It was late. I was tired. And tomorrow was gonna be a long fucking day. "I'm going to bed, Fratellino." I grabbed my phone from the table, flipping it over, seeing a string of messages from Sofia, wondering when Sadie was coming back. What the hell? I looked to Gav at the opposite end of the couch. "Sofia said she's been calling you. She wants to know when Sadie's coming back to their room."
He looked over, eyes going from half-baked to fucking frantic. "What?"
"Sofia said she left their place almost an hour ago."
He shot up, tripping over his fucking feet to get to the front table for his phone, slapping it to his ear. "Cosa intendi?" he yelled at the phone. "No! She never fucking came back here! Fuck!" He dropped the phone from his ear then smacked it right back up. "Answer the phone, Sadie! Dammit!"
I thought I left the drama behind, sending her off with Sofia and Giorgia while hanging in this room with Gav and the twins. "What's going on?" I asked, not that I really had to.
"Watch the babies!" he shouted back, fumbling with the door handle.
"You're in your fucking pajamas, Gav!" I waved him back to the couch, but that door was open, and he was gone.
"She left!" his faint yell hit before the door slammed shut.
I knew she'd fucking run. She always ran. So much for fucking sleeping now.
"Fuck!"
A yell and a boom, the door crashing, sending me jumping from the couch. What the hell?
Gav pounded his fist into the door, then pummeled the lamp on the table beside it, sending it crashing to the floor.
"You're gonna wake the fucking babies!" I snapped, drawing his attention for a minute. "You gonna tell me what the fuck's going on now?"
He stalked across the floor, hitting everything in sight before looking over, eyes rolling to the ceiling, nostrils flaring like a wild bull. "I fucked up! Are you fucking happy now?"
No shit. I was tired, and I was losing my fucking patience with him. "Thanks, captain fucking obvious, but what the hell did you do?"
He continued pacing around the room with antsy fists, finally stopping, looking me directly in the eyes. "We were fucking—"
"Jesus Christ! At Sorellina's dinner?"
He started pacing again, his hands rubbing his face, then his neck, his hair. "I..." he focused on the window. "I, fucked up, Luca."
"Paint a whole picture, Fratellino."
He dropped his head, still shaking it. "We were fucking in the bathroom, then she asked me to do something, and I accused her of thinking about another man while I was fucking her, and I threw her off me and left." He turned, then swung right back. "I was just... Laurence's fucking brother hitting on her... and the other fucking assholes down there... and the fucking snow. I wasn't in my right fucking head! It was fucked up! I was pissed, I blacked out, and then I was screaming vaffanculo and bailing."
I sat up, giving him my full fucking attention now. "Vaffanculo?" I saw Sadie's tears again, saw those eyes from earlier. "You told your wife to fuck off?" The steam was instant, my hands balling up, ready to drag his ass outside and teach him a fucking lesson, give him a good old fashion beat down to knock some sense into him. "What the fuck's wrong with you, Gav?"
He slammed his palms against the wall. "Fuck, I know!"
"But they don't." I pointed to the closed bedroom door where his kids slept. "Go in there and tell Piccolina what you said to her mamma. Go ahead, look her straight in those big eyes and tell her that you told her mamma to fuck off. Then go to Vinny and tell him how is papà treats his mamma—the woman who almost gave up her life for both them and me!"
His glaring red eyes met mine, but I wasn't backing down. "Get the fuck out, Luca!" he yelled, threatening me.
I relaxed back onto the cushions. "She asked me to stay. Now I know why. Don't think I'm gonna fucking leave them alone with you."
He whipped his entire body my way, staring me down. "I was in a fucking rage! You're no fucking better!"
"No shit! But I have nothing to lose! I'm not married with fucking kids! And I'm the last fucking person you should want to compare yourself with."
He stared at their door, shaking his head side to side. "I didn't mean to say it, any of it. She knows how I get. She has to know I didn't mean it."
"Hell of a weekend," I groaned over while kicking my feet up on the table. "One Romano gets married, one gets divorced."
The color drained from his face, looking like I'd just sucker-punched him in the gut. "Why the fuck would you say that?" he sputtered out. "Get the fuck out, Luca!"
"Hey, I'm sure you'll get partial custody." I laughed, enjoying the fucking fear I was instilling. He needed to hurt the way she had. "Or maybe she takes Piccolina, and you keep Piccolo, shit maybe she takes both and leaves you with nothing." I was waiting for him to yell back, instead, he stumbled his way to the couch, falling on the opposite end, a few tears turning into uncontrollable sobbing.
Fuck, I went too far. I wanted a fight, not a breakdown. He had to know I was just fucking with him. That this was just a passing fight, she wasn't really gonna leave him. But it was Gav, so of course, he'd think the worst. We looked so fucking similar, but Gav wasn't like me—he had a heart.
His face was buried in his hands, choking on the sobs he was trying to contain, his whole body shaking under him, and suddenly I saw twelve-year-old Gav again, my little brother crying after the accident. Balled up on the couch like he was now, and I'd just fed him his worst fucking nightmare.
"Gav, she's not gonna divorce you. You were right, she knows how you are, and she knows you have a good heart. She'll forgive you for this shit."
"You didn't see her face," he said through his tears. "You didn't see the way she looked at me."
"She loves you, Gav. We've all fucking seen it, and heard it." I laughed, although he didn't laugh back. "Get some rest. I don't want you ruining Giorgia's day tomorrow."
"I can't fucking go in there!" He shot his face back up, black eyes filled to the brim with water. "How am I supposed to look at my kids after this? What happens when they wake up and ask where their mamma is?"
Then you tell them you're an asshole and their mamma took off. "Go get some rest, Fratellino."
He shook his head. "You sleep in there," he pleaded. "I'll take the couch."
I threw my arm over his shoulders, feeling his shudder from all the tears. "Get some sleep." I pushed myself up, looking down at the poor guy once more before heading into the bedroom.