Ori, her breath caught in her chest, stared at him.What the hell?Was he serious? However angry she felt was belied by the fact she could feel herself getting wet as he spoke, wanting him to take her there, who cared who saw,just fuck me, please …
Instead, she pulled herself together. “I imagine that there are some women upon whom that honesty would work,’ she said rather primly, gathering her bag and scrabbling around for some cash to pay for her lunch. “I, however, am not one of them. Goodbye, Mr. Bartoli”
Leaving him grinning after her, she stalked off and caught a water taxi back to Lucia’s house.Of all the insufferable, egotistical assholes …She stomped into her room and flung her bag against the wall.
Yeah, but you can’t help thinking about him, can you?
“Shut up,” she told herself. God, she needed a distraction. She grabbed her phone and went to sit on the little balcony. She found the number of AJ’s facility and waited. After a moment, the receptionist answered, and soon AJ was saying hello. His voice sounded dull.
“Hey, Boo,” Ori said gently, knowing her brother’s moods were erratic.
“Hey, funny face,” he said and sighed. “It’s good to hear from you. When are you coming back?”
Ori’s heart twisted. “Sweetie, I—”
“No, sorry, don’t answer that. I don’t want you to come back yet, I’m sorry. I’m just a little down today”
“Have you been taking your meds?”
“Like I promised, sis. You heard from Dad?”
Ori grimaced. “No. Not a word”
“Have you seen the latest then? On the news? Some more women are coming forward. Seems Papa really can’t keep it in his pants”
AJ’s voice was so dead, flat, and lifeless Ori could have cried. That his father didn’t give a crap about Ori was one thing—that he ignored his only child was unforgivable. ’Look, Boo, I can come back whenever and bust you out of there” She tried to make a joke out of it, and she heard AJ give a soft chuckle.
“You know, sis? Here was a good idea. This place, I mean. It is helping, obviously, some days more than others—but I do feel at last like I’m getting my head clear”
Ori gave a sigh of relief. “That is good news. Look, when I come back, we’re going to go someplace where he can’t touch us. I promise”
“That sounds like a plan”
When she ended the call, she felt calmer. AJ was making progress, and that was all that mattered now. Her younger half-brother was the love of her life, and she knew she would do anything to protect him. When he’d been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder at fourteen, Ori had been beside herself, terrified that he would kill himself with drugs or alcohol. Pinegap Rehabilitation Center was only the latest in a long chain of rehab places, but he seemed to be thriving there—most days. She hoped Tyson would stay away.
Just keep paying the bills and leave him alone,she thought to herself now. She considered, and then burrowed in her bag for her other phone, the one whose number Tyson would call her on. She kept it mostly off, unless AJ was unreachable. Then she turned it on in case of emergency.
Out of sheer masochism, she turned it on now. Her voicemail was full. Cursing herself, she listening to a few of the messages, all from Tyson. Some of them were rants about her disloyalty; others were disgustingly lewd. The latest were short and sweet. “Where thefuckare you, Orianthi? Do you think you can hide from me?”
She deleted every last one of them and then cursed. Why did she do that? It was evidence. “Dumb, stupid girl,” she snarled at herself, then stopped.Evidence.Was she that convinced that one day she wouldneedevidence against him? Fuck, she was messed up.
She pushed the thought away and went to make some dinner for Lucia. She had bought fresh ingredients for seafood linguine, and as she cooked, she could feel all the tension leach out of her. She chopped, diced, and steamed, and by the time Lucia got home from work, there were two plates piled high with pasta. Lucia swooned over the hot, buttery food, garlicky ciabatta on the side to soak up the creamy sauce.
“You are wasted as an art curator,” Lucia told Ori afterward when they sat outside on the balcony with a half-empty bottle of wine between them. “You should retrain as a chef”
“Ha.” Ori smiled, “One good dish doesn’t make a chef”
They chatted easily and then Ori, not being able to help herself from talking about him, mentioned she had seen Maceo out on one of the islands. Lucia rolled her eyes.
“I wondered where he’d gotten to. I had buyers waiting. He seemed very pleased with himself when he got back. I hope it wasn’t awkward”
“Not at all. You’re right, though. He’s trouble with a capital ‘T’”
“Big, big trouble,” Lucia agreed, then stared at her. “Oh god, you haven’t got a crush, have you? Because he’ll trample all over your heart if you let him”
“Don’t be ridiculous, I don’t know the man”
“Who needs to know a man when he looks like Maceo?”
