“Do whatever the hell you want,” I ground out, not moving from my position. My body craved to go to Aida, but not until everyone was gone. My guard was well and truly up.
“This is bullshit,” Dante growled. “I made a mistake—”
I lunged for him, grabbing him around the collar and slamming his back against the wall. The framed photos shuddered, nearly falling off their hooks at the impact. “Your mistake cost us.” I gripped him harder, bringing my face within inches of his. ”Your mistake caused the fat lip and bruised wrists my wife has.” I pulled him off the wall and slammed him back against it. “Your mistake was one a Beretta son never should have made.”
He shook his head, his palms flattening on my chest. “I’m sorry,” he ground out, pushing me away, but I didn’t let go of him. He needed to know what consequences his actions had. “I’m sorry I wasn’t Dad’s favorite.” A muscle in his jaw twitched, his brows lowering. “I’m sorry I was never good enough to learn the business. I’m sorry I was always the sensitive one. I’m sorry. I’m fuckin’ sorry!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I blinked at him, trying to hold on to my anger, but it was waning the longer I stared at him.
“I’m talking about you.” He pushed against my chest again, but this time I let him go. “You got all of his attention. You were his golden boy.” He pushed his hand through his hair, gripping it tightly. “I was always left out, never good enough, never as great as Lorenzo.” He let his head drop back. “Fuck this.” He let out a sinister chuckle. “Fuck you.”
He barged out of my office, leaving me wondering what the hell had just happened.
CHAPTER 17
AIDA
I lifted my hand in a wave at Mateo and Romeo, who sat at the back of my psych class, clearly bored out of their damn minds. I thought it was comical the way they grunted and groaned as the lecturer spoke about how the mind worked in weird and mysterious ways.
It was my last class of the day, and I told them as much when everyone started to pack their things away and head out of the room. I always lingered because Mateo wanted the hallways to be almost empty so he could have a clear view of everything around us.
“You know you could actually learn something if you paid attention,” I told them, raising my brows and smiling. Thank God I could smile again. The stitches Doctor Dubeke had put in were taken out yesterday, and although I’d be left with a small scar, I didn’t care because now I could lift my lips without feeling like they were burning off my face.
“I already did psych,” Romeo said. He didn’t often talk, so this information was a shock, not just to me, but Mateo too. We both turned to face him. “What?” Romeo asked as if his tidbit of information was him talking about the weather.
“You did psych?” I asked, blinking up at him as I went to throw my backpack over my shoulder. Mateo snatched it from me before I got the chance, but I didn’t comment on it. I was getting used to having these two around me any time I wasn’t home.
It had only been nine days since the raid, but things were already starting to get back to normal. Lorenzo said he wasn’t going to let the FBI change the way we lived our lives, but that hadn’t stopped him from putting an extra detail on me. He said he was being cautious just for now, and I couldn’t deny him that. I felt safer with both Mateo and Romeo. Deep down, I knew I needed to push my shoulders back and live my life outside of the mansion without them, but it was a process, one I knew I couldn’t rush.
“Yeah. I did it two years ago.” Romeo stepped toward the door to the classroom, looking left and right. “I finished college last year.”
I spluttered as I followed him down the hallway, turning back to look at Mateo, who was just as wide-eyed as I was. “How old are you again?”
“Twenty,” Romeo said. He flashed a grin at me over his shoulder. “I went to college when I was sixteen.”
“Holy shit.” I blew out a breath. “And here I was thinking I was the shit for even going to college.” I chuckled, the sound uneasy. “If it wasn’t for my scholarships, I wouldn’t even be here.”
The cool wind whipped at us as Romeo opened the main doors to the building. “You’re here on scholarship?” Mateo asked, coming to walk beside me now that we were outside. I was smushed inside a Romeo and Mateo sandwich as we made our way to the parking lot.
“Yep. I managed to get three. One for my grades, one for coming from a disadvantaged family, and one because I was first-generation Italian-American.” I winked up at Mateo. “I applied to hundreds back in my senior year at high school. I was determined to be the first person in my family to make it to college.”
“That’s kind of inspiring,” Mateo said, his gaze veering off as we made it to the SUV. He blinked several times and opened up the back door for me, a move he’d always done. “I never got to finish high school.”
“You didn’t?” I frowned at him. “Why?”
He shrugged, shaking his head and wiping the expression off his face. “Ma needed me to get a job and look after my little brother and sister. So, I quit junior year.”
I opened my mouth, unsure what to say, but his cell rang, taking him away from the conversation. My mind spun as I got into the car and stared out of the window, watching him talk on his cell before getting into the SUV. He turned the engine on and drove away from the college.
I thought I’d had it hard trying to get into college and having to share a room with my sister and niece, but something about the way Mateo spoke made me wonder what his life was like. He was always around, taking me places, and not once had I asked about him.
I opened my mouth to ask him something—anything—but it was too late because we were pulling through the gates and into the mansion. “Lorenzo needs us to run an errand,” Mateo told Romeo. His gaze met mine in the rearview mirror. “He’s in the house with Christian.”
“Okay.” I glanced down as I plucked my backpack off the floor and slipped out of the car. They stayed where they were as I walked inside the mansion, and when the doors closed behind me, I just stood there, unable to get Mateo’s words out of my mind. He hadn’t even finished high school. I knew there were many people who didn’t, but he was part of the family—not in blood but in spirit—so why hadn’t they made sure he finished high school?
My gaze snapped to Lorenzo’s office door as it opened, and Christian exited. He was saying something to someone behind him, and as soon as I spotted Lorenzo, I made a beeline for him. “Did you know Mateo never finished high school?” I planted my hands on my hips, screwing my face up.
“I…” Lorenzo laughed, clearly confused by my question. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact that Mateo never got his high school diploma.” I shook my head, feeling something bubbling up inside me. I had no idea what it was, but I was furious that, in this day and age, someone had to quit school to get a job so they could help provide for their siblings. “He had to quit to get a job. Did you know that?”