Mafiosa (Blood for Blood #3)(66)

‘Dom,’ I said, tugging him by the arm. ‘Please. Break them up.’

‘What’s it about?’ he said, circling the huddle. ‘I need to know whose side I’m on first.’

Crap. I didn’t want him to jump in against Luca too. And he would if he knew why Nic was so angry.

Valentino fired his gun in the air.

The resounding crack shocked everyone into stillness.

Luca and Nic fell apart from each other.

‘My ceiling!’ Felice shrieked.

‘Have you lost your mind, Valentino?’

‘Calmati,’ Valentino cautioned. ‘It was getting out of hand.’

Felice was examining the new hole in his ceiling. He looked like he was about to cry.

Valentino was examining Luca and Nic. The boys hadn’t done any real damage to one another … yet. Luca’s lip was bleeding. Nic’s chin was turning a vicious shade of purple.

‘It’s over,’ Valentino told them. ‘Whatever it is, it’s over.’

Luca raised his hands. ‘Sorry,’ he said, looking genuinely ashamed of himself.

‘No!’ Nic hissed, snapping out of his sudden stillness. He whirled around, his finger jabbing at Luca’s chest. ‘Ti dovrei fare a pezzi, traditore!’

‘Oh my,’ said Felice, his attention refocusing on the boys. He looked like he was tasting something particularly delicious.

‘Restrain yourself, Nicoli!’ Valentino warned. ‘You’ve lost your head.’

‘Why the hell does Nic want to slit your throat, Luca?’ asked Dom.

Luca raked his hand through his hair, trying to compose himself. ‘It’s between Nicoli and me.’

‘And Sophie,’ said Nic, casting me a look so full of venomous hatred that I felt for a moment like I was shrinking.

‘Ah,’ said Valentino. He rolled his shoulders back. ‘I see.’

‘What do you see?’ asked Gino. ‘I don’t see anything.’

My cheeks were burning up. I should say something. What should I say? What would make it better?

‘You’re messed up,’ Nic spat at Luca. ‘You talk about love and honour, you tell us to pour all of our time and efforts into la famiglia, to forget any other pursuits that might split our attention … You tell us to remain loyal to one another at all costs, and then you do this right under my nose! How long, Luca? How long have you been betraying me?’

‘Nic,’ I said, trying to wade in. ‘It’s not like that.’ I could feel Valentino’s glare on my back.

‘I haven’t been betraying you,’ Luca said carefully.

‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ Nic shouted. ‘What the hell do you call sticking your tongue down her throat?’ He pointed to the alcove. ‘What did I just walk in on?’

‘Ooooh,’ said Dom, finally getting it. He smiled lecherously at me. ‘Bad Sophie. Very bad.’

I returned my middle finger.

‘Che sorpresa!’ Felice chuckled. No one else was sharing in his amusement.

‘Just calm down,’ said Luca. ‘We’ll talk about this somewhere else in private, just us.’

‘No!’ Nic roared. ‘You don’t deserve privacy. You’ve obviously had it long enough. I want to know what sick game you’re playing here. I want to know why you’re trying to punish me!’

‘I’m not playing any game,’ Luca protested, the heat rising in his voice too. ‘I’m not trying to punish you!’

‘Bullshit!’ Nic snapped. ‘I know you’re angry at me! You’re mad because I’m teaching her how to defend herself. You’re mad because I won’t do what you tell me to, because I won’t wrap her up and force her to stay away from her destiny!’

‘Stop,’ warned Luca.

‘Newsflash,’ said Nic, coming towards his brother again, his voice rising. ‘She doesn’t want a fucking shield, she wants a sword, so I gave her the sword, and it cuts you up. It makes you feel small and ignored, because we’re not listening to you, because for once, we’re not falling under your instruction and you can’t control us—’

‘I mean it, Nicoli.’ Luca was seething, his features turning feral. He was dangerous like this; he was unpredictable, and everyone knew it. ‘Sophie doesn’t belong to you. She doesn’t belong to anyone.’

Nic wouldn’t relent. ‘You’re mad because you have no control over what will happen. You feel small and pathetic, and you should! You couldn’t handle not having all the power. You wanted to take it from me. You wanted to take her from me! You wanted to win!’

I waded in between them. ‘Stop!’ I shouted. ‘This isn’t some stupid power game, Nic. He’s not using me!’

Nic turned on me, his eyes flashing. ‘He’s using you to get to me.’

‘You and I aren’t together,’ I said, exasperated beyond words. ‘We’re over. We’ve been over for a while.’

‘I was going to win you back,’ Nic said, pushing his temper towards me like a storm cloud. ‘But he took that chance away!’

Enough. I had had enough of Nic treating me like some kind of trophy. I had had enough of him treating my desires and opinions like transitory thoughts that could be changed and manipulated at his leisure.