Falling For The Mob

53 Wrong place wrong time

Zoë

Every morning this week is the same. Sam is gone whenever I wake up, if she even sleeps in her bed. After that second night, she stopped trying to have sex with me. Sometimes I find her working in her office, but more often she isn't even in the building. The one thing she always used to do was tell me when she would leave and what time she would be back. Now, basic communication with her is nonexistent. At one point, I just stopped seeing the point of staying at her apartment.

Staring at my living room ceiling seems just as entertaining, only not as heartbreaking.

Addy asked me to wait for Sam, but I'm not even sure Sam wants me anymore. What am I even waiting for? The woman who barely gave me what I needed while I gave her everything I had in me? Someone who's number one demand was to accept that she is keeping secrets from me? Someone who only played with my emotions? I never should have started things up with her again. She was clear from the start, she told me that she couldn't be what I needed.

A knock on my apartment door pulls me from the couch where I am silently contemplating my life choices. On the other side, I find Joey with his usual playful grin. I received a vague message that he would be in the city and might drop by. What I wasn't prepared for was all my brothers.

With no regard for my privacy, they shove their large bodies into my apartment one by one.

"Excuse me, hi, what are you all doing here?" I try not to let my irritation show, but I have no energy for pretenses.

Marcus makes a direct line for the bathroom as Joey plants himself on my couch. "Joey said you need help with a broken heart," Frankie states, landing beside him on the couch. My eyes land on my youngest brother who shows worry. The one thing Joey never did was share my secrets, that is until now.

His smile is empathetic, but before I can respond, the bathroom door opens, revealing Marcus with his usual judgmental glare. "Nobody told me about a broken heart. He said you invited us here."

"Seriously Joey, I get that you are worried, but did you have to bring them?" I huff my annoyance, offending my two eldest brothers, but Marcus doesn't seem to mind and jumps straight back into his rant.

"You need to be careful, men play games, and you always fall for it. You are too trusting, and that's your problem. Was it Vinny? Every single time I tell you to stay away from him, you never listen."

He could probably go on forever, but thankfully Joey cuts him off before I blow a lid. "Will you shut up and sit down, man boobs? You've been telling her to stay away from Vinny for over ten years, get some new material."

Marcus crosses his arms over his chest as the other two laugh. Since high school, he has been obsessed with lifting, 'man boobs' till now is the only insult we could get him with.

"What's his name? And what happened between you?" He takes the same stance he has when on guard in an attempt to look intimidating.

"Are you pregnant? Did he leave because he knocked you up? You look tired," Frankie adds, only infuriating me more. "Ma is going to kill you if she finds out."

How in the hell did my little bit of peace go out the window so fast? If they could all just shut up and let me think.

"If it's not Vinny, then who is he? Do we know him?" Marcus demands.

I grunt, silencing them all. "IT'S NOT A HE!" I snap, much louder than intended.

"And you." My finger snaps to Joey, who for the last five minutes has been rejoicing in the comedy of this awkward situation. "Why couldn't you just let me be? Now I have to deal with all of this. Did you actually think this would make me feel better?" Frantically, I wave my arms at the two large clueless baboons that are making my apartment feel half its size.