I’ll Burn Anyone (The Challenge Night Series Book 2)

by K. L Mann

“Fair enough.”

  We don’t do I’m sorrys, we punch each other. We don’t hug and talk things out. We make each other bleed and we fucking get over it, that’s never going to change.

  I grab my results and take the elevator to Katherine’s room and slip my results under her door where Arianna should still be sleeping. At the top of the paper in bold marker I wrote “I didn’t fuck her, here’s the proof you asked for.” It might come off a little harsh, but I’m not all sunshine and rainbows; she knows that.

  Vito is in the foyer when I come down the stairs.

  “I’m going to the training center for a while. Keep an eye on her.” He nods as I walk past him.

  Caterina waves at me through the hallway and I nod to her. I’m not much for pleasantries but they’re used to it at this point. I slip into the garage side entrance and jump into my black Lamborghini Aventador. It’s fast and I need to go fucking fast to blow off steam before I get there. I can’t fight emotionally and I certainly can’t be weak in front of the recruits. Luca and I will put on a show of strength, getting our frustrations out at the same time. We’ve done it before, but I haven’t been this mad at him or Lorenzo in years.

  Maria, one of the new assistants, opens the door for me when I arrive. She cleans and stitches any small cuts, she’s helpful but I really don’t talk to her.

  Luca is talking with Dex, one of our head instructors when I walk in. All eyes always flick to me when I step in this building, and today is no different. Dex nods to Luca and walks away, he’s going to clear a ring.

  “You ready?” Is the only greeting Luca gives me.

  “I’m gonna change real quick. What kind of show do you want to put on?”

  “Standard hand–to–hand, wraps, no gloves. Alright with you?”

  I nod, and run up to my office. Luca is already ready, wearing shorts and sneakers. I change into the same thing and grab some black tape for my fists, wrapping them lazily. Luca can fight, especially when he’s mad, but we both know who has the advantage. We both know we’re going to bruise each other up, maybe bleed and then we’ll talk.

  “Alright, everybody take fifteen. Caruso and Colombo are going to fight. I suggest you watch and watch carefully!” Dex announces as I approach the ring. The room falls quiet and men start to surround the ring that Luca is standing in.

  He looks pisssed when I climb in and stand at my side of the ring. I should be the one who’s pissed. He knew Arianna wasn’t for him. She wasn’t for either of us, but now we’re here and we have to get over it.

  “Ready?” I ask, cracking my neck and closing the gap between us.

  Luca nods to me.

  “Fight.” Dex calls out from the center of the ring before jumping out.

  I stand completely still, waiting for him to take the first swing like he requested. I can hear him inhale and then see him throw a heavy hit at my stomach. I flex against it, taking most of the blow easily. It stings like a bitch, but I don’t lose my breath. Luca steps back and prepares for the actual fighting bit.

  We go three rounds, both landing heavy, hard hits. Luca’s lip is bleeding and so is my left hand. I’m sweating and so is he. Neither of us try to knock one another out, that’s not what this is about.

  “Colombo, technical win,” Dex calls it. “Now get back to work!”

  “Can we talk now?” I ask, pulling off my hands bloody wrap.

  Luca swipes some blood from his mouth and nods, stepping out of the ring and heading upstairs to his office. I follow behind him, throwing my wraps away in the trash as I pass it. Like clockwork, the tension and anger between us has dissolved itself with violence.

  “Your left hook is a heavy hitter these days, huh?” Luca grins, sitting down at his desk pointing at my bloody fist.

  “Apparently,” I grumble, grabbing a towel from the closet, then sitting across from him.

  Neither of us speaks for a minute.

  There isn’t a good way to talk about any of this.

  “Look, I don’t know what to say man.” Luca sighs. “It just happened and I won’t lie, it kept happening. It’s fucking addicting being with her, I can’t even describe it. But she’s hung up on you, so I told her the other night if she wanted you, I’d help her get you.”

  What?

  “Why the hell would you do that? You don’t want her?” I ask, dumbfounded.

  “I didn’t say that. If anything, I’ve never wanted her more. She’s fucking perfect, Gio. She’s hilarious, caring, sometimes crazy and obviously gorgeous. But she’s been pinning after you since she was a kid. She says things that make me think she might want me sometimes, but she’s always thinking about you. We have this connection that I can’t explain and she tells me these stories about how she’s thought about me and even about you too. It’s unreal, I don’t know how to explain myself but if you want her, you’re going to have to show her that. She can’t handle rejection anymore, man.”

  “How many times have you guys–”

  “More than you want to know about, but it only started Saturday,” he admits.

  “Do you love her?”

  He sighs.

  “Do you?”

  Neither of us answer.

  “So where does that put us?” I dare ask.

  “I guess that’s up to her, isn’t it?” He frowns. He seems to think he’s already lost.

  “What if she doesn’t want to pick?”

  “I’m not making her make any decision.”

  “You think we could handle that? Sharing her forever?” I raise a brow at him. “Sharing a wife is a lot different than sharing in bed.”

  “Man, if you would have asked me the same question last week, I would have said fuck no. Now, I’m not so sure.”

  “Lorenzo is going to kill us.” I groan, checking the bleeding of my hand.

  “Arianna said she would ask her dad for permission if it came down to it…”

  “Holy shit.” I shake my head, ,y mouth parting in shock. She doesn’t even understand what she’d be asking for. That’s like a fucking marriage proposal in our world. “So, you’re not going to stop me from trying to be with her?”

  “If you’re not trying to stop me, I’m not trying to stop you. I promised I’d help her get you, if that’s what she wanted. I intend on keeping that vow.”

  “Alright, I can work with that.”

  I think?

  “Word of advice…” Luca cautions. “Give her back her favor. Don’t go into this with her owing you something, it’ll just make it seem ungenuine. Or like, use it to make her go out on a date with you. Don’t be Cel, be Gio.”

  “You’re too good to me.” I sigh, agreeing with every word he just said.

  “I know.” He rolls his eyes. “See you back at the house at 6pm. It’s a short day today.”

  I nod, leaving his office to return to mine. I change back quickly, wrapping my hand in fresh gauze before leaving. Instinctively, I already feel better where Luca is concerned. It’s how we do things and he doesn’t deserve my anger. He just did what I’ve wanted to do, what I’ve been too stubborn to do.

  It’s 8am when I pull into the house, I don’t know whether Arianna will be awake or not. I also don’t know if she’ll even want to talk to me. I wouldn’t want to talk to me.

  Caterina is cooking breakfast and Vito is sitting at the counter talking with her. She’s smiling really big at him… huh.

  “Good to see you again, Caterina.” I nod, going to the fridge for water.

  “Good to see you too, sit and eat.” She smiles and points to a chair at the counter. She definitely has this whole mom thing going on, despite being younger than me. She gasps, seeing my red stained bandage. “What did you do to your hand?”

  “Luca’s face fell into it,” I joke, but her face looks worried as I do. She cares too much about us. “Don’t worry, I didn’t jump him. We had a match today, he hit me just as many times. Well, I won, but you get the picture.”

  She shakes her head and tries to smile
. “You boys are so violent sometimes. You eat, and tell me about how you’re going to apologize to Miss Arianna. She’s missed you like crazy, mister.”

  “You’re all caught up then?” I huff, sitting a chair away from Vito and accepting a plate of food from her.

  “Arianna doesn’t have Katherine here to talk, and Marco just laughs at her, bad manners that boy. She needed to tell someone.” Caterina defends her knowledge with a wary expression on her face.

  “It’s okay, you’re not in trouble for knowing.” I drink down half of my water and think about what I should say. “I have no idea what I’m going to say to her, any advice?”

  Caterina’s eyes widen, I don’t often ask for input. “Yes. You tell her you’re sorry, and you mean it. And don’t give that poor girl grief about Luca. He’s been good to her and you haven’t been here. I’m sure she feels a million emotions, guilt included.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Ask her to tell you how she feels,” Vito chimes in. “Women like when you listen, give her the answers you can, it’ll help justify the ones you can’t.” He shrugs, standing up having finished his food.

  I nod, understanding his input comes from experience. Vito was married once, he’s not anymore obviously. His past is as twisted as any of ours, that’s why he fits in so well, that’s why he’s earned his place under Luca. Vito leaves the kitchen and heads back into the foyer.

  “Good morning Vito.” I hear her distant voice approaching.

  Caterina’s eyes widen at me and I take a deep breath.

  I don’t know how to do this shit. I don’t like admitting I was wrong, part of me feels completely justified in my anger. She fucked Luca, and she continued to after I left...

  Arianna smiles, sitting down where Vito was just sitting. “Good morning, Caterina.”

  She doesn’t look at me, but I look at her, taking her all in. She’s wearing a little pink dress with long sleeves and sparkly sandals. Her hair is straight and she’s already put makeup on for the day. Pink lip gloss and wispy lashes that make her natural beauty beam. She’s always been unbearably girly and too sweet; too nice for men like us.

  “Good morning, Arianna.” Caterina smiles back. “How did you sleep?”

  “Not bad,” she shrugs but her cheeks give her away. They are flushed, which means she slept better than good. She slept with him just last night, I know it. Her eyes finally flicker to mine, but she doesn’t speak.

  “Can we talk? Whenever you’re ready,” I ask, unable to take my eyes off of her.

  “I was ready three days ago,” she tries to turn her chin up, until she sees my hand. She grabs it quickly, and pulls it into her to inspect it. “Jesus, what did you do to your hand?”

  “Luca and I worked out our differences this morning. No, I didn’t kill him or anything, we just spared. Yes, he’s fine.” I cover my bases with my answer.

  “Does it hurt?” She asks, swiping her fingers over my bandage softly.

  “A bit.”

  “Good.” She declares, letting go of my hand. “Oh, and congratulations on your test results.” She glares at me, as if I should be ashamed.

  She asked for them. What the hell does she have to be snippy about?

  Caterina slips out of the kitchen quietly, presumably to give us some privacy. She’s good about knowing when to make herself scarce.

  “I wasn’t worried, you were,” I shrug.

  “Yeah! I was!” She yells, standing up from her chair in a huff. “I thought that you were hurt, or drinking yourself to death or maybe you got hit by a car or something! Don’t ignore my texts, I don’t care how pissed off you are, you asshole!”

  “I’m sorry.” Fuck, those words taste disgusting. “I shouldn’t have left, and I shouldn’t have ignored you. I was pissed off and I couldn’t handle looking at you, not after Luca said it was him. You don’t understand how bad that stung, Arianna.”

  “I don’t understand how bad that hurts? I’ve watched you kiss and grope a million different girls before! You make everything so fucking complicated!” She huffs, throwing her hands in the air. “If you would have given in, we would be together. I wouldn’t have even thought twice about my fantasies about Luca. I would be yours and you would be mine. But now, I’m so mad at you that I could scream. Now, all I can think about is how fucked up it is that I even still want you. Now, Luca, who’s been so good to me, he has to watch me fall for you all over again. Because I’m going to, you know it and I know it.” Her face is turning redder, with anger rather than embarrassment this time.

  “Arianna,” I sigh. “I know what you’re saying, but you only understand half of the story. Look, don’t worry about any of that, okay? Luca and I talked; you don’t have to pick right now. We know we’ve both done things we can’t take back. This whole situation isn’t fair to you, but I’m trying here. I’m trying to finally let you in, because now I have no other choice. Seeing the possibility of you being with someone else literally sent me into a spiral, Arianna. I can’t just let you go. I should have done a million things differently, but I didn’t. Will you let me make it up to you?”

  Arianna doesn’t speak, she just nods. She nods yes and little tears stream down her cheeks.

  Fuck, I have to comfort her.

  I get up and wrap her in my embrace. Her breath shakes as we hug, but hell if it isn’t the best fucking hug I’ve ever had.

  “If you ever do that to me again, I’ll shoot you instead, you bastard.” Arianna cries, wrapping her arms around my waste, pulling in tighter.

  “I’ll give you the gun,” I whisper.

  Her body jumps as she giggles at my comment.

  “Don’t make me laugh, I’m trying to be angry.”

  “I’m going to have to stop this hug before I can’t make myself let go of you. Okay?”

  Arianna’s arms loosen and she lets me go. “I want to kiss you, so badly. But I swear to God, if you pull away from me one more goddamn–”

  I cut her off, leaning down and planting my lips on hers. My hands wrap around her face and fuck does it feel good. She tastes like mint but her lip gloss tastes like strawberry. Her mouth parts for me and she whimpers as my tongue slides across hers. She makes this impossibly sexy pout noise and pushes her face closer into mine. My cock jumps in my pants, aching for her to finally have it. Her hands slip around my waist and then slide down my thighs.

  Fuck, I have to stop her.

  I pull my lips only inches from hers. “I’m not rejecting you, I swear. But maybe you should think about this first. I don’t want you to rush because you think I need this. And, I need to give you something before we go any further.”

  Arianna looks surprised, but thank fuck she doesn’t look upset. “Give me something?”

  “Your favor,” I blurt. “I don’t need or want it. I don’t want to hold it over your head, and I shouldn’t have made you think I was going to do something crazy with it.”

  “Were you?” She asks, batting her lashes innocently. Fucking hell.

  “I thought about a million things that I wanted to use it for. But, no, I wasn’t going to cash it in. I couldn’t, you’d never look at me the same way. We’ve waited so long to touch each other, maybe it shouldn’t be now when you’ve just decided to forgive me. Right?” I hate that I ask.

  Fuck, I want to throw her over this counter right now. I’ve never wanted to angry fuck anyone so badly. I want to rip the little dress to fucking shreds and cut her panties off with my stiletto. I need to fucking taste her too, every goddamn inch of her. I bet she likes it deep and tortuous. I bet she begs just like Luca likes; pleads to come… Shit. I can’t, I don’t want her to think that’s all I want. I want her, the whole fucking package.

  Arianna grins.

  “I want to play a game.”

  Chapter 12: At Long Last

  “The world is little, people are little, human life is little.

  There is only one big thing — desire.”

  –Willa Cather<
br />
  Arianna

  “A game?” Gio asks with wide eyes. “What kind of game?”

  “We each tell each other about a time we’ve imagined being with one another. It’s sort of exhilarating, finally hearing the truth.” I grin wide, taking his hand into mine. His skin is rougher than Lucas, but it still feels so nice to touch him.

  I shouldn’t be so easily forgiving, and yet I can’t help it. He talked to me. He actually opened his mouth and admitted that he felt this too. He felt us.

  Gio grins back. “Luca mentioned you told him stuff like this… But, I don’t know how to play. Maybe you should go first.”

  “Come on, let’s go to the TV room. These chairs are uncomfortable and I don’t want to stand anymore.” I skip off, dragging him along with me.

  We both sit on the couch, but I’m much more visibly excited than he is. I sit crisscrossed, facing him, putting my hands in my lap. He sits with one leg on the ground and the other on the couch, facing me as well. I just sort of stare at him for a minute, trying to adjust to having him look at me for this long. He always used to turn away after a while, like he had to stop for some reason.

  “After Katherine’s bachelorette party… when I kissed you.” I start, feeling embarrassed already. Luca already knows about my imagination, Gio doesn’t. Here goes nothing. “Which, by the way, you owe me another apology for.” I glare at him playfully, still angry that he told Lorenzo after.

  He frowns. “For pulling away?”

  “No for telling my brother, you asshole. I was already embarrassed enough, then I had to deal with his judgement too. It was awful.” I shiver, remembering how loud Lorenzo yelled at me the next morning.

  “Arianna,” Gio sighs.

  “I get it, he’s your best friend or whatever, but it really hurt that–”

  “I didn’t tell Lorenzo,” he interrupts, ending my rant.

  “But–”

  “You kissed me in the hallway by your room when I was trying to get you to bed. He saw it on the security camera.”

  Fuck, why didn’t I think of that? I just assumed Gio told him, I'm such an idiot.

  “Oh,” I grimace. “I’m sorry, I should have asked instead of accusing.”