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Maria clearly hadn’t drunk as much as me because she was much steadier on her feet. She quickly zipped her attention back to me. “What are you talking about?”
“Turns out Ryan didn’t tell Anthony not to marry me,” I confessed. “Anthony lied. And Ryan didn’t defend himself. Let everyone blame him.”
Maria crossed her arms. “That makes no sense.”
“If you ever wanted me to cover for you for anything, I would. In a heartbeat. You’re my little sister. I’d do anything for you.” I pointed my chin in Ryan’s direction. “Same for him and Anthony. He was willing to be everyone’s punching bag instead of letting Anthony take the heat.” Take the heavy hits, I remembered him saying in my kitchen that morning.
“I don’t know what to say.” She freed her arms from their locked position and set her back to the counter next to me. “I wonder why Anthony really ended things. And how he could be such a coward to lie to you and let his brother shoulder most of the blame.”
I hiccupped again. “Maybe Anthony had a feeling I’d cancel on him, so he wanted to beat me to the punch.” Was that the first time I’d said those words out loud?
“We’ll have to finish this rather enlightening conversation later. Looks like Enzo’s tired of waiting in the kitchen. And he’s heading straight for Ryan.”
“He better not hurt him.” I shook my head.
Maria chuckled. “In this case, I’m not sure who you’re worried about. Ryan’s a SEAL. Enzo is . . . well, Enzo.”
“You want to run that by me again?” I overheard Ryan’s growly voice and turned to see him rising to face Enzo.
Maria wrapped an arm around my shoulder, knowing I’d need an assist walking, and we left the bar to try and get to the men before bones were broken.
“Stay the hell away from the Romanos.” Enzo flicked his chin with his hand. “I don’t care that they live next door to your mom. You’ve done enough damage, don’t you think?” he added, his voice dangerously low. One of his hands curled into a fist at his side as we approached, and I tried to rush my wobbly legs to get there quicker.
My gaze volleyed back and forth between the two testosterone-fueled men. “Don’t fight,” I ordered once we got closer, but my voice was weak from the wine, and either they didn’t hear me through their anger-fueled haze, or they completely ignored me.
“If you’ll excuse me.” Calista abruptly stood, acting as a barrier between the two men who’d been staring each other down. “I have an early morning flight to New York. As much as I’d love to stick around and watch a good old-fashioned brawl, if it’s not over me, I’m not interested.” She turned her back to Enzo and squeezed Ryan’s forearm. “I’ll text you the details for the Halloween party on Sunday. Try not to show up to our date with a black eye, okay?” Calista stepped away, allowing Ryan and Enzo to square off once again. Both seemed oblivious to her presence, and her departure.
“Party?” I said, processing her words.
Calista whispered in my ear, “I said yes to his proposal.” And then she smiled and left.
I barely heard the sounds of her heels tapping against the floor this time, too focused on the men and their locked jaws as they quietly studied each other, waiting to see who’d strike first.
“I’m not going to hit you,” Ryan said in a steady tone, and his hands relaxed at his sides. “I’m not my brother, by the way. I would never hurt Natalia.”
“But you did hurt her,” Enzo seethed, and he began working the sleeves of his black dress shirt to his elbows. Oh, God. He wasn’t seriously going to do something crazy in the name of my honor, was he? “Trust me, I’m far more pissed at Anthony than you. He’s the idiot who so willingly followed your advice and called things off. No real man in love would do that. But he’s never been stupid enough to come near me.” He paused. “Now you—”
“Enough,” I cried, my voice breaking. “Everyone needs to stop blaming Ryan for what Anthony did. Ryan never told Anthony not to marry me. Anthony lied.” I spun in the other direction, a little too quickly, unwilling to shed tears in front of either Enzo or Ryan, and Maria lost hold of me in the process.
I felt myself falling, but Ryan was there before I could even put my arms out to steady myself. His hand snaked behind my back, and he pinned me to his side. I slowly looked up at him, finding his eyes focused on me.
“That true?” Enzo asked, his voice lighter this time, and I pulled my gaze away from Ryan to see Maria nodding my answer for me. “Your brother is an asshole. You know that, right?”
“That’s something we can agree on,” Ryan roughly said.
Enzo unclenched his fists and looked at me. “Are you okay?”
“Just drank too much,” I admitted the obvious, but I had a feeling he’d been asking about my overall state of mind.
“I’ll drive you and Maria home. You can get your car tomorrow, Maria. You drank, too,” Enzo insisted, reaching into his pocket for his Porsche keys.
“You have a two-seater,” Maria reminded him.
“And I’m staying next door,” Ryan interjected, keeping his arm around my back, and I couldn’t help but lean into him for support. “I’d offer to take them both, but I need to talk to Natalia alone.” He dropped his focus down to me. “If you’re okay with that?”
“Yeah, um, sure.” I nodded and forced my attention on Enzo, letting him know I was in good hands.
“Fine.” The keys jingled in Enzo’s hand as he studied me. “Are you taking Calista to the Maddox event Sunday night?” His question was meant for Ryan, but his eyes stayed trained on my face, holding my attention as the reality of his question sunk in.
