ENTANGLED: A McCarthy Love Story

CHAPTER 019

Richard McCarthy was a man of his words and all of his children knew that, so after Nick left the manor and called the airport, he was half expecting to be told that his privileges had been cancelled. Same with when he got to Luxury Milan and every time he used his cards anywhere he wondered if this was it.
But that wasn't the case, Richard didn't go through with his threats. At least not yet but knowing his father, the man still might. So instead of letting himself worry about that, he decided not to think about anything and everything. So, for two months, he found himself hopping from city to city in Italy with only a single thought in his head.
Although he tried not to, Samantha was all he thought about. He thought about her crappy neighbourhood and her tiny apartment. He was there for only one night but every corner of the placed was crammed into his head.
He remembered her tiny bed and her cheap sheets, it was purple. He remembered because the purple was the only bright colour in that apartment. So, every time he saw the colour purple all he could think about was Samantha spread out on the bed beneath him.
The more he tried not to think about it, the more it was all he could think about. The only time he wasn't thinking about her was when he was sleeping and even then, he was dreaming of her.
He thought of going down to New York so many times but each time he reminded himself how much of a terrible idea that was. He was probably the last person she'd want to see, after the things he had said to her it'd be better if she never laid eyes on him again.
He wouldn't even know what to say to her. Both were excuses and the truth was that he was a coward and he couldn't face her. He was so ashamed of how he had treated her that sometimes he just wanted to punch himself in the face.
So, for two months he just floated from place to place because nothing in his life made sense anymore. It was stupid because he had been contented with his life before, liked it even, but now everything felt wrong and he felt quite so miserable.
His siblings wouldn't stop calling, mostly Alex, to make sure he was alive. He didn't answer her obviously but she did leave messages. He just wasn't ready to speak to her, not until he got a handle on the turmoil going on in his head. He did speak to Charlie, just once, but only to tell her he was okay even though he was not. That was a month ago, she stopped calling which was a bit surprising because the usual Charlie would persist until he gave in and came home.

WHEN ROOM SERVICE knocked, Nick just wanted to scream at them to go away. But he couldn't, firstly because he knew his head was probably going to fall off if he attempted to and also because he was still hungry, tired and so hung over. He wasn't sure if it was Wednesday or Thursday, but he hoped it was Wednesday because he had a flight to Florence set for Wednesday. What was happening in Florence again? he couldn't focus enough to remember. The last day he had been sure of was Monday, he had followed a couple of friends on their cruise boat and they had partied till they dropped him off here yesterday.
He groaned and crawled out of bed when the knock came again, it felt like they were banging right on his head.
"I'm coming" he managed to mutter as he walked to the door in nothing but his boxer briefs and it was just at the moment before he opened the door that he remembered he didn't order any room service. He had been passed out since he got here that he hadn't had time to.
He opened the door and there stood his brother, Luca, wearing that stiff look he always wore.
"Woah... you look like something the cat dragged in" he said shoving him aside and making his way into the hotel suite.
"Luca?" he would have had a better reaction if he wasn't so hung over
"At least you are alive" Luca said sarcastically, taking a seat.
"Your wife knows I'm alive" he said and then winced at his own voice. He needed an aspirin and he needed it now.
"You're drunk, it's barely 8:am"
"First of all, keep it down I'm dying over here. And secondly, I'm not drunk, I'm hung over"
"And what's the difference?" Luca asked
"One enjoys the noise and the other loathes it" that was a phrase he learnt from Chase, but he was now observing it was true. He crawled back into bed because even standing felt like a tedious chore.
Luca got up, dragged the covers off him and dropped them on the foot of the bed.
"Go take a shower you reek of alcohol and whatever you're on"
"Go away" Nick told his brother and then turned around to face the other side of the room.
"I will go down to reception to find you some aspirin, you better be out of bed and in that shower before I get back" with that Nick was left alone once again. He wanted to ignore what Luca had said, close his eyes and go back to sleep but he knew his brother. He knew that as quiet and as reserved as Luca may be, he wasn't someone you wanted to mess with. He also knew that Luca was probably going to drag him into that shower by the hair if he had to and he was already feeling a lot sore so he wouldn't risk it. So, he forced his aching muscles up and headed to the shower.