TONY: Book 1 of The De Luca Brothers Series [COMPLETED]

13:

It's six and he's not here. I'm standing at the bridge wearing a black coat, shirt and jeans with my converse, waiting patiently on this chilly night. The seconds tick by and I can feel my aggravation rise. Who does he think he is? Bossing me about without a care in the world, having a go at me and bringing up shit I want to forget. I check my phone again and ten minutes has past. By this point I'm livid, I feel my blood boiling as I tap my foot repetitively on the concrete, leaning against the bannister whilst glancing around anxiously. Twenty minutes, then twenty five. Thirty minutes, then thirty five. Eventually, I lose it and whip out my phone, scroll through my contacts to find his name, before sending him a lengthy message about how petty he is.

Instantly, I regret saying anything and should have just been mature about it. Rather than reacting and throwing a tantrum, I should have asked where he was. I grind my teeth against each other and throw my head back. Where the hell is he?!

"I didn't think you'd come," he says from my right, his voice low and cold.

I snap my attention to him and raise a brow at his silhouette, "I thought you stood me up."

"It's not a nice feeling, isn't it?" He questions smartly, causing my anger to ooze through my pours.

"If you didn't throw me in the deep end, perhaps I wouldn't have been bed ridden!" I exclaim in the quiet of the night.
He steps forward and shrugs, but as he does, the moonlight flickers against his perfect face- or not so perfect due to the ugly bruise that is suddenly forming.

Before I know it, I'm in front of him and swiftly gripping ahold of his chin, tilting his head to the side to get a better look, "What the hell happened to you?"

He pares my hand away and glares at me.

I blush bright red but don't relent, "Tell me."

His stoney facade melts away and instead he looks at me curiously, "Why do you want to know?"

"Well," I clear my throat and my mind blanks. Why on earth did I care? Like I said, he threw me in the deep end and murders people for a living. But he saved your life. "Y-you saved me from that man, so I'm... curious about your wellbeing."

He quirks a brow, "'Curious about your wellbeing'. So you care?"

I open my mouth and close it, apparently losing the ability to form words. Instead, I shake my head, "Nah, just want to make sure that none of your dangerous colleagues come after me."

His lips tug upwards, "Sure thing."

"So, what are we doing tonight?"

Smooth conversation changer, definitely not desperate.

"You don't want to find out who hit me?" He questions boldly as a small, genuine smile forms on his lips.
I'm taken aback for a second, before I can reply, "Well, I-uh, certainly do. However it depends whether you want to answer."

He pauses for a solid minute and I'm afraid if he'll go back to his brooding self, but finally he replies, "I got jumped by two men on my way here."

My eyes widen but I remain quiet, allowing him to elaborate.

"They were apparently some more of those lowlifes from that building."

"What happened to them?"

"I shot one, right between the eyes."

My stomach drops.

"The other one took me by surprise. Originally, I was only going to be ten minutes late, however with my fistfight, I couldn't help but be a bit more than expected."

"Jesus," I breathe. "Are you okay?"

He seems to be taken off guard by my abrupt question and quite frankly, I can't blame him. Even I'm shocked at my words.

His Adam's Apple visibly bobs before he shrugs, trying to play it off, "Better than them."

"Okay then," I continue. "What are we doing tonight?"

"I need to have a conversation with someone," he tells me.
"Who?"

"That someone is not of your concern. However, I need you to be on lookout for me. I usually have my brother with me, however he's busy."

"You have a brother?" I ask. "What's his name? Is he a dealer too?"

He sends me a sharp look, "No questions."

"Sure thing Toro. Oh, you need to tell me where you got that name. My friend told me it means 'Bull' and personally I think that's a really shitty nickname."

He visibly stills, inhaling sharply before exhaling. He looks at me with those chocolatey orbs before muttering, "Boxing."

"Boxing?"

"Do I need to repeat myself?" He snaps suddenly and his eyes blaze. He begins to trek down the bridge and I'm reminded of his dangerous side.

Trying not to piss off the beast, I fall into step next to him and remain quiet, which is difficult itself because I have a million questions whirling around my head. Finally, I ask probably the most stupid one, "Are you gay?"

I hear him stop breathing.

"It's okay if you don't want to answer," I rush out. "I mean, I-I'm questioning and I'm pretty sure I am, however I'm too afraid to admit it because the last time I mentioned it I almost got raped by a drunk guy. Not that I'm saying you're going to rape me, because that would be extremely offensive."

"You almost got raped?" He asks, his voice dangerously low.

"Well, yeah. I suppose I almost did," I whisper, having been distracted by meeting Toro. "That's why I was out and about and saw you with Big Al."

He doesn't respond to that, but I do notice a tick in his jaw, "You're too careless.

"Look at you-"

"Seriously," he cuts me off and looks me in the eye. My gaze flickers down to his lips for a split second and I can feel my heart rate increase. "You need to stop being so reckless with your life. It's a precious thing." With that, he storms off, leaving me in his dust, in the dark night.