Franco chuckled, lifting his head to look down at her. "Why is that?"
"I'm his," she announced. Callista had prided herself for her independence and she always would. She never thought that belonging to someone would be just as freeing. Or maybe, it felt good because it was her best friend she wanted to give her heart to. She was certain that she'd never love anyone after him. "Look, there are fickle bonds and bonds that last a lifetime. And those lifetime bonds aren't created without respect, understanding, and care."
Franco released a deep sigh, eyes scrunching with the harsh light. "You just broke and fixed my heart in less than a second."
Caly gaped at him. "You actually like me?"
A soft chuckle emitted from his lips. "I have a crush on you since we were in high school. But Castor was all over you," he stated. "And admit it or not, but the two of you always act like you have your own world. I knew I would never have a chance.”
She cleared her throat. "Yeah, well..."
"It's okay, Caly. I never even thought I could talk to you let alone become friends with you." Franco put the necklace in his pocket before he seized her hand. "Our father had that ridiculous marriage idea but I'm glad it happened. If not for that, I would never consider wanting to have a family. Thank you."
Caly smiled at his words. "I'm glad it happened too."
"So..." Franco locked his eyes on her, squeezing her hands tighter. "Can I stay at your house for a while?"
"What!" she blurted.
"I don't want to see my parents for a while and I can...well, know Castor better." Franco stood straight, expelling a long breath. "Right?"
Caly chuckled but their situation demanded desperate measures. She had planned to travel and forget about this fiasco but Franco's words gave her another harsh reminder. That Francisco Castellano wasn't a good man and he didn't deserve all the power he had. She thought she'd be fine in playing defense but she needed to rethink her strategy. "Alright. I think that's better."
"Why did Castor stay here anyway?"
"He didn't want to face his family." Caly stomped closer and tapped his shoulder. "Look at that. You have something in common already!”
Franco shared in her laugh before Callista went inside the house again. She looked for Castor and found him in her walk-in closet. She resisted the urge to screech as he sat on her vanity table and smelled her perfumes.
"Cas!" She trudged to him and seized the bottle of perfume off his hand. She dragged him to the pink loveseat in her room. "Seriously? Why are you here?"
"I saw you with him." Castor busied his fingers on one of her eyeliners. "I didn't know you were that close."
Caly tried to snatch it off him but his damn reflexes got the better of her. She groaned in protest when she fell on him. Castor circled his arm on her shoulder that she was forced to answer just so she could ignored their proximity. "Franco's interesting. He's just a little awkward."
Castor scoffed. He turned to her and waved the eyeliner. "Let me use it on you.”
"Now, you're deflecting," she muttered but let him anyway. Her eyes narrowed at him as he drew on her cheek. "I swear if you're drawing a dick, I'll hit you.”
He grinned. "No. This is art."
Callista went to seize a mirror and returned next to him. She gasped at the worm-looking thing on her cheek. "What the fuck is this?"
"That's a caterpillar." He leaned away from her, a smirk plastered on his lips. "Just wait for a minute, it'll become a butterfly."
She hit him as their boisterous laugh saturated the room. Caly rubbed a hand over her face, flicking her tears away. "You're so corny."
Castor grabbed her make-up wipes and started cleaning her cheek. "What did he say?"
Callista saw the concern in his green eyes even as he tried to conceal it. She sighed and buttoned his shirt as they talked. "He's fine and he told me that you were right. That he wants what you have."
"Hmm." Cas wiped her cheek some more. He released a sigh and met her eyes. "Alright. Say it. I need to know what you think.
Callista licked her lips. She was amazed at how quick Castor was willing to listen. She settled her hand on his shoulders. "You told me once that you get angry for just a minute and you move on after that. You said that holding on to destructive feelings is not good for people."
"I said that?"
"Yes. And I didn't listen to you. I'm a brat that gets pissed off at petty things and holds grudges for a long time. That's what I did for years." She touched his cheek. "But now, I know that I don't need that. That the time I have needed to be spent with people I love instead of trivial things like anger and revenge and one-upping someone."
"So, you're saying that I should move on and be thankful that I have a brother?" he repeated with a wrinkled forehead.
"It depends on you. But acceptance for things you cannot change will make things easier.”
Castor clicked his tongue in irritation as his fingers played with the stray hair from her bun. "I already have a lot of brothers. I don't need another one."
"Maybe," she muttered. "But Franco doesn't have one."
***
CHAPTER 39
Castor Luciano ended up sitting and smoking at Callista's porch. The ashes fell on the marble floor as he leaned against a white ionic column. His thoughts jumped from his long-lost brother to family business stuff and Caly's skittish looks. He needed a damn break.
It was past noontime when Vincent's car pulled up on the driveway. He exited the car with a stupid smile on his face. "I knew it."
He rolled his eyes.
"You can't really help it." Vince threw a bag at him.
"Help what?" Castor ransacked the sports bag with his free hand to check on his clothes. He frowned at the missing items. "Where's my toothbrush?"
"Oh." Vincent blinked at him before he shrugged and sat in front of him. He leaned on the opposite pillar. "At least there's underwear. That's more important.”
"Ass." Castor groaned, pulling one knee up. "And I can't help what?"
"Coming back to her majesty?" Vince pushed out a stick from his pack and lit it up. "I thought you were done but now, you're living together?"
"It's not like that," he said, knuckles rubbing against his eyebrow. "She... dropped a bomb on me."
"About what?" Vince took out his phone as Castor's notification bell rang repeatedly. "I sent you Ethan's reports. Shit went down last night. Again."
"Franco Castellano is my brother," Castor mumbled as he fished out his phone and analyzed the images. "Damn, old man keeps pushing, huh?"
"What? How did that happen?"
"When there's demand, you can't really shut down—"
"No. I mean, you and blondie are brothers?" Vince exclaimed. He slapped his leg as he shook his head. "How did that happen?"
"What? You don't know how sex works?”
"No shit, Cas," Vince continued muttering things like 'hell' and 'seriously' ten more times while he smoked. "So, what are you going to do?"
Castor tilted his head back, his phone gripped tightly on his right fist. "That seems to be the question of the week." He took another quaff from the shorter stick on his left hand. "Caly said I should give him a chance.”
Vince chuckled. "I'm surprised you haven't yet."
Cas clicked his tongue. "And what do you mean by that?"
"Well, Dos is still alive and kicking and still plays those stupid racing games," Vince mumbled. "And he kidnapped her majesty and became a killer for Francisco Castellano. Normally, he'd be dead but right now but he isn't. And that's because he is...?" He purposely let the question hang, gesturing with his hands to let him fill in the blank.
"Young?"
"No. He's family!" Vincent yelled as he got his answer wrong. He scratched at his dark curls. "What makes Franco different?"
"He's..." Castor's fingers flicked the cigarette, letting the ashes fall again. He tried to find the right word to describe his feelings but came up with nothing. All he could think about was Franco
's reaction if he finds out the truth about his girlfriend's demise. "He's cold."
Vincent snorted. "Oh, is that all?"
"I don't like him. It's complicated."
"Well, some family you choose, some you don't." Vince raised an eyebrow. "If that isn't enough to motivate you, he's gonna own Castellano's assets someday. That means we don't have to do things like drug raids just because you promised NY gangs that you'll drive Castellano out of their turf to keep them off her majesty's back.”
Cas narrowed his eyes at him. "Are you high?"
"No!" He denied with a vehemence that made Castor chuckle. "Boss, you never even wanted this job but look at you now. If you don't interfere, Franco might end up following his daddy's footsteps. We don't need that."
Castor Luciano discarded his cigarette as he crossed his legs. He didn't hate Franco. He hated Celeste Luciano. And he thought that if Franco and her mother never met, then he would have his revenge. But he was never one for holding grudges. That's Caly's hobby.
And like his best friend had said, his rage came in bursts and flashes. Thunder and lightning. Never like a shadow. "You're right. I should give him a chance."
"Woah, really? We don't have to fight for it?"
He kicked him. "Hey! You lied to me and its only because of my forgiving heart that you're still fucking breathing!"
Vince put his hands up, choking on his laugh. "Okay! Sorry!"
"Cas!"
Caly's voice called from inside the house that Castor and Vince shared a look before wiping the evidence of their smoking. They weren't very successful that Cas stood up and met his best friend halfway. "What?"
Callista frowned at the two men before her grey eyes settled on him. "Did you smoke?”
"No."
"He did," Vince declared, looking smug.
Castor growled in annoyance, pushing his hands on his jean's pocket deeper. "It won't happen again."
"Good boy." She reached up to pat his head before she crossed his arms. "Because my house, my rules. And so far, Franco hasn't broken anything while you left your clothes everywhere. Don't ever expect me to clean up after you."
"What?" Castor complained as blood rushed to his ears. "You're letting him stay here?”
"That's all you heard? And yes. You're in the same situation, remember?" Caly shot back as her eyebrow arch in challenge.
Castor's irritation spiked up again. After what transpired between them in the last 24 hours, he thought that they somehow returned to a semblance of normal. Or as normal as their relationship could be.
But Callista changed. And he understood that could happen with all the shit they went through. Hell, he was even prepared for it. What he didn't expect was liking the way she changed. She smiled more. She talked more. And she listened more.
Castor never thought he would like her even more.
"Yeah." Castor walked past her. "So, the pizza is here?"
He trudged to the kitchen and soured at the face of his pretty brother. He went straight to the kitchen counter, seeing two boxes of pizza. Castor peeked at the Hawaiian pizza and scrunched his nose. "Where's the real pizza?"
Callista sat beside him and opened the other box. "Here it is, person who can't appreciate pineapple on pizza.”
He sat beside her and put two slices of cheese pizza. "I don't care what you say. I won't change my mind."
"Me too," Franco mumbled softly that earned him surprised looks from the people on the counter.
Vince cleared his throat and yanked the box towards him and Caly. "I guess this one's for her majesty and me."
"Yeah." Callista beamed at Castor. "You two enjoy your pizza."
~~~~
"Cas!" Callista tapped his arm, forcing him to look at her. "What is this?"
"Razor?" he answered and seized the product, throwing it back to their cart. He had dragged her shopping for his toothbrush problem and the fact that he was in the same space as Franco Castellano. Castor felt uncomfortable but he needed to step in the right direction. And soon. Before he lost his nerve and spout out biting words he wouldn't mean.
"You want to buy ten razors?" she questioned. "Are you going to live in my house that long?”
He wished.
"No. But better safe than sorry." Castor pushed their cart to the meat section. "Let's buy pork belly and have a barbecue later?"
"You want to have a barbecue?" Caly raised her astonished eyes to his. "Why?"
"I just want to." Castor rubbed at his nape. He licked his lips and forced the words out."Invite Franco..." He quickly amended. "...I mean if you want? Because you know it's your house and I'm only—"
"Stop talking." Callista circled her slender arms around his right arm. "I think the barbecue sounds great."
Castor's shoulders sagged with relief as they got the pork cuts. He was glad that Caly understood him without all the words tangling all over his tongue. He was about to say 'thanks' when Caly yanked him from section to section.
Cas suppressed his smile as she traced the woman's movement. Callista checked off their shopping lists while she muttered incomprehensible words under her breath. Castor had never seen her like this, doing domestic things. With him. First, cooking and now the grocery shopping. But he admitted that Callista looked at ease even with the smell of fish around them or even if her bun started to unravel that she kept flicking the strands off her face.
She was still beautiful. Not to mention that her tight shirt gave his eyes access to her delectable curves.
Cazzo! He could never really be just friends with her.
"Are you checking me out?" she mumbled without glancing at him.
Castor couldn't even deny so he laughed. "Let's set up a projector screen and watch a movie," he said as they went to the spices section.
"And watch 'Die Hard'?" Caly grabbed a bottle of pepper and barbecue sauce. "I watched that a thousand times."
"Franco probably hasn't."
"Ah, and you're not just coming up with things so you can watch it again?" Callista continued dumping spices on their cart.
"Why not? You love it."
"I only do it because you like it."
"Whatever." He shrugged and arranged the products on the cart. "We're gonna watch 'Die Hard'. That's a million times better than those Animal Planet cannibal documentaries you watch.”
Callista fake a gasp. Her red nails pressed against her lips. "What? But you were so focused."
"Focused? I was busy trying not to vomit." He chuckled as she pouted at his answer. Castor placed an arm around her shoulders, letting her snuggle closer to his chest. "But I'll go through it again if that really makes you happy.”
Once again, Castor was left dumbfounded as Caly turned away. She coughed twice and directed her attention to the shelves. "Shouldn't you let Franco choose?"
"Caly—"
"Hey. Is it you Castor?" A female voice inserted into their tiny circle. The woman pulled up her shades, revealing soft blue eyes. "Janice? Remember?"
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