“Take ten,” I tell Kyle. “Grab a drink, a smoke, use the bathroom, whatever. I’ll be back.” Before he has a chance to answer, I leave the room and head toward the front where I can hear Ella yelling at someone. I get two steps into the hallway when another voice starts yelling back. I smash my molars together when I realize who it is.
I walk up behind Ella, who’s standing at the end of the counter that’s open to allow people to walk behind it, just in time to hear her say, “Leave, bitch, before I drag you out by your skanky-ass hair.”
Hardass Ella at her best.
Acting like she didn’t hear the threat, Cora’s eyes land on me and she gives what most men would deem a sexy smile. At one time, I thought the same thing. Cora and I slept together a total of three times, and while she was good, she wasn’t good enough for me to overlook the white shit I saw under her nose once I left the bathroom after cleaning up the last time we were together. Or the fact that she’ll sell her body to anyone that will provide her with the drug.
I don’t do drugs, and I damn sure won’t be with anyone who does them. I’ve seen what the shit can do to a person. My best friend since middle school ODed on heroin ten years back. I watched it eat away at him until there was nothing left except a shell of his former self. Derek was one of the strongest men I knew, and we always swore to each other growing up that we wouldn’t be like half the people around here. We wouldn’t let the harsh realities of life take us under. We were better than that and determined to keep it that way. Then shit got worse with his dad, who’d beat him, his sister, and his mom. One night, he walked in on his dad raping his little sister while his mom was at work. When he tried prying him off, his dad pulled out a gun and held it to the girl’s head. Derek was made to watch as he continued to rape her. When he was finished, he pulled the trigger, then turned the gun on himself. Derek was never the same after that.
I wrap my arm around Ella’s stomach when she makes a move toward Cora.
“What are you doing here, Cora?” I ask, not bothering to hide my distaste of having to look at her.
She puts her hands on the glass case in front of her, no doubt leaving oily palm prints. Leaning up on her toes, she purposely squishes her tits together with her arms, knowing they’ll pop out of her tight top. I’m not even tempted to look down to see if I’m right.
“I came to see you, Luca, baby,” she purrs. “To finalize our plans for tonight.”
“Plans?” Ella snarls, twisting in my arms to glare up at me. “What in the hell is she talking about?”
I should mention that Ella can’t stand the sight of Cora and would probably yank out every hair on her head given the chance. That happens when you catch a person bent over being fucked into the mattress by your best friend’s boyfriend, in their own fucking bed. I didn’t know about that when I got with Cora. Had
I known, I wouldn’t have.
I barely glance at Ella—she should know me better than that—before I look back to Cora. “We don’t have plans. You wanted to meet up, and I told you to fuck off. Now it’s time for you to leave, and don’t come back.”
Her lips jut out into a pout, and it only makes her look ridiculous, not seductive like she’s aiming for.
“Come on, Luca. You know you want to play with me,” she whines.
Actually, the thought makes me sick. Before I get a chance to tell her that, Ella, much stronger than her small frame suggests, pushes my arm aside and jumps at her. She grabs a handful of Cora’s bleach-blonde hair and yanks down, forcing the woman to bend over or have her hair yanked out. She screeches and starts prying at Ella’s fist.
“You bitch!” she yells. “Let me go!”
“I’ll let go when you’re out the fucking door,” Ella spews, bending and getting in Cora’s face. “Luca said leave. Are you hard of fucking hearing or are you just so damn desperate you refuse to listen?”
“Fuck you, cunt!”
“Not even in your dreams, hussy.”
I give Ella her moment of fun, but then sensing the mounting rage in her form, I stalk over to the women before it goes too far. I’m not the only one in my family who took classes at Abe’s.
“Let her go, Ella,” I demand.
“No,” she snarls without looking my way.
Like me and Theo, Ella is protective of her family, even when it’s not needed.
“Ella,” I warn and grab her hand. She finally lifts her head and looks at me, showing the ire in her eyes. “Let her go. She’s leaving.”
She bares her teeth, but eventually unwraps her fingers from Cora’s hair, then shoves her head away from her. Cora stumbles back a step and straightens. She looks like she’s ready to go after Ella, so I step between them. This shit ends now.
I point a finger at Cora. “I’ve told you a dozen times, we’re through. I see you in here again, Cora, and it won’t end pretty for you. Now leave. Or I’ll throw you out.”
She tosses her now ratty hair over her shoulder and curls up her red painted lips. “You’ll regret this, Luca.”
“I doubt that,” I deadpan.
Ella snorts out a laugh and Cora’s eyes flick to her. “Watch your back, bitch.”