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

27:

"Tony?" I ask shakily. Who the fuck is Tristan?
He shakes his head and runs his hands over his face, scrubbing it in exasperation as I'm left with a mind filled with turmoil. I slip out from the sheets and hesitantly reach out for him, but he flinches from my touch. Pain splinters my heart and a lump forms in my throat. I nod and turn away from him. "Oh."

"Zachary, I-I need..."

"What do you need Tony?" I whisper.

"I need... time."

"Time?" I scoff. "Your brother just waltzed in, declared his hatred for me and then brought up another man's name. You're the one who needs time?"

"This is different!" Snaps Tony, but he quickly drops it. "Shit! I'm sorry, okay? I can't... What was he thinking? I just need you to trust me on this one. I will tell you when I'm ready."

I don't respond, I just start picking up articles of clothing and throwing things into my bag, zipping it up.

"What are you doing?" He asks, but I ignore him. "Zachary- what are you doing?"

"Come find me when you're man enough to tell me. I'm so sorry that this is an inconvenient time for you right now Tony, but I'm a bit busy mourning over my dead mother. I don't need this bull shit." Getting dressed and picking up the bag from the bed, I brush past him in a sorry attempt of ignorance.

He catches my arm, "Stay."

"Why should I Tony!? You can't even tell me about a mystery guy! From what Leone said, how do you expect me to trust you?"

"Leone is a manipulative bastard- please don't listen to him. You're one of the few people I've opened up to Zachary, you're important to me. I c-care for you!" He sputters and surprisingly, his eyes glisten.

"This isn't a goodbye Tony," I don't know why I say it, but I feel like I have to reassure him. "You need time to sort out the shit in your head, I need time to come to terms with it. You're not giving me a lot of breathing space here and I can't think properly, but I know that I don't want to be in a relationship when there are secrets circling around. I want something honest, not something temporary."

"Please don't leave," he whispers.

I wince, "I'm sorry. Come find me when you're alright." I turn and leave the room, from memory I follow the halls to the downstairs and find myself in the grande marble entrance. Biting my tongue, I readjust my bag and walk towards the front door.

"What do you think you're doing?" Asks a feminine voice with a thick Italian accent.

I turn to see Vipera and grimace, "Leaving?"

"Do you even know where you're going?" She asks.

I shrug, "I'll figure it out."

"Little mouse, I don't want you getting lost now, especially since you're Toro's."

"I am not Toro's," I say calmly, disliking the way I sound like property.

"Hmm," she ponders. "Sure. Let me drive you to your college, it's only fifteen minutes away."

"How do you know I go to college?"

She gives me a flat look, "I know a lot of things."

I swallow my pride and nod. She pulls out her keys and leads me out of the house, pressing a random button on her keychain. She heads to the side of the house where an individual, brick building stands surrounded by gardens and has a dirt path leading to the front. The garage door automatically opens for the two of us and leads us into a organised, warehouse-like room with rows of gorgeous, expensive cars. Just how rich are these people?

Vipera opens a green jeep door and slides into the tall frame, putting her keys into the ignition and promptly turning it on with a low growl. I sit in the passenger seat and smile at how humble this vehicle is compared to the other sports cars.

"You like Jessie?"

I turn in her direction, only to see her caress the wheel. "As in your jeep?"

"Well, Yeah."

"I do, I prefer it to Toro's sports car."

She chuckles lightly, "He has a thing for sports cars. Sells and swaps them every couple of months or so."

"Seriously?" I gasp in surprise. "That's just... weird."

"Nah, he's got the money so he's obviously going to put it in good use."

"Right."

She pulls out of the building and away from the mansion; away from Tony. My heart cracks slightly, especially since I realise that he's not coming out to say goodbye or see you later. I mean, why should he?

"So, what's gone off?"

"Nothing," I rush and wince at my urgency. "I mean, why should there be anything wrong? I just wanted to go to college and study."

"You're a terrible liar."

"Alright, no need to expose me like that," I mutter.
"What did he say?"

"I-it wasn't exactly him who said it, more like his brother-"

"Leone?"

"Yeah..."

"Ima castrate that mother fucker when I get back home," she mutters.

"He's he's the gang leader! You can't do that. He's like proper scary right—"

"Childhood friends," she waves off, turning a corner.

"Oh," I bite my lip. "He doesn't like me much."

"No?"

"Nope," I sigh. "How can I be with Toro if his powerful little brother is in the way?"

"You come to me, I'll stop Leone's stupidness and set things straight with Toro. Which brings me back to my previous question: what happened?"

"Well," I clear my throat. "Leone might have sort of came in after we-uh-woke up and then Leone brought up a guy called Tristan."

"Shit," Vipera groans. "What the fuck was he thinking?"

"Oh yeah, he also blames me for Gufo getting shot at because I distracted Toro."

"Damien was being his usual idiot, loud self. Hardly anything Toro could prevent."

"That'd not what Leone thinks," I whisper. "So I asked Toro about Tristan."

"It's a touchy subject."

"I figured," I mumble. "I said I needed space, he said he couldn't tell me yet. I said for him to come find me when he's ready."

"Okay," she pouts. "I think what you did was a tad bit unfair. Sure, space is always good, but when you saw that there was more to Toro, you ran! How is that fair?"

I bite my lip as tears prick my eyes, "How can I be with a guy with who has secrets and doesn't trust me enough to tell me?"

"He does trust you, he's just scared to tell you. Toro is quiet, he needs time to figure out how to tell you. Tristan is a very sensitive subject for him, as in he didn't go out of his room for three weeks and barely ate anything. It's not my place to tell you, but please be more sympathetic."

"Can I go back?"

"No," she shakes her head. "I'll talk to Toro, tell him you feel like shit for not understanding. However, like you told me, you're going to study, meet up with your friends, go to a homeless shelter- Toro will come to you when he's ready."

"Oh," pause. "Okay."

She pulls up outside of my college and gives me a sad smile, "Bye little mouse. I'll see you soon."

"Bye Vipera," I mumble, slipping out of Jessie, only for her to speed off. Leaving me alone. Like always.