Slowburn

Chapter 89

        I turned to Renzo while Dante stayed sitting on the sofa waiting for our answer on what we might want to do today. "Renzo, you said your birthday was on the 18th, correct?" I decided to test him. His eyes darted my way then over to his cousins. Rubbing the back of his neck he cleared his throat. "He told you" Renzo assumed right. I frowned and crossed my arms. 

"Why'd you lie?" I know I had silly puppy dog eyes. "You would make it a whole thing. I figured if you figured out it passed maybe you'd drop it" he looked at me pointedly. My face went flat. "You thought wrong, sir." Renzo shook his head at me, but pinched my chin as an endearment.

 "Fine, I won't even acknowledge your birthday. I won't even see you that day so you can wallow" I passed him to join Dante on the couch, Renzo's hand caught my forearm. 

"Thank god you aren't in the mob. Your form of retaliation is weak at best" the man really gave me a sarcastic joke. Darn me for having to bite my cheek so I wouldn't laugh at it. He saw me anyway and his own lip twitched in amusement.

        I felt Dante's eyes on us and at the same time I think Renzo had too. His head swiveled away when he saw Renzo's annoyed glare that he was being 'judged' by his cousin for his demeanor with me. Or at least, Renzo probably thinks Dante is judging when really I think it was just a mere observation of how he and I are addressing each other in a more relaxed way than his usual intensity.

        "Grace told me I should make a list of tourist attractions I would be interested in doing. We could do one of those today" I decided to break the pause between us all. "Tourist attractions" Renzo looked anything but pleased. 

"Have you never visited Boston even when you were living in Massachusetts?" Dante questioned me. "Here and there, but usually for specific reasons and it was quite a while ago. I never did any touristy stuff." He nodded at my answer and shrugged, "What's on the list?" 

I looked at Renzo who was still standing where he had been to see what he thought of all this. His expression was a blank one to no surprise. "You have work in 4 hours. What tourist attraction do you think you'll be seeing within those hours?" He had to be the party pooper. I guess he isn't wrong. We woke up so late today we would barely have the time.

       Instead I just asked him to stay a little while longer and join us on the sofa to do something lowkey. He surprisingly agreed and sat between Dante and I like he always does. I liked the feeling of Renzo draping my legs over his lap to create space, and the fact that he left his warm hand on my thigh and would absentmindedly rub his thumb back and forth every once in a while. 

But peace seems to only come to me in short increments these days. Not long after we started watching what I put on the television for us, I felt my phone vibrate from where I had carelessly placed it on my lap. My heart leapt out of my chest when I saw the contact name across the screen. Oh no.

         Renzo's eyes shifted down as I read the contact name and immediately stiffened his spine in anger. "Why the fuck is Moretti texting you?!" His voice held such a low bass the warning was clear. He's very mad. "I don't know. You saw it the same time I did" I felt my pulse quicken. 

I haven't spoken to Gabriele since the day I left his hotel room after our tryst. I hadn't a clue why he would randomly be texting me right now, but I was too afraid to find out. When I open the message I know Renzo is going to demand to see it and honestly Gabriele could be saying anything from a friendly hello to a risqué comment of our time spent together in the past. I just couldn't be sure. 

"Open it" Renzo removed my legs from his lap and turned his torso to face me completely. I could see Dante's eyes from over his cousin's shoulders, and if I had to label that expression I would say he was saying 'uh oh' and preparing for the worst.