Soulless Devil (Sons of Valentino #3)(46)

“She seems fine.” I shrug. “You do know you can’t go through with donating that kidney.” I overheard Theo and Maddie talking about Lilah. Apparently Maddie’s little sister is sick and in desperate need of a transplant. We all had to get tested to see if we were matches. Somehow, Luca turned out to be a better match than I did—something about my white blood cell levels being too high or some shit.

“Why the fuck wouldn’t I?” he spits.

“What about football? You’re in the middle of a season. You really going to step out?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t even know her, Luca.”

“You know, I didn’t really know Livvy either before you had me help you kill off a Petrov,” he counters. And my fist swings out so quickly. The mention of Livvy’s name has me raging. I’m messed up when it comes to her. Luca swings back, just as hard and fast. Before I know it, we’re going at each other blow for blow.

“Matteo! Get your ass out here now!” Theo’s voice yells out, right before I’m tugged rearwards by my shirt. I push to my feet and shrug him off, ready to go another round with my twin. “Who the fuck made her cry?” Theo growls, pointing at Lilah. That’s when I notice we have an audience. Maddie is standing off to the side with her sister, who’s now sobbing into her hands.

“What’s going on?” Matteo asks, walking out like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Which he probably doesn’t. His life is fucking peachy keen right now. He just married the girl of his dreams.

“Where were you while these two fucking heathens were destroying my fucking living room?” Theo yells at him. “And I’m still waiting for an answer from you.” He points at me, then Luca.

“Uh, Theo, I’m fine. Really, it wasn’t them,” Lilah says.

“Then why are you crying?” he asks her.

“Um, I may have overheard Luca tell Romeo about the kidney thing… that he’s going to give me a kidney,” she says in the quietest voice.

Theo turns back to me. “My office, now!” he yells before shoving me out of the room.

I follow Luca into Theo’s office, where we wait for what seems like an eternity before he finally graces us with his presence. Followed by Pops. Fuck. This isn’t fucking good.

“Pops, I didn’t know you were coming in today,” Luca says.

“Clearly,” he replies. Heading over to the wet bar, our dad pours himself a drink. “Care to explain why your brother’s home looks like a hurricane ran through it?”

I look to Luca. Don’t say a fucking word. My glare says what I don’t. “We just had a minor disagreement. It’s nothing. Water under the bridge,” I grit out between clenched teeth.

“You’re brothers. You’re on the same fucking team. We have enough people trying to kill us without killing each other. Whatever this is, sort it out. And whatever Theo has to replace out there.” He points in the direction of the living room. “…it’s coming out of your allowances.”

Fucking hell, Theo’s shit is expensive. The fucker likes to show off. Replacing his crap is going to cost a small fortune.

“What? Pops, that’s not fair.” Luca scowls.

“What’s not fair is that your brother took a beating and a fucking bullet for your asses and then you come here and destroy his home.”

I look to my older brother. Fuck, did he really get shot because of me? I feel like I might actually throw up. The last thing I want is for anything I do to come back onto my family.

“What are you talking about? What do they have to do with the Russians who jumped me?” Theo questions casually, leaning against the bookshelf. A little too casually if you asked me. The look in his eye, combined with the tick in his jaw, tells me he would love nothing more than to strangle us both.

“That’s what I’m here to find out,” Pops says, taking a seat on one of the sofas. “Start talking,” he directs this at me and Luca.

Matteo curses under his breath and moves across the room, positioning himself next to Theo. And I know it’s is show of loyalty. Though I’m also kinda hoping he’ll act as a buffer if our brother actually does try to kill us.

“It wasn’t our fault.” Luca is the first to talk.

“It never fucking is,” Theo grunts.

“He fucking deserved it. He hurt her in the worst way, so we put him in the hospital,” I blurt out.

“Who did you put in the hospital and who did they hurt?” Pops asks. I can tell his patience with us is waning.

“Livvy… That fucker attacked her. He….” I trail off. I can’t even say the fucking word. Rape. She was fucking raped by those bastards. The fact I let one live is a testament to my own patience. I don’t plan on letting him live indefinitely, just long enough to get my message across to the whole fucking city. No one puts a hand on my girl.

“He hurt her, so we hurt him. Stephan Petrov. He deserved it, Pops, swear it,” Luca says. Small truths help cover the omissions. I doubt anyone knows about Dmitri yet, and they won’t if I have my way.

“Who is this Livvy?” Pops asks me, ignoring my twin.

“She’s, ah, my tutor,” I stumble over the truth this time.

“Romeo, you’re trying my last nerve here, son. You have a fucking 4.0 GPA. Why the fuck do you need a tutor?” Pops is rubbing at his temples now, which is never a good sign.