AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You are safe in Las Vegas. War won’t reach us here. And remember, I’ll always be there to save the day with a crazy stunt.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
Nevio pushed his hand with the necklace over to me. “Take it. It’s for you if that wasn’t obvious before. I see you trying to grab the thing all the time. You’re obviously attached to inanimate objects.”
I swallowed and took it gingerly. “Why?”
“I don’t know why you’re attached to things. I’m not emotionally attached to jewelry.”
“That’s not what I mean. Why—”
Why did you buy it? This was such a sweet thing to do that my heart wanted to put more meaning into the gesture than it probably deserved.
“I know what you mean.” Nevio shrugged. “It’s odd. You’re not you without it.”
I bit my lip. So he found me odd? “Thanks. That’s really nice of you.”
Nevio clucked his tongue. “Don’t spread any false tales. Nobody will believe you if you say I’m being nice.”
I tilted my head, regarded his face in the dark. “Can you put it on?”
Nevio took the necklace and reached around my neck. Goose bumps rippled across my body when his fingers touched my skin. We stood really close. This was the perfect moment to kiss. It was almost too perfect, like in my fantasies, and really romantic. Nevio dropped his hands and leaned down to my ear. “This is a gift between friends, Rory. Remember the warnings your mother tells you about me. A mother’s instinct rarely lies.”
He stepped back and turned around without another word, stalking away.
I stood there for several minutes dumb founded.
One year later
I wasn’t sure who had first compared me to a black hole who swallowed even the brightest light. Probably Massimo who always knew shit like that and used it to piss me off.
Greta was inherently good. She helped animals, never used violence. Fuck, she didn’t even eat meat, eggs, milk or fucking honey.Honey.Because the poor bees were exploited or something ridiculous like that.
Yet, she’d set a man on fire last night. We’d always been close, but over the last year since Amo had wed that bitch Cressida and war had come down on us, she’d spent even more time with me. She’d often seemed distant but she’d been by my side and I’d taken that as a good sign.
Fuck me. Being around me had obviously finally taken effect. I would have never thought Greta was capable of hurting anyone.
I sat on a chair next to our pool in the twilight of the early morning hours, taking a smoke and trying to understand how my peaceful twin could have burned someone alive. That was something I would do, something Ihaddone. I ran a hand through my hair. I still smelled of smoke and burning flesh. It was one of the smells that was the hardest to get out. It wasn’t my favorite either. I preferred the freshness of blood to the charcoal scent. If I wanted a barbecue, I could throw a few steaks on the grill.
The sound of a window opening drew my attention to the Scuderi mansion. Aurora peeked out of her window and waved at me, her blond hair like a halo in the dark.
Aurora meant light, and like my sister, Aurora was good too. She always asked others how they felt, truly cared about their emotions, and gave me concerned looks when she thought I was hurting, even if that was never the case.
Aurora had sought my closeness. I’d always kept her at a distance, mostly because she’d seemed too young, too innocent for what I had in mind. The last year I’d been busy with war, with Greta, with trying to control my deep need to maim and kill Amo Vitiello so ignoring her crush on me had been easy. But recently I’d caught myself thinking about Aurora, even fucking dreaming about her. About her smile. About how she threw herself down the half pipe. About how she made even dungarees seem like a valid fashion option.
But I was a fucking black hole, drawing in any source of light with my irresistible pull, only to extinguish it and tinge it in blackness.
I could only imagine what Massimo would say about my analysis, about my abundance of symbolism. But dammit, I was right.
I’d ruined Greta even if she’d had years to grow immune against it. Eventually I’d pulled her down into my black hole.
It would be the same with Aurora. I already had Greta on my conscience, if you could call my shaky moral compass by that name, I didn’t want to add Aurora to that list.
There were so many women out there I didn’t give a flying fuck about, enough to spend several lifetimes fucking. I definitely wouldn’t entertain thoughts of one of the very few I minded hurting.
I stifled a groan when the patio door opened and Aurora stepped out in a white bathrobe. Speaking of symbolism…
She headed straight toward me, probably thinking I needed company and consolation. The only thing that would console me for a little while right now was a good torture session, preferably Amo, and then an angry revenge fuck with a woman from the Famiglia.
