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“Let’s go find out.”
Chapter 16
~Shane~
“You look really good for a girl who survived a war zone this afternoon,” Annika says to Ivie, who’s sitting beside me in the family room, balancing a plate of pizza on her lap. “How are you holding up, honey?”
“I’m fine.” Ivie sighs and takes another bite of Hawaiian pizza. “I feel like it was all a movie and that it didn’t really happen. But it did.”
“And now it’s over,” I assure her, but want to wince when she looks up at me with wide, blue eyes.
“No, it’s not over.”
“It will be,” Nadia assures her. “Sooner than later, even if I have to kill every one of them myself.”
“Let’s talk about something less violent,” Annika suggests, making the rest of us laugh. “I’ve been thinking about getting a puppy.”
“What kind?” Ivie asks, sitting forward. “I want one, too. Let’s get siblings from the same litter, and they can be besties.”
“Oh my gosh, yes,” Annika agrees with excitement. “I was thinking a Shih Tzu. Or a Bichon. You know, something small and cute.”
“A chick dog,” Rocco says with a smirk.
“It’s a small dog,” Annika says and sends my brother a glare. “Because I don’t have time to exercise a big dog, and a small dog can go to the office with me. Why do you care, anyway?”
“I literally said three words,” Rocco says.
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t say any words at all, Rafe Martinelli.”
“Rocco,” he corrects her, and Carmine and I share a look. He’ll never win this battle with these women. Never.
“I will not call you Rocco,” Annika reminds him. “Your mother named you Rafe. Your name is Rafe.”
“Seriously, dude, Rafe is so much better,” Nadia says. “I’ve never understood the Rocco thing.”
“It’s my name, and I can decide what I want people to call me,” my brother says. “If you call me Rafe, I won’t reply.”
“Fine,” Annika says. “I don’t want to talk to you anyway so that works just fine.”
“Why are you so difficult?” Rocco demands.
“You two are so cute,” Ivie says with a dreamy look on her face. “The way you tease and flirt is adorable. Why don’t you just go ahead and start making out, right here.”
Both Rocco and Annika glare at Ivie, which only makes us all laugh harder. These two have been fighting whatever is between them for years. And they hid it. I was shocked to discover earlier this year that they’d had a secret relationship years before. I’ve asked Rocco to tell me about it, but he just clams up.
He won’t speak of it.
It’s baffling.
“Yes, my annoyance is cute,” Annika says, sarcasm dripping from every word.
“It is,” Ivie insists. “If you didn’t give a shit, you’d ignore him. But you do give a shit. And I don’t know why you’re fighting it so damn hard. But that’s none of my business. I guess I was just reminded today how short life can be. And what’s the point of denying what you love? What you enjoy?”
“This is getting really philosophical,” Nadia says as she rises to her feet and wanders into the kitchen, then opens the freezer to find the ice cream. “I’m scooping up ice cream for this talk. And pouring wine. Wine and ice cream.”
“I’ll pour the whiskey,” I offer and pour myself, Curt, and each of my brothers three fingers. Curt’s sitting at the edge of the room, looking uncomfortable. Which isn’t unusual when he’s in a room full of people.
But he knows my family.
“Drink this.” I pass him the glass and pat his shoulder. “You more than earned it today.”
“I won’t turn it down,” he says and takes a sip. “I think I’ll turn in, man. Helluva day. And I need to look over the cameras at the ranch, make sure everything is as it should be.”
“Appreciate it. Let me know if you need anything. Otherwise, I’ll plan to meet with you at oh-eight-hundred.”
“I’ll be there.” He stands with his glass, nods at everyone in the room, and starts to leave, but Ivie calls out to him.
“Curt!” She jumps off the couch and hurries across the room, throwing her arms around him. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Hey.” He pats her back uncomfortably and looks at me with panic in his eyes. “Don’t cry.”
“You saved me,” she says and sniffs loudly. “And I just think you’re wonderful.”
“Uh, you’re pretty great yourself.”
I move in to rescue him, and he passes a weepy Ivie over to me. She buries her face against my chest, and I wrap my arms around her.
“Goodnight, everyone,” Curt says and leaves the room.
“I know I sound stupid,” Ivie says as she pulls back and wipes her eyes. “But when it all started to go down, we didn’t know where Shane was, and Curt was with me. We’d just finished target practice in the firing range and were putting things away, cleaning up, when the alarms went off. Thank God that’s where we were so he could grab weapons. I took some, too, and he made me go through the tunnel to the bunker and wait. Made me promise not to come out, under any circumstances.”
