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But Matteo didn’t have a single ounce of self-preservation, and he puffed his chest out like a preening peacock. “And I told you to fuck off.” I sucked in a breath through my nose as I tried to get a handle on my anger. These days it was becoming more and more difficult. Matteo didn’t want to push me any further, because if I snapped, it wasn’t going to be good.
Not that Matteo was smart enough to see that. He smirked and shook his head. “She must have quality pussy.”
Before I could think, my hand reached out and grabbed my brother by the neck of his t-shirt. I might have laughed at the look on his face as I hauled him close, but there was nothing amusing about any of this.
“I told you to shut the fuck up,” I snapped, wrapping my hand around Matteo’s windpipe. His eyes were wide as I pressed. “You might not believe it, but you do fucking answer to me, and brother or not, I will give a refresher on that if you need it.”
Matteo and Luca often mocked me for the tight control I kept on my life, but I did it because of moments like this. The anger that existed inside of me could not be unleashed. If it were, there was no telling how much destruction I could unleash.
But Matteo was not going to just bow down to me, and I could see in my brother’s eyes the same anger that was likely reflected in my own.
“Calm down,” Luca’s lazy drawl interrupted.
“Fuck off.” I didn’t take my eyes off Matteo. This felt like some sort of struggle of wills, and if Matteo was going to play chicken, he was going to learn that he’d fucking lose.
“Let him go.” There was a note of finality in Luca’s voice. “Because I am in charge, and I’m not in the mood for this bullshit.”
Almost of their own accord, my fingers released Matteo. My grip hadn’t been very tight, but Matteo rubbed at the skin, his eyes glaring at me with anger. “You’d really strangle me for that piece of ass?” I took steps toward him. I hadn’t set out to hurt Matteo, but now, I would.
Luca placed himself between us. His hands went up to my chest, stopping me from finishing what I started. “Chill the fuck out.” Luca’s voice held the authority of the heir to the Italian Mafia in New York, and I stopped.
In the hierarchy of our family, Luca was at the top, behind only his father. Listening to his orders were almost instinctual.
“What the fuck has gotten into you?”
“That’s a good question,” Matteo sneered. “Asshole.” He fixed his shirt, and I rolled my eyes. His pride was ruffled more from being physically scolded. I was bigger than Matteo, and I’d gladly kick his ass, but I’d never really hurt my brother.
“Would you allow him to talk about Ingrid that way?” I asked.
Luca’s eyes grew stormy for a moment, and I knew my answer. “Are you with Carla?”
I didn’t answer the question. Carla didn’t want anyone to know what was going on between the two of us. And I wasn’t doing a good job of hiding it.
“They’ve been fucking,” Matteo sneered. He gave me a small smirk, and I knew I would strangle him if Luca was still in between the two of us. “You aren’t as quiet as you think you are.”
I advanced forward. “Enough,” Luca barked. This was directed toward Matteo. “Is this some weird sort of jealousy? Do you want to fuck her?”
The anger reared up once more. This time it was hot and all-consuming, and though I tried to keep it at bay, if Matteo didn’t answer correctly, I might string him up.
Luckily, Matteo didn’t press the issue even further. He scoffed and shook his head. “Depressed chicks aren’t my type.”
Luca looked at me, his brow rose as though to say ‘See, it’s fine.’ He backed away slightly, but I noticed he still kept himself between my brother and me.
“Then, what’s the issue?”
Matteo’s mouth dropped open slightly in shock. “Am I the only person who recalls how desperate Eli was to find out all of little Carla’s secrets? How we needed to ensure that she wouldn’t bring harm to the family.”
I cursed myself mentally. In my anger at my father, I’d dragged Matteo and Luca into digging up Carla’s past. A past that none of us had a right to, and I knew that even before I knew the truth.
“And you found everything that was important.” A sense of calm overtook me now that I realized that Matteo was just trying to do the right thing. “You did what I asked.”
I talked to him as though he were a small child I needed to calm. His eyes flashed, and I could see his annoyance. “You weren’t there that night she lost her shit,” he said. “She looked like she was going to slit Sophia’s throat.”
A haunted look overtook Matteo, and I knew that things must have been bad for Carla to end up on my brother’s bad side.
“She wouldn’t have hurt anyone,” I assured. “She was drunk. Maybe even drugged. We don’t know.”
“I know that I’ve never seen a drunk person freak the fuck out like that.”
