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Probably not here. I’d move back to the East coast because I’m secure enough to give them that win. I’m just hoping and praying that I won’t have to. I really hope that this feeling is just a bad case of nerves seeing as I’d love for nothing more than to see us all get the happily ever after we deserve after everything we’ve been through.
“Good morning beautiful,” Cohen whispers into my ear as he sneaks up behind me for a hug.
“Ah, ah, ah. No hogging our girlfriend, brother.” Noah’s wide grin comes into my view and his words warm me from the inside out.
“Morning, boys.” I smile, thankful for the day to come for the first time in a while. I know we have Lorenzo shit to be concerned with and I have a best friend to console still. Those things will still be a priority. I just want to bask in the happy moments while they last.
I’m still not convinced I deserve another chance with them, but I won’t be ungrateful for the gift of forgiveness and redemption, and I damn sure won’t take them for granted again.
Looking around though, the knot in my stomach tightens, “where’s Teo at?” I ask, fearing his absence the worst because gaining his forgiveness wasn’t only the hardest, but the least deserved. I hurt him so many times, so many ways.
“He’s not here?" Cohen questions as he walks around me to look at me, his eyebrows scrunching together curiously. “He told me he had something to do so he’d meet me here. I stopped for these though so he definitely should’ve beat me here,” he says, producing a large bouquet of wildflowers from behind his back.
“I came in to meet with Coach early this morning to go over things since you called him and straightened everything out about the drug test so he was still at the house when I left,” Noah states, shrugging with a look of concern lining his features.
“What’s up guys! I got everyone coffee and breakfast sandwiches,” Ren cuts in looking around, taking in our varying states of unease. “What… did I miss?”
“Have you heard from Matteo this morning?” SB asks, finally finding her voice again.
“Nope. Should I have? Where’s he at?”
“He’s not here and no one knows what he’s up to,” I remark.
“Have you tried calling him?” Ren quirks a brow in my direction.
“I got it,” Cohen replies, already dialing him on the phone. “It goes straight to voicemail. Maybe I should run back to the house to check and make sure he’s okay.”
“I hate how insecure I’m about to sound, but are you guys sure he’s really in this? Maybe he’s skipping out because he’s had time to think things through and he’s thought better of it all?”
“Impossible. He loves you, Feisty,” Noah responds.
“C’mon Q, let’s all go back to the house together and figure out what’s going on. There’s no use in psyching yourself out like this,” Cohen says.
“Alright. Lead the way.” I reply.
“Cool, we’ll take my car,” Noah says, a dark look crossing his face like he knows something is wrong too. The difference is that he’s looking forward to the crazy we might endure. I’m just ready for it all to end.
* * *
“This is where you guys live?” I ask, looking around the foyer. It looks nothing like I would’ve imagined for them. It’s gaudy, flashy, and totally unfitting.
“Technically, it’s Lorenzo’s house. We’ve all lived here since our boarding school days ended and we started at the academy. Our families agreed that Salvatore Prep would be the best place for us to finish out our high school education together, considering the lifestyles they’ve chosen for us to live. They expect us to go to Stanford together as well, and then jump straight into ‘connecting’ the family business. I’m surprised we haven’t heard anything from them since it’s become public knowledge that you married a Gavino and tied yourself to East Coast territory. Normally they’d be strategizing and scheming similar to Lorenzo,” Cohen speculates, getting a look on his face of withdrawn contemplation
“When was the last time he was here? Have you ever had any real supervision since living here? Do you think your families are working with him?”
“Definitely not. He only pops up once in a blue moon. The last time we even saw him in person, he was raging about some fight with your mom. That was almost a year ago exactly because I remember he’d shown up in case any of our families dropped in for Thanksgiving dinner. They didn’t, of course, so he was annoyed to have taken time away from work for no reason,” Noah chimes in.
“What are you thinking man?” Ren asks Cohen who’s still lost in thought.
“He’s not working alone,” he replies. “All this time we were stupidly under the assumption that no one would go head to head with Alessandro, but they might if they fell prey to Lorenzo’s delusions of a team effort. How else would he have amassed enough of a backing to take us on, knowing Alessandra now has both the East and West coast at her back?”
“Your families would take on the Italian mafia from coast to coast?” Ren asks.
“No.” Noah demands. “My family is full of monsters, but they aren’t stupid.”
“My family likely wouldn’t touch this either. They aren’t exactly hands on. They like to observe more than anything, and typically throw money at things to count it as involvement. I’ll trace their records today.”
“Okay, let’s take things one step at a time. For now, we need to find Matteo and make sure he’s okay,” I tell them. “Where’s his room?”
