by L A Cotton
I was hardly surprised when Nicco pushed his chair back to accommodate Ari on his lap. They couldn’t be in the same room without touching.
“Where are the girls?”
“Watching Rivervale or whatever it’s called. You know, the one with the guy that wears that stupid hat. Bughead.”
“You mean Riverdale?” I snickered. “And it’s Jughead.”
“Same thing.” Matteo shrugged. “Enzo picked them up a bunch of snacks, it should keep them quiet for a while.”
At just the mention of his name, my chest tightened.
“Are you playing, Nora?” Tristan asked as he shuffled the deck of cards.
“She doesn’t want to play,” Enzo said, and I bristled.
“What’s the buy in?”
“One hundred dollars.”
“Nor,” Ari warned.
“Deal me in.” I tapped the table.
“We don’t have time to explain the rules to you, Abato.”
Ouch.
Reducing me to my surname hurt but I refused to let Enzo chase me away. Arianne was my best friend and Tristan, Nicco, and Matteo were my friends by proxy. We had to find a way to be around each other.
“Are we playing Hold ‘em, Omaha, or seven card stud?” I asked with a hint of smugness.
“Holy shit, Nora, I think I just came in my pants. You know poker?”
“I know a little bit.” I shrugged, graciously accepting a stack of colored chips off Nicco.
“Straight up Texas Hold ‘em, yeehaw,” Matteo grinned. “But we like to spice things up with a little tequila.” He grabbed a bottle off the floor and shook it in front of me. “Lose a hand and you gotta drink.”
“Matt, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Arianne protested.
“Don’t worry, bambolina,” he smirked, “Nic won’t drink while you’re here. But me and Tristan have some unsettled business.”
“You do?” Ari asked. “That’s news to me.”
“Cocky fucker reckons he can drink me under the table.”
“I’d put money on it.” Tristan snorted.
“I’ve got twenty on Tristan.”
“Seriously, Nora, you wound me.” Matteo pouted at me, his huge puppy dog eyes almost too much to resist. But I stuck by my guns. “Sorry, Matt, but I’ve seen Tristan drink and you’re going down.”
“Oh, it’s on, Capizola.” He slapped his hand down on the table. “It’s so on.”
Matteo uncapped the tequila and poured us each a shot.
“Lose your hand, you drink. Fold, you drink. Go bust… drink. Got it?”
“Just deal the cards, already,” Enzo grumbled. I could only just see his big hands from my position which given the stakes had just risen, was probably a good thing.
“Everyone in,” Tristan asked, waiting for us to throw our chips in the pot. “Okay, let’s play some poker.”
Chapter 21
Enzo
Nora was kicking our asses at poker.
I’d sucked in a sharp breath when she and Arianne had emerged from the bedroom and sat with us as if they had any business joining our game. But it had turned out she knew exactly what she was doing.
She’d played it cool to start with, folding on a number of early hands and taking tequila shot after tequila shot like a champ. Part of me wondered if she wanted to end up wasted. I wouldn’t blame her if she did. The tension between us was so thick you could cut through it with a knife. Everyone felt it, glancing between us as we went head-to-head in yet another round.
I studied my cards, relieved I could barely see her around Matteo’s frame. But as if he felt me staring, the fucker leaned back and gave me a clear view of Nora. Her brows were knitted in deep concentration, the soft lines of her face taut. She was completely invested in the game, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen anything so sexy as a girl who knew her way around a game of poker.
“Shit, man, she’s going to wipe the floor with you.” Matteo cackled, his head rolling slightly. We were almost a bottle and half of tequila in, between the four of us. Matteo and Tristan had lost the most rounds, with me coming in third. But Nora was tiny compared to the three of us, so every shot she took was at least two for us.
“How’s it looking, Nor?” Arianne asked her. Nicco had bowed out three rounds in, unable to keep his hands off his wife. But they’d stayed to watch the show.
“It’s okay.” she pushed a stack of chips into the pot.
“Okay?” Matteo exploded with laughter. “Kick his ass, Nora. Fuck knows he deserves it.”
A low growl rumbled in my chest as Tristan waited for me to make my play. “Call,” I said confidently, matching her bet.
“Both players call.” Tristan discarded the top card and slid off the next card, flipping it over and adding it to the table, followed by two more cards.
Silence echoed through the cabin as we checked our cards. I had a three of a kind. Nora’s poker face gave nothing away as she glanced at me to the stack of chips and back to her cards.
“Bet,” she said, pushing another stack of chips toward the pot.
I scrubbed a hand down my face. I needed to win this round. It wasn’t about the money, it was about her. About not losing to her any more than I already had.
“I’m in,” I said.
Tension crackled through the air as Matteo, Nicco, and Arianne watched us duke it out.
Tristan took the next card and flipped it, adding it to the three on the table. “Seven of diamonds.”
“Check,” Nora said coolly.
“Raise.” I called her bluff, trying to force her out of the game. Two-hundred and fifty bucks was a drop in the ocean to me, but to someone like Nora, it was money in her purse.
“Ooof,” Matteo grunted.
“Can you shut the fuck up?”
“What? It’s tense.”
“Nora, the ball’s in your court,” Tristan said.
She studied her cards closely, her eyes flitting from her hand to the ones lined up on the table.
Fold, I wanted to hiss. Just fold.
“Call.”
“Nora, are you sure? It’s a lot of money.” Arianne frowned, but Nora kept quiet, adding the right amount of chips to the pot.
“The turn,” Tristan announced adding a fourth card.
Boom. I had four of a kind and the third highest hand a player could have. Logic told me she couldn’t have a royal flush, given the lack of picture cards on the table, so she could only beat me with a straight flush. If the river card was a diamond it was a possibility, but what were the chances?
“What’ll it be, Abato?” I said without thinking.
Her eyes snapped to mine, filled with an emotion I couldn’t decipher. She looked hurt, but she also looked pissed as if I’d just kicked her puppy or something.
My brows furrowed. It was just a name. Shooting the shit over a game of poker. She’d insisted on sitting at the table with us. No one had made her play.
Her eyes narrowed, as she flicked her eyes to her cards and back again.
“Call.” The conviction in her voice rattled through my skull. She wasn’t going to back down.
“You sure?” My brow lifted, and she craned her neck around Matteo to stare me right in the eyes.
“I said call.”
“Have it your way.” I matched her bet and waited for Tristan to flip the final card.
A sense of smugness washed over me as I eyed the ten of spades. She couldn’t beat me. It was statistically impossible.
But Nora didn’t chuck her cards. Instead, she pushed her remaining chips into the pot. “All in.” Her eyes held a challenge, only I was no longer sure we were talking about the poker game.
“What’s it going to be, Marchetti?” She threw my words back at me, and anger flared inside me.
No way she could beat me.
“Don’t come crying to me when you lose, Gattina.” I smirked. It shouldn’t have felt so good to wipe the table with her, but after last night, the way she’d rejec
ted me, I wanted her to hurt.
Her breath caught. I hadn’t meant to say it. Not in front of everyone. But I was enjoying having her at my mercy, even if it wasn’t in the way I really wanted.
“E,” Nicco warned, but this wasn’t between him and me. It was between me and the girl who had buried herself under my skin when I never wanted her there to begin with.
“Okay,” Tristan said. “Show your hands.”
Nora glanced at me, waiting.
“Four of a kind,” I said, laying my cards out.
Her brows knitted for a second but then a slow smile spread over her face. “Looks like you’ll be the one paying up, Marchetti.” She laid down her cards and I blinked in utter disbelief.
Four tens.
She’d pipped my four sevens. Fuck.
“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you play poker.” Matteo was enjoying my downfall far too much.
“Fuck off.” I grunted, pushing from the table.
“Ah, sore loser, cous?”
I flipped him off over my shoulder as I headed for the door. I needed a smoke. Or another bottle of whisky. Nora had schooled me in front of our friends, and I didn’t like the feeling of once again being at her mercy.
Glancing back, I watched the others congratulate her as Tristan exchange the chips for one-hundred-dollar bills.
As if she felt me watching, Nora looked over her shoulder, our eyes colliding. I expected to see smug satisfaction in her big, round, doe eyes, but I found none.
Instead, she looked like the one who’d lost everything.
After walking the perimeter to sober myself up and rein in my anger, I made my way back to the cabin. But right before I reached the door, my cell started vibrating.
“Uncle Toni?”
“How’s it going up there?”
“It’s… okay.”
He chuckled. “The girls giving you a hard time?”
If only he knew.
“Anything?” I asked eagerly. After his call this morning to inform us that there had been no developments overnight, I was hoping they would have something by now.
“Nothing. Not even a sniff.”
“Fuck.”
“Just hang tight, son. He’ll show.”
“Maybe he’s waiting for me to—”
“Lorenzo.” He clucked his tongue. “Listen to me and listen good. I know you want in on this, but until we have no choice, I don’t want you here, doing something you might later regret. Stay at the cabin. Leave the hunt to us.”
“And if he doesn’t show?”
“He will, son. They always do.” He inhaled a long, steady breath. “You know, Enzo, your father—”
“Don’t.”
“You need to hear this, son. Your father, pezzo di merda, lost his way. He was blinded by greed and power. What happened with Vincenzo will haunt me forever because I was his brother. I should have seen the signs. I should have noticed. Me. That shit falls on my shoulders, Lorenzo. Not yours.”
“It just makes no sense,” I confessed. “He would have died for you.”
“A wise man once said, ‘greed makes a man foolish and blind, and makes him an easy prey for death.’ Vincenzo knew what he was doing, and he paid the price. But I refuse to lose you to misplaced guilt, Lorenzo.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. He was right. I didn’t want to pay for the sins of my father, but how did you escape his legacy when his DNA flowed through your veins?
“Go be with your cousins. I’ll be in touch soon.”
“Yeah, okay.” I wanted to argue, but I knew there was no point. He was the boss as he’d so aptly pointed out more than once.
But when I stepped back into the cabin, I immediately regretted it.
“What the fuck?” I grumbled, watching as Nora danced with the girls, the three of them falling over each other and giggling hysterically.
“Guess who snuck a bottle of wine into their room.” Matteo let out a strained breath. “Next time we need to lock that shit away.”
“Oh relax, big brother.” Bella poked her tongue out between her lips. “We’re having fun. You should try it some time.”
“Somebody make it stop.” Matteo buried his face in his hands, but Nora strutted over to him and grabbed his hands.
“Bella’s right, Matt, don’t be such a spoilsport. We’re stuck here… we may as well have some fuuuun.” She staggered back and he leaped up, steadying her.
“You're halfway to being toasted.” His eyes flicked to mine and I ground my teeth together, going to the kitchen. I was going to need something stronger than tequila to get through tonight.
The music went up a notch and the heavy beat of The Weeknd filled the cabin.
“I love this one,” Sia yelled.
“Keep an eye on them,” Nicco said as he pulled Arianne toward the hall leading to the bedrooms.
“Really? You want me to babysit while you two go fuck like newlyweds?”
Arianne winced at my harsh words.
“Just don’t let them drink anymore,” he said, cutting me with a hard look, “and make sure they drink a glass of water before bed. Oh, and make sure Tristan stays the fuck away from them.”
“Tristan?” I balk. “What the fuck?”
“It would appear the girls have developed quite the crush on my cousin,” Arianne explained.
“On Tristan?” Disbelief coated my words.
“Stranger things have happened.” Nicco shook his head. “Just watch him.”
“Nicco, Tristan would never—”
“Fine, watch them then. Just watch them. All of them. Nora included. She’s drunk and she’s hurting.”
“Hurting? What the fuck are you—”
“One day you’ll realize, E, and it’ll probably be too damn late,” he said, guiding his wife down the hall.
Nora was hurting?
She was the one who pushed me away last night, not the other way around. If anyone was supposed to feel dejected, it was me.
You called her a whore. I shut down the memory. I didn’t mean it; it had just spilled out in the heat of the moment.
I watched her dancing with Matteo, the two of them laughing and joking. He was so fucking different to me. He found it easy; being around girls, charming them with his goofy smile and big heart. It didn’t actually get him a lot of pussy. He was too picky when it came to who he let into his bed, but he could have had any girl who laid eyes on him.
Including Nora.
Fuck, they looked good together as he spun her around, reeling her in and then flinging her back out. Tristan watched on, sipping a beer and smiling at the two of them. Alessia and Bella were trying to replicate some girl band dance or something, which made me snort. They looked fucking ridiculous.
“You should come join us,” Matteo called, and I flipped him off.
“Oh God,” Bella cried suddenly, clutching her stomach. “I don’t feel so good.” She dashed toward the hall, Alessia hot on her heels.
“Don’t throw up in the bedroom,” she called after her cousin.
“Fuck’s sake,” Matteo ground out. “Looks like fun time is over.” He stormed after his sister.
“I’m going to call it a night too, I think,” Tristan said. He gave me a curt nod as he passed me on the way to the bedrooms.
Nora flopped down on the couch and grabbed her drink.
“Is that a good idea?” I asked, leaning against the wall.
“Do you care?”
My shoulders lifted in a small shrug. “Don’t blame me tomorrow when you’ve got a hangover from hell.”
“You’re such a fucking hypocrite,” she murmured, downing the drink in one.
I flinched at her cold tone.
“What, no comeback?”
My chest heaved as I stalked across the room to go outside for a smoke. She was drunk, and the last thing I wanted to do was get into it with an emotional, drunk girl.
But as I reached the door, she stood up and swayed on her feet.
; “Whoa,” she breathed.
“You good?” I fought a smirk as I went to go to her.
“I’m fine,” she snapped, warding me off with her hand.
She wasn’t fine. She was ass over elbow drunk. But I gave her space to pass me. Except she tripped on the corner of the rug and stumbled forward.
“Owwww,” she cried, right as I caught her. “I’ve got it. I’ve got it.” Nora glowered at me, her eyes cloudy and glittering with contempt.
I steadied her and stepped back. “Sure about that?”
She swayed gently on the spot. “I’m fine. At least, I will be when the room stops spinning.” Burying her hands in her face, Nora began to topple again.
“Fuck,” I grunted as I scooped her up, much to her displeasure.
“Put me down.” She batted my chest. “I swear to God, Lorenzo Marchetti, put me down right this—whoa!” Her head rolled back as I stalked down the hall toward her room. I could hear Matteo berating Bella for getting drunk and puking everywhere. Thankfully, all was quiet from Nicco and Ari’s room. Nobody needed to hear the two of them going at it.
Kicking the door open, I went inside and dropped Nora on the bed.
“Asshole,” she hissed.
“I’ll get you some water.”
“I don’t need any—” Her words rolled off my back as I left her to go and get her a glass of water and some Advil.
When I got back to her room, she was curled up in a ball, clutching a pillow.
“Nora?”
No answer.
I leaned over her and stroked the hair from her face. “Gattina?”
She murmured softly, snuggling the pillow tighter.
I lingered for a second, watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest and then I walked out of there…
Wishing I didn’t have to.
Chapter 22
Nora
I woke with a brass band marching in my head.
“Ugh.” Reaching out, I fumbled around to locate my cell phone and dragged it back to me.
It was a little after nine and I felt deathly. My mind was a hazy amateur movie of poker, tequila, and… dancing?