“What’s wrong, Cara?” Massimo murmured in question as he came to a stop next to me. “You look a little green in the face.”
“I’m not sick,” I denied, pausing to take another sip of water. “I just needed some fresh air.”
Despite my best attempt of sweeping it under the rug, Massimo didn’t look convinced. His mouth was pinched at the corners and his eyes bored into the side of my face, watching me intently, but I refused to meet his eyes. When his hand suddenly landed on my back, gently rubbing up and down, my eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“What are you doing?” I turned my head to ask him, my lips parted in surprise.
“I don’t care what you say, Cara, but you look sick,” Massimo frowned. “I’m just trying to make you feel better.”
If it was anyone else, I would have been annoyed that they didn’t believe me but coming from Massimo, it felt oddly nice. Calming. And I couldn’t help but lean into him as he continued rubbing my back to soothe me and my upset stomach.
“You might want to just throw up, Cara,” he told me. “You’ll feel better once you get it out of your system.”
I was quick to shake my head. The last thing I wanted was to throw up in front of Massimo. I would surely die of embarrassment then.
“I came out when you texted me, and I saw her on the side of the street. It looked like she was being sick, so I got her some water,” Dino said,
And that’s when it clicked. No wonder this guy looked familiar! He was Massimo’s brother! And if it wasn’t for the lighter hair and the few extra inches of height that Massimo had over him, it would be very easy to mistake them for the same person.
“I feel completely fine now,” I tried to assure them both, but neither of them looked convinced.
“You can keep lying all you want, Cara, but I can still see a hue of green about you,” Massimo chuckled and dropped his hand from my back. In my sick, slightly delirious self, I frowned deeply and turned my head to complain, but he beat me to it.
Before I could get the words out, he wound both arms around my back and pulled me into him, pressing my chest flush against his. My eyes widened in shock at first, but then his arms tightened around me and I could do nothing but melt into him.
“I’ve missed you, Cara,” Massimo dipped his head to whisper the words into my hair. “I’m sorry I haven’t dropped by Starbucks like I said I would. I’ve been meaning to every night, but something always comes up.”
“I’ve heard that one before,” I snorted into his chest, but that didn’t stop my eyes from fluttering close as I enjoyed the warmth that his presence provided.
“I really am sorry, Cara,” he chuckled. “I promise that I’ll make it up to you later but right now, we need to work on making you feel better.”
“I feel much better,” I tried to assure him. “I don’t feel sick anymore.”
“Did you not eat before you started drinking?”
“I did,” I nodded into his chest. “I had dinner before I came here and started drinking. I honestly don’t know what happened in there. Maybe I’m just tired or something.”
“Do you want me to take you home?” he asked in a small voice, pressing a hand into the small of my back.
I gnawed on my bottom lip as I mulled over his offer. While I didn’t feel like I was going to throw up anymore, my stomach still felt a little queasy. Why? I had absolutely no idea. Compared to other nights, I hadn’t drunk much at all tonight. I had even eaten before I came, and then snacked on some finger food throughout the night, so there was no plausible reason for me to feel this way. But I did and I just knew that if I drank anything else, I would barf all over the place.
“I can get the subway,” I offered.
“Nonsense,” Massimo was quick to dismiss as he untangled his arms from around me but made a point of keeping a hand on my hip, keeping me close to him.
“So, this is why you’ve been acting strange lately,” Dino hummed as he stared at us, his eyes wide and a thoughtful look about him. “I guess it’s probably best if you find out now rather than later.”
“Find out what?” I asked but the moment I did, my eyes widened. I opened my mouth to stop him, but Dino was too quick.
“Yasemin and I kissed tonight,” Dino shrugged, as if it wasn’t a big deal. And while it wasn’t, especially since I was single – and hoped that Dino was single too as otherwise, that would mean that he was cheating on his partner – I just knew that Massimo wasn’t going to take it well.
“What did you just say?” Massimo asked in a quiet voice, his words slow, dark, and deliberate. It sent a shiver down my spine, and it wasn’t entirely out of fear.
“I knew you were going to be angry,” Dino groaned, before he glanced at me. “Sorry, Yasemin but I would much rather Massi find out now than a couple months down the line when you both are more serious. I would get a proper ass whooping then.”
“I’m about to give you an ass whooping now,” Massimo growled and took a menacing step toward his brother, but I was quick to reach out and place my hand on his arm, trying to hold him back.
“Leave him alone, Massimo,” I groaned. “We kissed during a childish game of spin the bottle. It didn’t mean anything.”
“I would be hurt if I didn’t feel the same way,” Dino laughed, a humoured look about him as he stared between me and his brother.
“Cara,” Massimo groaned as he glanced at me. “Why did you have to kiss my brother?”
“I didn’t know he was your brother!”
“You must be really drunk if you don’t see the resemblance,” Dino snorted, and I tore my eyes away from Massimo to glare at him. When he held his hands up in mock surrender, I returned my attention to the mafia boss.
“You guys can argue about this later, but I’m going to get going,” I said and moved to start walking toward the subway. I was already reaching for my phone to text my friends to explain to them that I wasn’t feeling well and heading home, but Massimo was quick to stop me by curling his arm around my waist again.
“I don’t think so, Cara,” he snorted. “I’m taking you home. And I think you should eat something to settle your stomach so after I drop Dino off, you can tell me what you want, and we’ll find a place still open that serves it.”
“Why can’t I come?” Dino groaned.
“Unless you want to be the third wheel, be my guest,” Massimo chuckled.
When Dino pulled a face, clearly displeased with that answer, I laughed, but the moment didn’t last long. Before Massimo could tell us where his car was parked, we were distracted by some commotion back at the house.
When someone ran out of the party, pushed past us only seconds before he threw up on the side of the street, my nose scrunched up in disgust at the rancid stench.
And that’s when it came to me.
The drink that Riccardo had gotten me…I thought it had tasted strange at the time, but I hadn’t wanted to voice my dislike aloud as I could tell that me liking it meant something to him. But now, the longer I thought about it, the more convinced I was that Riccardo must have slipped something into my drink. That’s why it had tasted strange and why he had acted strange when I tried reaching for the other one.
It all made sense now. Riccardo had used the date rape drug on me…was that why he made a show of storming away from the game? He knew that the drug would kick in soon and he wanted to get me alone.
Suddenly, I felt sick again. My stomach was churning, my throat felt like it was burning, and my head was feeling heavier than I had ever felt it before.
“Cara?” Massimo called out to me in a quiet voice. “You’re starting to look a little green again.”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I blurted out, moving away from him in fear that I would throw up all over them both. I would die from embarrassment if that were to happen.
The thought of being slipped the date rape drug made me physically sick, and I quickly found myself kneeling on the side of the street once again. This time, there was a hand on my back, his touch gentle as he rubbed up and down.
“I’m not going to be sick,” I gasped, quickly shaking my head. “Just give me my water.”
“Let me get you a new cup,” I heard Dino murmur before some shuffling sounded out from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to find him rushing back into the house and my abandoned cup laying on the ground, its entire content spilt on the pavement.
My stomach churned as I pushed Massimo’s hands away and rose to my feet.
“I usually drink more on nights out and don’t feel sick like this, but I also don’t accept drinks from people that I don’t know…” I blurted out before I could stop myself. “I should have stopped drinking once I realised that it tasted strange.”
Massimo was deathly quiet as he watched me, a grave expression on his face. The longer he stared, the harder his face grew and the more certain I was that he knew what I was talking about. What I suspected happened to me.
“Who did you accept a drink from?” Massimo asked, his voice low and threatening, but I knew it wasn’t directed at me. “Cara,” he called out to me again and this time, he reached for my hand, tugging me closer. “Tell me who you accepted a drink from and then I’ll take you home, okay? We’ll grab some food on the way and then you can eat before you go to bed. How does that sound?”
“It sounds good,” I murmured.
“All you need to do is tell me who gave you the drink.”
“What are you going to do to him?”
“Make him wish he had never been born.”
“You can’t do that, Massimo. You’ll regret it.”
“The only thing I’ll regret is if I don’t get my hands on that bastard!” Massimo spat, looking far angrier than I could ever imagine him being. In the little time that I had spent with Massimo, he had always been rather serious. Impatient, sure, perhaps more impatient than me, but he didn’t look like the type to lose his anger so quickly. But it appeared that I was wrong. The evidence was right in front of me.
Massimo looked so angry that he could kill someone right now.
“Which bastard are you talking about?” Dino asked as he returned with the water, holding it out for me.
“Thank you,” I whispered as I accepted the cup graciously and took a few tentative sips from it.
“The bastard that tried to date rape Cara!” Massimo spat, his fingers digging into my hip. I doubt he even realised what he was doing.
“Someone what?” Dino exclaimed, looking just as angry as his brother. “Tell us who it was, Yasemin. We’ll teach him a lesson for trying to take advantage of a woman like that.”
“Give me a moment to think,” I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper, as I took a few more sips of the water.
“Just tell me his name and I’ll take you right home, okay? We’ll get some food and more water in you to flush out the drug, and I’ll stay with you however long you want me to, okay? Just tell me his name, Cara,” Massimo urged me, and I could barely wrap my mind around the thought that I had the big bad mafia boss all but begging me for something right now.
I didn’t doubt for a moment that Massimo would do a whole more than just teach Riccardo a lesson. With Dino, I knew the two of them would inflict more pain and damage than he could possibly bare…but I refused to feel sorry for him. Not after he had slipped me the date rape drug. Not after I now knew what he planned for me later this night.
The thought made my stomach churn, and the wave of sickness overcame me once again.
“Yasemin! I’ve been looking all over the place for you! Where have you been hiding?” Riccardo chose that moment to arrive, and I chose then and there to happen naturally. If the two Mancinis wanted to beat the shit out of Riccardo for being a horrible, disgusting human being, then so be it. If I were feeling up for it, I would probably go in on a few hits and kicks myself.
“What are you doing here, Riccardo?” Massimo frowned, his eyes set on Riccardo who was no doubt stood behind me.
“I could ask you the same thing, Massimo,” Riccardo spat with so much hatred.
Turning around, I realised that I was stood in the middle of an isosceles triangle. Massimo and Dino were stood about a feet from each other, on the same level, and Riccardo was stood a little behind me.
If I wasn’t feeling so sick, I would have laughed how the three of them resembled that spiderman meme, all pointing at each other. The fact that Massimo, Dino, and Riccardo seemed to know each other just made it all so much funnier, but then I remembered that Riccardo planned to rape me tonight.
“What’s going on here, Yasemin?” Riccardo asked, paying no attention to either of the Mancini brothers.
“I know what you did to me,” I spat at him. “Or what you tried to do to me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You put something in my drink.”
“What are you talking about? Why would I do that?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know,” Massimo spat, and I could literally hear the heat rolling off him in waves behind me. “You slipped her the date rape drug in hopes of getting lucky tonight.”
“That’s disgusting,” Riccardo spat, having the nerve to look offended. “I would never do that to a woman. Besides, I wouldn’t need to use the date rape drug on Yasemin. Not when she was so willing to let me between her legs tonight, anyway. That’s why you kissed me.”
“Keep telling yourself that, Riccardo. You’re the one that kissed me, so don’t try to spin the story the other way around,” I spat, my head hurting too much to roll my eyes. “I wouldn’t let you touch me with a six-foot pole, even if I was drunk. But I’m not drunk, am I? You drugged me.”
“That’s a really bold accusation to make, Yasemin,” his voice dropped in warning. “I’d watched what I’d say if I were you.”
The back and forth between Massimo and Riccardo continued, the former making all sorts of threats, his brother occasionally joining in, and the latter claiming that he hadn’t done anything of the sort, but I couldn’t bring myself to pay attention.
Not when it felt like the whole around me was spinning.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed but when I heard my name being called out, I somehow managed to lift my heavy head to meet his eyes.
“Cara?” Massimo whispered to me, reaching a hand up to stroke my cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Can you hear me, Cara?”
I opened my mouth to reply positively. To tell him that I could hear him, but I didn’t feel well, but only the sound of retching came out as I opened my mouth and was sick all over his expensive shoes.
This would surely go down in my history book as the worst day of my life. I wanted nothing more than to find a hole, crawl into it and die.
-
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Layla Knight
29.01.2022
