Shattered Dreams (Boys of Bellerose, #3)(16)

My brow furrowed. “You mean like if I want to say: Jace, dickhead, shut the fuck up—”

“You’d say, Jace, sweetheart, I love when you talk.” He affected a sugary-sweet girl voice to demonstrate.

My lips twitched with amusement, but I bit my cheek to hold the smile back. Could I do that? I couldn’t agree to a truce from our fighting; the wounds were too fucking fresh. But could I bicker with him in codewords?

“Fine,” I agreed. “In that case, Jace, sweetheart, that shirt looks great on you.” I fluttered my lashes and smiled as I said it, then spun around and yanked the door open without waiting for a reply.

“Hey!” he barked after me. “There’s nothing wrong with my clothes!”

I chuckled silently to myself as I made my way back to the living room. Maybe his idea could have merit. It might be fun to rip shreds off of him while no one else knew what I was saying. And he did have a valid point about respecting the work Rhett and Grayson had put in. And Vee, too.

That explained where Rhett had been when I’d woken up in the night, but I was still confused how Vee and I had become such good friends. Maybe she was just bored and starved for female conversation. Not that it was a problem for me; I liked her. But I also had a level of guilt when I remembered who she was married to. And everything that had gone down with Angelo and me, no matter how long ago… those feelings had been real back then, and I was starting to think I’d never entirely let him go.

“Is everything okay?” Rhett asked cautiously as I rejoined them in the living room. “Gray is fetching the first aid kit.”

I smiled, sinking into the sofa beside him. “Not necessary. We just had to have a conversation. Right, Jace?” I glanced up at my closet enemy, and he gave a tight smile back. Blood still tinted his lips, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Absolutely right,” he agreed. “You’re such a great communicator, Billie. I really love how you use your words.”

Oh. I see how this is gonna go.

Narrowing my eyes, I held his smug gaze as he sat back down. Game on.





eight





ANGELO


Billie and Jace trading insults was so familiar that it brought forth more of the jumbled memories that had been assaulting me since I woke in the hospital. Even if they were disguising those insults as compliments. I knew those two as well as I knew myself, and the absolute fury in their eyes couldn’t be as easily disguised as the venom on their tongues.

“Jace is such an exceptional song writer that I’m sure he’ll have the next few songs whipped up on his own in no time. No worries,” Billie chirped, sounding like she was a Jace groupie when we all knew the truth.

The rest of the band had been discussing the contractual obligations they still had to fulfill, and I’d been resting on the couch watching them do it, all the while wondering how different my fucking life would have been if I’d chosen the rock star path versus the mafia one.

Not that I’d ever had a choice, but waking up in that hospital bed, my head somewhere between eight years ago and today, I’d realized that I’d never really dealt with the pain of losing Billie and the baby all those years ago. I’d woken up thinking she was still pregnant, that we were shopping for baby shit, and that we were going to make this work even without the third to our trio.

Jace had set me straight right fucking quick, and I’d had to grieve that shit all over again.

The glass shard they’d removed from my knee had hurt me less than waking up to that.

“Angel,” Vee said, dropping down gently beside me. Seeing her alive and healthy, albeit covered in healing bruises, had my spirits lifting slightly. “I can’t believe you’re here. It truly is the best Christmas gift I could have received.”

My eyes found Billie, who had thrown her head back and was laughing at something Rhett said. Real laughter. The sort that consumed her entire face, transforming it from beautiful into something so real it hurt to stare upon her. I’d seen the most famous works of art around the world, and not a single piece compared to Billie when she was like this.

My Christmas gift.

“I’ve been worried about you,” I said to Vee, tearing my gaze from Billie. It was really fucking inconvenient that the past and present continued mingling in my head, making it difficult for me to remember that I’d moved on from Billie. I’d let her go.

I’d had to let her go to save her life. Despite our fake relationship, that still hadn’t changed. Without the Ricci heir on board, she was no longer safe from my family. And she certainly wasn’t safe from Vee’s.

“She’s been worried about you,” Vee said softly. “You two need to sort yourselves out because life is too short to be without the one you love.” Her eyes fell, and I knew she was thinking about Giana, her long-time secret girlfriend who was now in hiding somewhere in Europe. Another person sacrificed to this life we lived.

“You know how I feel about love,” I snapped, anger bursting to life. Love, a four-letter word that I fucking detested. A weapon wielded by my father. The guilt he used to get his own way. And the excuse he gave me for the choices he’d made in my life. All for the love of his son and family. Yet I couldn’t deny what Vee had said. I did love Billie, and sometimes it scared the life out of me that one day I’d turned into Giovanni and use that love to control her.