“Mina,” he started. “You must be hurt.”
I was hurt, but I wasn’t going to let it affect me. “I’ll be fine, sweetie. I promise.” But my heart ached for Alessio. “I’m just sad that he suffered like that by the hands of his—our— father. I wish he’d been there with us. I wish Mom had taken him with her.”
“You’re too kind,” he huffed out. “He was rude and obscene. He was a dickhead. You shouldn’t care about him at all. He certainly doesn’t care about you.”
“Yeah,” I muttered as I turned my neck to breathe him in. “Still, I don’t blame him for being bitter. Sins of the father and all that crap.”
His lips landed at my temple. He kissed me there and whispered, “It’s okay to feel wounded, mouse. It’s okay.”
The first sob escaped me so painfully that I felt like my chest was ripped open and my heart was falling away piece by piece. More tears followed, and as I let out my sorrow over losing the brother I’d never had, Lev kept his arms around me and his lips at my temple, holding me until there were no more tears to cry.
The truth was, I wanted a brother, and now that I knew I had one and he rejected me, it hurt worse than the agony I’d felt when my mother passed away.
My brother hated me.
He didn’t know me, yet he hated me.
The jury was in.
Life just wasn’t fair.
Two days passed, and although it was a short time, it was long enough for almost everyone at Bleeding Hearts to find out I had a brother, more shockingly that it was Alessio ‘Scar Face’ Scarfo. Sasha found it particularly funny. And I hated him for it.
He found every excuse to tell people about the brother who didn’t want a sister, and gloated while I shrank into myself.
It surprised me that Anika took me aside, and with a sympathetic look in her eye, she hugged me tight as she stroked my hair, telling me she was sorry. I despised her for that too. I could never figure out if we were friends or not. She made it hard to hate her when I so desperately needed the comfort.
Nas asked me about Laredo, feigning disinterest, but I could see she wanted to know about him. I smiled at her. “You want to come with me next time I see him? He’s our uncle, after all.”
She blinked down at her coffee mug and nodded. “Yeah, that might be okay.” She quickly added, “I mean, I wouldn’t let you go alone anyway. Not after Alessio pulled that shit.” She nudged me lightly. “I got your back, kukla.”
“I know he had an affair with your mom, but it’s okay to admit you miss him,” I muttered gently.
“I don’t,” she said all too quickly. At my unmoving stare, she shrugged and squawked, “I don’t!”
I let it go. She didn’t want to admit it, but I knew the truth.
Saturday morning came, and Lev and I lazed around in bed, making love with aching slowness, in no rush to leave our bubble-o-love when the buzzer sounded. Lev got out of bed, in all his nude glory, went to the wall, and picked up the receiver. “Yeah?”
I watched from across the room as his shoulders stiffened and he hissed, “You got some nerve, asshole,” then he hung up. When he turned, his jaw was tense and he looked over at me.
A frown marred my brow. “What is it?”
He opened his mouth to speak, when the buzzer went off again. He picked up the receiver once more and held it to his ear. He held it there a long while and closed his eyes. “You’ve got five minutes. Not a second more.” With a sigh, he hung up the receiver and told me, “You might want to shower. You have a guest.”
“Who is it?”
He leaned against the wall and spoke quietly, “Your brother.”
I pulled the sheets higher up my body, my shoulders stiffening. “I don’t want to see him.”