Present
Maybe someday.
Those two words have haunted me for the last week. At first, I was resolved to wait until she decided to contact me again, but the schedule that Izzy had sent me was fucking taunting me day and night. I ended up taking a page out of Enzo’s book and watching her from a distance.
Just to make sure she was safe, of course.
I didn’t go to his extremes, though. Somehow, I don’t think that would get me back in Sloane’s good graces if she were ever to find out. But I did find myself watching her as she grabbed a coffee while she was on her break at the hospital, or when she went out for dinner with her friend from work. Skye, I think her name is.
There’s something fundamentally different about her. When we were younger, she had a spark in her eyes that drew me in and made me want to let everything else go, and just be free with her. But now that spark is gone. It’s as though it’s been dulled to the point that she has to put on those fucking fake smiles she always used to wear at functions.
Not many people would notice it, because no one ever really looked too far into it. But not me, I couldn’t help but notice every single little thing about her. I couldn’t help it; I couldn’t look away. She drew me in and has kept me there for almost eleven goddamn years. I’ll never be free from that pull, and no matter how much it has hurt over the years, I don’t ever want to be free, either.
My family have noticed that I’m distracted, too, though they have no idea with what. Enzo knows, I’m sure. Especially after what happened at the hospital. Luckily for me, Robyn wasn’t kept in the hospital long enough for another bump in with Sloane, because I’m sure Enzo would have been able to find a way to insert himself into my business if he came across the opportunity.
But now my father has called us in for a family meeting, and I have a feeling I won’t be getting through this meeting without having to explain everything. I suck in a deep breath as I park the car in front of our family home and slowly climb out the car, trying to do anything to delay the inevitable.
Only it’s impossible to stall any longer when Luca’s car approaches and I turn to find him raising a brow at me with a smirk on his face.
Asshole.
I roll my eyes and make my way inside, nodding to Beatrice—my father’s housekeeper—as I go and enter the office. Dad sits behind his desk, chatting away to Enzo who’s sitting in front of him, both of them discussing Robyn’s recovery and how she’s finding her pregnancy.
I’ve learned a lot about my younger brother in the last few months. From him not being quite as… insane as we all believed, to the fact that he makes a fucking good husband and is going to make an incredible father. If someone had told me a year ago that my little brother would be becoming a dad, I would’ve had them committed before strangling Enzo myself, but it turns out that all he needed was to meet his wife. As soon as he laid eyes on Robyn, he settled down. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still… different, but he’s nowhere near as unhinged as he was. He loves the fuck out of her, he’s happy, and that’s all we can really ask for.
“Hey, bro, you stopped avoiding me then?” Enzo asks. I glare at him before risking a glance towards Dad who’s sitting stone faced, staring at me. He’s the only one who can rival me for masking his thoughts and emotions. We’re a lot alike, and I look more like my father than my brothers do.
I look away and back to Enzo. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“No, no. I’d like to know why you’ve been avoiding me, too. And also why I was told by one of the guards that you visited Izzy last week, but she denied it when I asked.” Luca’s voice comes from behind me and I take a deep breath, ready to deny what he’s asking. But our dad speaks up before I can.
“We can discuss this shit later. Right now, I want to talk about who the fuck is messing with our shipments. I spoke to O’Brien last night. He’s had issues with his shipments, too, and when he did some digging, he found out that Munóz and Andrev have had theirs fucked with, as well. Someone’s coming after the four main organizations in our city. For now, they’ve kept it to small shipments and businesses where they know they can get away with it without being caught. I want extra men on every shipment, on every business, on every fucking deal we have until we figure this shit out.”
We all nod our agreement.
“Any idea who it is?” Luca asks. Dad’s jaw twitches.
“No. For now, we just need to watch our backs and see if they reveal themselves. O’Brien agreed to keep us informed on his end, any communication between us will go through Marco.”
What the fuck?
“Why me?” I ask, and his sharp stare slices through me. He can’t know, can he? I’m pretty sure Finn has some idea of what went down between me and his sister, and has for years if the looks I’ve caught him giving me are anything to go by. What I don’t know is why he hasn’t tried to rip me apart limb from limb yet. I broke his sister’s heart, and I know how close they’ve always been, so it’s never made any sense to me.
“No idea,” he says, sarcasm evident in his tone before Enzo—fucking Enzo—jumps in.
“So, are we all just ignoring the fact that Marco has turned into me and is stalking his own girl now?”
Luca—who was in the middle of taking a sip of whiskey—chokes on his drink before swinging his gaze to me.
“What the fuck is he talking about? What girl?”
“Luca, I need you to go home and ask Izzy to look into these missing shipments for us. Lord knows she’s a hell of a lot better with this shit than our own tech guy,” Dad says as Luca and I continue to stare at each other.
“What? Dad w—”
“Now,” Dad barks, interrupting him. Luca rolls his eyes before giving me a look that says this isn’t over and strolls from the room, leaving the three of us behind.
“Enzo, get out.”
“I kinda wanna stick around to see this,” Enzo says with smug grin directed at me.
“Really? I figured you’d want to get home to your pregnant wife,” Dad deadpans.
Enzo’s entire demeanor switches in a second. Gone is the cocky asshole, replaced with my brother having a soft look in his eyes as he no doubt thinks about Robyn. He walks out without a second glance or even a goodbye, leaving me to my father.
Great.
“Sit,” he orders, and I take a seat in front of him and wait him out.
“You know, when you started seeing Sloane all those years ago, I thought you were out of your goddamn mind. Then I realized how she changed you. I noticed the little differences in you and how much happier you were. I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I do know that you’ve been a shell of yourself since then. My question is, are you sure she’s worth feeling the pain that you’ve been in for the last ten years all over again?”
I sit in shock as I stare at my dad. I had no fucking idea that he knew about me and Sloane. I was sure that if he knew, he would have said something then. He would have put a stop to it. From the way he’s talking, it sounds as though he’s known all along. What the hell?
“How long have you known?”
He rolls his eyes. “You should know by now that there’s not much that gets past me, son,” he says, and I absently nod my head.
“I’ll ask you again, Marco, are you sure this girl is worth it?”
Anger bubbles up inside me at his tone. “She’s not just some girl,” I say curtly. “She’s the love of my damn life. She’s everything.”
I raise a brow, daring him to challenge me on it. Only he doesn’t. He leans back in his chair with a smug grin and nods his head.
“Good. It’s about fucking time you got your head out your ass and realized you needed to do something about it. Now get the hell out of here, I look forward to meeting my newest daughter-in-law when you finally get your shit together.”
