Family Business

Chapter 16: War

     It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The skies outside were a light shade of blue and there was not one cloud. The sun was shining through the windows of the bedroom. I was curled up in bed next to Antonio. We were both completely naked beneath the sheets, our flesh making contact with the soft blankets.

     Our relationship was weird. One second, we'd be yelling like crazy at each other. The next second, we were furiously kissing, our hands all over each other. Was it because of me? Was it because of him? Were we both the problem?

     I lay in bed, staring at Antonio, who was still sound asleep. I honestly did not know if he truly loved me or not. Giovanni cooked for Alina and danced with her. Leonardo took Nikki for car rides and watched movies with her. The only two things Antonio did was either scream at my face or do shit in the bedroom with me. Even though he was protective and showed me a different emotional side to him, I just wish our relationship was normal.

     I then saw Antonio's eyelids flutter open. He yawned, then turned to face me.

     "What time is it?" Antonio said in a sleepy voice.

     "8:00 A.M.," I replied.

     "Phew," Antonio said with a sigh. "After what we did last night, I was scared I was going to wake up in the afternoon or some shit."

     Antonio then proceeded to take a pack of cigarettes and lighter out of the drawer of his nightstand. He took one cigarette from the pack, let it hang from his mouth, and lit it. I saw a small, orange flame erupt before settling down. Antonio took a deep breath, then let the smoke blow from his mouth. He turned to look at me again.

     "Want one?" Antonio asked. There were some dark circles around his eyes from our eventful night.

     "No, thank you," I replied almost shyly. "Antonio, I need to talk to you about something." I have to muster up the courage to see where this is going with him because I am sick of not understanding what we are.

     "Okay, what is it?" Antonio said before taking enough breath of smoke. I am going to be upfront with this, even though I know there may be consequences.

     "Am I your girlfriend?" I finally said. Antonio slightly tilted his head and batted his eyes at me. For a minute, he did not say anything. He just stared at me.

     "No, what makes you think you are?" Antonio replied in a slightly nasty tone. Why do I just feel like my heart shattered? I was more pissed than I have ever felt before. My blood was boiling. I felt like I was going to erupt on him.

     "Antonio," I began. "Do you just use people? Do you just yell at them, fuck them, then leave the next day? Is that how you live your life, because that is not how I want to live mine?"

     Antonio looked like he was going to blow up on me, but he knew I had ammo on him. He might have guns in his drawer, but guns mean nothing if you don't have power.

     "Fuck off, Cupcake," Antonio finally replied.

     "Stop calling me Cupcake!" I yelled at him. "If I can't call you mine, then you can't call me Cupcake!"

     "Look, if you are going to judge how I do things around here, then go and sleep on the fuckin couch!" Antonio yelled back.

     I was about to go completely off on him. I got up off the bed, completely naked in front of Antonio, and picked up my bra from the floor. I took my bra and viciously threw it at him. The bra hit the center of Antonio's chest.

     "Don't tell me to sleep on the fuckin couch, Antonio!" I yelled. "If it were my choice, I'd be sleeping in my own fuckin bed at home, but you and your nutjob family are holding me and my friends hostage for some weird ass arranged marraige shit! If you are so interested in marrying me, Antonio, treat me like a fuckin woman should be treated!"