The morning interrogation
577 Words
The sun streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse felt far too bright for the storm brewing at the breakfast table. Leo was already on his second cup of coffee, his iPad open to a spreadsheet, but his brow was furrowed in a way that signaled trouble.
I sat across from him, picking at a piece of dry toast, my neck still tingling from where Dante’s fingers had brushed it the night before.
"Theo called me this morning," Leo said, not looking up from his screen.
I froze. "He did?"
"Yeah. He seemed... unsettled," Leo finally looked up, his eyes sharp. "He said he ran into you and Dante at the library last night. He mentioned that Dante was being incredibly 'intense.' His words, not mine."
At that moment, the elevator dinged. Dante stepped out, looking immaculate in a charcoal suit, though the dark circles under his eyes told a different story. He stopped dead when he saw the look on Leo’s face.
"Speak of the devil," Leo muttered. "Dante, sit down. We were just talking about your little 'study session' last night."
Dante pulled out a chair, his movements slow and deliberate. He didn't look at me. "I was at the library with Sasha. It’s a public building, Leo."
"Theo said you followed them into the stacks," Leo leaned forward, his voice dropping to that protective brotherly tone. "He said you looked like you were ready to snap his neck. What's going on, man? First Marcus, now this kid? Since when did you become my sister's shadow?"
I held my breath. This was it. The moment the lie would break.
Dante let out a short, cold laugh. He reached for the coffee pot, his hand steady as a rock. "The kid is a pushover, Leo. I saw him hovering over her, and frankly, it was embarrassing. I didn't follow them; I was looking for a book and happened to see your sister looking like she was about to be bored to death by a lecture on cathedrals."
"And the 'intensity'?" Leo pressed.
Dante finally looked at me, his eyes like shards of glass. "I was telling her to stop wasting her time with losers who can't even stand up for themselves. If she's going to date, she should date someone with a backbone, not a boy who calls her brother the second things get a little uncomfortable."
He turned back to Leo, his mask perfectly in place. "I’m not her shadow, Leo. I'm just tired of seeing your family associated with weak men. It looks bad on you, and by extension, it looks bad on me. If you want her 'protected,' find her someone who doesn't cry to you when I give him a look."
Leo stayed silent for a long moment, searching Dante’s face. Finally, he leaned back and exhaled. "You're right about one thing—Theo did sound a bit like a coward. But back off a little, okay? She’s nineteen, not a business merger."
"Whatever you say," Dante said, standing up and grabbing his keys. "I have a meeting. Try not to let any more architects into the house while I'm gone."
He walked out without a backward glance. He had lied again, turning his obsession into a "business concern" for the Rossi family name. But as he passed me, I saw his jaw clench—the unyielding thickness of his secret was becoming a burden even he couldn't carry much longer.
- Writer
