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Trisha gave into her aching body and took a long, hot shower, and it felt like heaven. She crawled into bed and groaned at just how good it felt to finally be lying down. It had felt like forever since she got a good night’s sleep. Last night, she barely slept, worrying about Victor waking up and taking off while she was asleep. She was a lite sleeper, but she wouldn’t put it past Victor to take off on her. That was before he found out that his home was blown to bits and that both of their fathers had men out looking to kill him. She could tell that Victor finally realized how much trouble he was in, and now, Trish would finally be able to get some much-needed sleep—if she could just shut off her damn brain.
Her cellphone rang and she pulled it from her nightstand. “Hello, Bruno,” she said.
“How did you know that it was me?” Bruno asked.
“You’re the only one who has this number,” she reminded. “What’s going on back at home?” she asked.
“Well, Gino and I had to leave town. We’re laying low for a bit. Dad sent me out to look for Victor and when I didn’t come back with him, he freaked out. I can’t do this for very much longer. I need to take over the syndicate or I’m going to have to walk away. I’m not safe around our father anymore,” he admitted.
“I’m so sorry,” she breathed.
“Why are you sorry?” he asked. “You didn’t do any of this. You’re trying to help me change things, Trisha, and I’ll always be grateful to you for that.”
“But if I hadn’t escalated things by kidnapping Victor, you might not have to go on the run too. I’m sorry that you got involved in this mess, Bruno. Tell me that you’re being safe.”
“I am,” Bruno assured, “and, Gino has my back.”
“How do you know that you can trust him?” she asked.
“I don’t, but I’m hoping that I can. I have feelings for the guy,” he admitted. Trisha knew that already. He was spilling his guts to her, but she had eyes and could see how Bruno looked at his partner. Gino looked at her brother the same way. Trish was jealous, really. She wanted a guy to look at her that way. Actually, she wanted Victor Gluttony to look at her that way, but after what she did to him, she was pretty sure that wasn’t going to happen.
“You still there?” he asked.
“Sorry, yeah,” she said. “I already knew how you felt about Gino, Bruno. Heck, anyone with eyes could tell that you had a thing for him. Have you told him?” she asked.
“No—God, no,” Bruno whispered. “I can’t tell him that. He’s my partner and I’m not even sure that he’s gay.”
“Don’t you guys have an alarm that goes off around other homosexuals?” she teased. “Something like gaydar?”
“Ha, ha,” he drawled, “and, no. We all don’t have gaydar. Sometimes, I get the feeling that he’s into guys. Once in a while, I catch him looking at me, and God, I get my hopes up believing that he’s actually into me or something. I mean, how lame is that?” he asked. “I act like a damn high school girl around him and that’s going to end up getting us both killed if I’m not careful.”
“You are a giant girl,” Trish teased her brother. “But do yourself a favor and just ask him out. I’ve seen the way that he looks at you too, and my gaydar tells me that he’s just as into you as you are him. Don’t sell yourself short. You deserve to be happy.”
“Yeah, well, my lifestyle won’t be acceptable in the syndicate,” he grumbled. “Maybe it would be best if I just kept my mouth shut.” Hearing her brother say that he’d rather be silent and unhappy than go against the family made her sad.
“And you’re trying to change things in the syndicate, once you take over,” she reminded. “You can do anything you want once you become the head of household, Bruno.”
“Well, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon,” he grumbled. “I just need to get Gino and myself to the safehouse. Then, I’ll figure the rest out. Stay safe, sis,” he said.
“You too, Bruno. Check in when you can,” she ordered.
“Will do,” he promised and ended the call. There was no way that Trish was going to be able to get any shuteye after her brother’s call. She lay in bed for another ten minutes, tossing and turning, until she finally gave up and got out of bed. She pulled on her robe and headed back to the kitchen to check on Victor. She felt bad about saddling him with the dishes, but with any luck, she’d find him still working on them. She needed to talk to someone about her brother’s call, and whether it was a good idea or not, she was going to have to trust Victor enough to confide in him because she had no one else to spill her guts to.
Victor
He finished up the dishes and headed to his room. Well, he guessed that it was technically his room since it was the one that he woke up in. They never really discussed sleeping arrangements. If he was going to call his father to find out what was going on, he needed to do it before Trish woke up from her nap. He was pretty sure that she wouldn’t approve of him calling his father at all, since she believed that he was working with the Gluttony Syndicate to have him killed. Victor just couldn’t believe that to be true though. How could his own father put out a hit on his son?
He pulled the new cell phone that Trisha had given to him from his pocket and closed his eyes, trying to remember his father’s cell number. He knew that he’d only have a few minutes before his father would be able to trace the phone and he couldn’t let that happen—especially if Trish was right about him.
Victor took a deep breath and let it back out, dialing his father’s number from memory. His father answered on the fourth ring and Victor was thinking about hanging up. If he didn’t recognize the number, his father usually didn’t bother to answer.
“Hello,” his father said.
“Hey, Dad,” Victor whispered. He felt like a kid sneaking a call behind Trisha’s back.
“Where are you, Victor?” his father asked.
