. She’s utterly deluded. “You fucked my brother. There’s no way in hell that is good.”
Her eyes flash with anger. “I did it for you.”
I glare at her, wondering if I had heard her correctly. “For me? Pray tell, how that was for me?”