AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No,” he simply answered.
Hugo wasn’t a talker, that was for sure, and it pissed me off. Everyone knew who he was – the Albanian Monster – and what he did, but I never got through to him. We were raised under the same roof, and for the past few months he had been around me every day, but he insisted on keeping everything to himself, and I wasn’t used to not getting my way. I wanted to find the crack in his thick concrete walls.
“You know, Hugo, maybe you could start making an effort when you pick me up from school. You look like you’re going to a craps championship in the Bronx.”
He growled like a dog in the pound, irritated by my remark. This was the only kind of reaction I was able to get out of Hugo.
“Big words, coming from you, princess.”
And that’s how the game between us started every time. I was striking, and he was lashing back, and every time we got into a verbal match, I felt a little thrill in my gut because, other than my brother, Hugo was the only man who had the balls to fight with me. I might be five-six and a hundred and twenty-five pounds, including my ass, that was hanging quite heavy, but I had a big name, and that was enough to scare a lot of people.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You have a headband for a skirt, Cat. You look like a stripper dressed as a school girl.”
My black and red plaid skirt was exactly as long as it had to be, and my wool cardigan and high boots were covering most of my legs anyways, but I didn’t expect him to know anything about fashion.
“I’m going to tell Gino what you said about strippers.” And my brother wouldn’t appreciate it since he was about to marry one.
No one cared that Muse used to be a stripper, and if they did, they didn’t have the courage to utter a word while Gino still walked on this earth. He would cut out their tongues and hang them in the fish market to dry. Don Nucci didn’t take an offence to his wife very lightly. They weren’t married yet; the wedding was pushed back to the summer because Muse needed time to nourish her broken heart. A couple of months ago, she lost her brother to a bullet, and we all took that hit pretty hard.
Enzo was…he was an awesome guy. He taught me how to throw a football. Every time I saw a game on tv, my heart squeezed painfully remembering him. He was a few months younger than me when he passed, a kid that was cheated by life. The memories brought a bitter taste to my mind.
“Why the long face, princess?”
“Hmm? Nothing, I was just thinking about something. I need you to take me to 5th Ave. I need to do some shopping.”
“No can do. Gino has something to talk to you about, and Muse expects you home for lunch.”
Fuck, he knows I can’t say no to Muse.
“Fine. Are you staying for lunch?”
“No. Business.” One-word sentences were Hugo’s trademark, and I fucking hated it.
“Ugh, fine, but I might need a dress tonight, so I’ll call you back to drive me.”
“I’ll be at the Night Club on Broadway; you can call there. What do you need a dress for?”
“None of your business.”
“You’re not going anywhere if your brother doesn’t approve.”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, looking away, but I was smiling inside. I liked the little Tom and Jerry game we had. I needed someone to challenge me, and boy, was he the man for it. But in the end, he wouldn’t be able to forget the one rule that dominated my life: A Nucci always gets what they want.
Hugo cut into traffic with one hand on the wheel and his tattooed elbow out on his window, in spite of the fact that it was December, and the air was frozen like a sheet of glass over the city. But inside the car, the heat was blasting so I didn’t complain.
No one spoke another word until he rolled down the street in Brooklyn where my brother lived and parked the car right in front of the gate. I loved this place; it was my childhood home. When I was little, I used to run up and down the stairs with my dad chasing me for a tickle, or I would sit by the door for hours waiting for Gino to come home from school or dad to come home from wherever he was. I was daddy’s girl growing up. I knew he was a fucked-up man, even for our world. He was too reckless for his own good, and even though Gino never talked about it, I knew what daddy did. No one could stop the whispers. My father died in disgrace because he sold girls, and that broke my heart every day because when he was alive, he loved me. I know he did. And I loved the fake image he had in daylight, when truly he was a monster at night.
When mom decided to move out of the city, to Great Neck, in a house right on the water, I told Gino I was not ready to leave the house, and he arranged an entire apartment for me on the floor we both used to have bedrooms on when we were growing up.
I turned to look at Hugo over my shoulder.
“It wouldn’t kill you to be nice to me once in a while.”
He growled almost like it was a reflex to anything I said. I knew he just wanted me to go so he could go back to running around town, putting the fear of God into people, but I was tired of being pushed away by one of my own.
“What are you talking about?” The annoyance vibrated through his words.
