Sempre (Forever Series #1)(19)

Vincent shook his head. “I know how you can be, so unless you need more help with your laundry, I suggest staying away from her.”

“How do you know she helped me with my laundry?”

Vincent motioned toward the computer monitor on his desk. Carmine realized he’d watched the exchange on the surveillance cameras. There were a few in the house, mostly in the common areas. “I wasn’t watching because of you. There still aren’t any cameras in the bedrooms.”

“And it better stay that way,” Carmine said.

“I don’t want to see what goes on in that pigsty any more than you want me to see it,” Vincent said, picking up his medical journal again. “Just be mindful of what I said. I’d appreciate it if you were polite and didn’t try to meddle. The last thing she needs is you making things harder for her.”

Carmine stood. “In other words, don’t be myself.”

“Precisely, son.”

* * *

Carmine arrived at school Monday morning to find Tess and Dominic arguing in the parking lot. He climbed out of the car as Dia strolled over, plopping down on the hood of his Mazda. He shoved her off, and she laughed as she took a seat on her clunker instead.

“What’s gotten into those two?”

Dia shrugged while Tess laughed dryly, pushing past Dominic. “What’s gotten in to us is the fact that your father’s an idiot!”

“Knock it off, Tess,” Dominic said. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

Tess glowered at him. “Dr. DeMarco moved a teenage girl in, and you not only fail to tell me, your girlfriend, but when I find out you say it’s not a big deal?”

Dia leaned toward Carmine. “There’s a girl living with you?”

“Yes, but she’s blowing it out of proportion,” Carmine said. “She’s just some girl.”

“Just some girl living in a house with Mr. I’ll-f*ck-anything-that-walks!” Tess said.

“Give me a break,” Carmine said. “Don’t act like you’re upset because of me. It’s not my fault you don’t trust your boyfriend.”

Tess gave him the middle finger before storming off, but Dominic stood there, for once not following.

“That was interesting,” Dia said. “You’re not really banging the girl, are you?”

Dominic chimed in. “They don’t even get along.”

“It’s not that we don’t get along,” Carmine said. “It’s just she runs every time I come near her.”

Dia laughed. “If you’d relax, I’m sure she’d come around.”

“You’ve never met her,” Carmine said. “Hell, you didn’t know she existed until a minute ago. You aren’t exactly an expert on the subject.”

“She’s just some girl, right? We’re not that complicated. Besides, I’m not saying you should bang her, but there’s nothing wrong with making friends.”

Carmine rolled his eyes. “No one says banging anymore, Dia. The nineties are over. People f*ck.”

“Not always,” she said. “Sometimes they make love.”

“Not me.”

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Carmine was strolling through the school’s corridor toward his second-period class when he spotted his brother in the library. Dominic sat at a computer, furiously typing away at the keys. Curiosity grabbed Carmine and he slipped through the glass doors into the room.

“Christ, it’s bright in here.” Carmine shielded his eyes as his voice echoed through the silent room, but no one was around to scold him.

“First time in the library?” Dominic asked.

“I’ve been in here for English class,” he said defensively. “I even checked out a book once.”

“Which book?”

“The Count of Monte Cristo. I had to do a report last year.”

“So you actually read it?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I read the first page before I rented the movie.”

Dominic laughed but said nothing, too busy pulling up files on the computer. Carmine leaned against the desk beside him, trying to decipher what all the coding meant. “What are you doing?”

“Changing your grades for you, bro.”

His eyes widened. “Really?”

“No, but I did look at them. You’ll never make it out of high school at the rate you’re going.”

Carmine shook his head. “You have some nerve hacking the school’s servers and going through people’s records like this shit isn’t illegal. And they say I’m the one who’s gonna turn out like Dad.”

“I don’t intentionally hurt people, so you still have me there,” Dominic said. “Besides, have you seen your disciplinary record?”

“I think the better question is have you seen it, Dom.”

“You’re damn right I have. It was like reading a true-crime novella. Your permanent high school record is longer than Uncle Corrado’s arrest record, and that’s saying a lot.”

Their aunt Celia’s husband, Corrado Moretti, had been arrested more times in his life than he had had birthdays, but none of the charges ever stuck. Whether it was a missing witness, a dirty judge, or a bribed juror, Corrado always found a way out of trouble.