She glanced at Carmela from the corner of her eye. “Someone threw a brick through the window in the front door, and—”
“I noticed. Why the hell didn’t you call me?” Itching with the need to touch her, my hand edged toward her then paused mid-reach. I didn’t know how to act with my sister’s gaze boring into me with the force of a high-powered microscope.
Evie leaned her hip against the doorframe. “I did. More than once, actually, and it went to voicemail every single time. Luckily, your sister was in the neighborhood.”
“What’s your problem, Gian?” Carmela asked, her finger pointed at the center of my chest. “There’s no need to be an asshole. Evie was scared, and I was in the neighborhood. I asked her to come stay with me because I didn’t want to leave her here alone, and I had no idea when you’d be home. Do you have a problem with that?”
I dragged the heel of my hand down the side of my face and blew out a weighted breath. This night kept getting worse and worse. “Evie, are you okay?” I asked, softening my tone. I wasn’t mad at Evie. Far from it. I was pissed at myself. I shouldn’t have left her alone, not after last night. I should have called Tony even though every day that passed my doubts of his trustworthiness multiplied.
“I think so.”
She didn’t sound okay. Her voice cracked on the last word, and my heart screamed with some unfamiliar emotion. An animalistic possessiveness surged through me at the thought of anyone having the nerve to hurt her, and all reasonable thoughts fled.
Without question, I had managed to turn Evie’s life upside down in a matter of weeks. While I knew that made me a worthless bastard in most people’s book, I couldn’t let her go.
Two steps and I had her cradled in my arms. I buried my head in her hair, inhaling the faint scent of jasmine. I didn’t have the luxury of feeling this way about anyone, especially Evie, but damn if I didn’t give two fucks anymore.
I’d been caught up in her from the first second I saw her, and that hadn’t changed. I had protected her when it went against every oath I made to the family, and I wouldn’t stop now. Her soulful coffee-colored eyes made me believe she got me in a way no one else ever had, except maybe my twin. That was different though. And truthfully, Carmela and I had grown apart since Rocco died. She clammed up emotionally, and I couldn’t reach her anymore. It was like a part of her died along with Rocco.
I smoothed my hand up and down Evie’s back, and she sighed. “Did you see anything?”
“No.” Her eyes slipped closed as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I think they might’ve wrote something on the brick. I didn’t want to touch it.”
My muscles pulled tight like a rubber band ready to snap. “Good. You don’t need to worry about this. I’m on top of it.”
I would be, because I was nowhere near as calm as I pretended to be on the surface.
“I’m fine.” She pulled away from me, and my arms hung awkwardly next to my sides. “I’m not hurt. Just a little on edge. I’m sure it was nothing.”
“You’re probably right,” I agreed, not believing a single word out of my mouth. I glanced at Carmela. “Thanks for coming, sis.”
“Not a problem. I was having dinner a couple of blocks from here.”
“With who?”
“Ava.”
My eyebrows lifted. “As in our cousin, Ava? I thought you couldn’t stand her?”
Ava spent most of her days whining about everything in her life from her hair to her clothes to a chipped nail. Even when she wasn’t whining, she annoyed the fuck out of me. Everything she said came out in this nasally voice that made me want to stick a knife in her eye.
“If you haven’t noticed, you have successfully monopolized my best friend, so unless I want to sit around eating ice cream, I have to compromise.”
“It sounds like torture to me, but it’s your life.”
She playfully slapped me on the side of my head. “Don’t be a jerk. Ava is charming in her own way.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“Ugh.” Carmela flipped her long, dark hair over her shoulder. “Well, now that you’re home, I going to take off. I have to be up early tomorrow.”
Evie pulled my sister into a one armed hug. “Thanks, Carmela. I owe you.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She toyed with the button of her jacket. “This is what friends are for. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Thanks.”
Evie and I followed my sister down the stairs.
“I’ll hammer a piece of plywood to the door and have someone fix it in the morning,” I said.