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Seventeen
RAOUL
“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask my sister again.
“Come on, Raoul.” Stepping away from Evelyn, she comes toward me. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.” She smiles at me in that way that always gets her what she wants as she reaches up to kiss my cheek.
Violetta, being the only Burlusconi girl, ensures she’s used to that.
“I heard about Rhett and hopped straight on a plane. I even flew business class.” She turns her head back to Evelyn.
“That’s not the reason you're back, you would have gone straight home. You would have had someone pick you up from the airport, and I would have known you were coming. Why are you back?” I wait for an honest answer.
And I know it’s going to be bad when she takes a long, dramatic breath before sitting back down.
“So, I may have dropped out of art school.” She grits her teeth and smiles at the same time.
“What? Vi, you're in your third year. Mother and Father have paid a fortune for you to have the best out there. You can’t just drop out.” This is all they fucking need right now.
“As if money is gonna be a factor here.” She rolls her eyes at me like the spoiled little brat she’s always been.
“I take it you haven’t spoken to Father?” I check, noticing that Evelyn takes the seat beside her and throws me a ‘go easy’ on her look.
“No, I came straight here. I don’t know how to tell them,” she says sheepishly.
“We’re not going to tell them. You are going to pull your shit together and get back on a plane to Rome. They don’t need this stress right now.” Since Evelyn's revelation this morning, I don’t need another problem to deal with. I need to find this Kevin asshole and make him hurt. Violetta’s latest stunt couldn’t have come at a worst time.
“I’m old enough to make my own decisions.” She stares back at me, and I know that if I think back to all the things I was dealing with when I was her age, I’d be unable to argue with her.
“Let’s get some breakfast, I’m sure you're tired from your flight. And I’m starving,” Evelyn speaks calmly, trying to relieve some of the tension. Moving over to me, she rests her hand on my chest and it seems to steady some of the rage inside me. “I’ll go speak to Wendy, tell her to make the table up for three.” She reaches up on her toes to kiss my jaw. “Be nice,” she whispers before leaving me alone with my sister.
“Aren’t you supposed to be marrying the Quinn girl?” Violetta looks at me judgingly.
“I am marrying the Quinn girl. Me and Evelyn have an arrangement,” I snap back, she may be my sister but she has no right to question me.
“What the fuck are you thinking by dropping out of school, Vi? Is studying in the most beautiful city in the world too fucking much for you?”
“I’m with the most boring people. I miss you all. I miss Claude,” she moans.
“You have to go back. It’s only for a few months. Finish your degree, then come home.”
“Why should I? I told you, I’m done studying. I miss LA, that should be enough not to question me.” Her whining is already starting to grate on me.
“We all have to do shit we don’t really want to. I’m asking you for a few fucking months, not a lifetime,” I point out, slowly feeling myself losing my temper, the girl’s lived such a privileged life, she has no fucking idea.
“Calm down, Raoul. You don’t want to upset your new toy,” Violetta sniggers at me, and I swear it takes every strength inside me not to launch at the little smart ass.
“There’s too much going on here right now for this, Violetta. I’m asking you to help me out. Have breakfast, get some rest. Then go back to fucking school before anyone finds out you’ve left.” I storm out of the room needing to get some fresh air.
***
Evelyn does her best to make breakfast bearable, and as soon as I leave the table, I head upstairs to change into something more appropriate. I have a few meetings scheduled today, and I’m hoping to find out some more about Prizrak from the contacts that were on Damien’s phone.
“I’m taking Violetta to the studio with me today,” Evelyn interrupts me from my thoughts, bursting through the bedroom door while I’m tucking in my shirt.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I look at her through the reflection in the mirror as I attach my cufflinks.
“It will be a good distraction for her. Sitting here alone all day, knowing how mad you are at her, isn’t going to do her any good. I have two shoots booked, I could use her help.” I turn around to argue with her, but something inside me holds me back.
