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“I wanted to protect you,” he said softly as he held it tightly. I bit down on my lower lip and tried not to scream at him. I didn’t want to be rude and tell him to stop touching me, but I didn’t want him to think he could try something with me. This had been the worst day and night of my life.
“I don’t need you to protect me, Josh.” I sighed. “How many times do I have to keep—” I stopped as my phone started ringing. As soon as I saw it was Gia, I answered. I didn’t want to talk to her, but I didn’t want to deal with Josh anymore this evening. I was done with annoying men. “Hey, Gia, you okay?”
“Hey,” she said softly, laughing slightly. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“I’m fine. Just headed back home.”
“Oh wow! You went partying tonight?”
“Not really, but kinda…” I looked over at Josh, who was pouting slightly. I should have known his “I’m cool only being friends” had been an act. “Everything okay?”
“I’m fine.” She sounded annoyed. “Alessandro keeps messaging me.”
“Oh?” I didn’t want to push it because I still didn’t know what had gone down between them.
“Can I come over to your dorm and stay the night?”
“Oh?” I sat back in the taxi, my spidey senses starting to go crazy. Was this a setup?
“I think he’s going to try and come over to my dorm, and I don’t want to talk to him.”
“Um, why would he do that?”
“I think he wants to talk.”
“Okay, about?”
“Nico and Marco Di Lorenzo,” she said as if I should know exactly who they were.
“Um… okay…” My voice trailed off. “Are they famous actors or something?”
“No.” She giggled. “Sorry, sometimes I forget you’re not from our world.”
“Oh, are they two Mafia bosses?”
“Nope. Well, Nico Di Lorenzo is a Mafia boss. He runs Philly. Marco is his younger brother.” She sighed. “I can tell you more at your place.”
“I’m kinda tired, Gia.” I didn’t want to be rude, but after what Valentina had done to me, I didn’t know if I trusted her.
“Oh, okay.” She sounded disappointed. “I understand. I’ll try and call my cousin or something and see if she’s up. You have a good night, okay, Callie?”
“Fine,” I said, feeling bad. “Come over. We’ll be back at the dorm in about fifteen minutes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes! But I really am tired. How long will it take you to get downtown?”
“Um…” She giggled. “Not long.”
“What’s so funny?”
“I’m here already.”
“What?” I wondered if I’d heard her correctly.
“I came over to see if you wanted to hang out, and some guys let me in, but then you didn’t come back and, well, I just wanted to see if you’d be back soon.” She sighed. “Do I sound super shady?”
“A little.” I closed my eyes. “But I do trust you, Gia. Maybe I’m stupid, but you’re my friend, and you helped me at the ball…” My voice trailed off.
