It’s dark when Lydia and I enter my parent's house. She tiptoes upstairs, where she lives with her kids, and I drag my feet down the hallway to my room across from Lucas’s. I’m exhausted and have been holding my pee since the hospital, so I push into the bathroom we share. My brother is hunched over the sink, washing his hands, and the water is pink with blood.
“Lucas, what hap—”
He shoves me out and slams the door in my face without saying a word. I huff and jiggle the door handle, my brows furrowed.
“Open the door, you asshole!”
It swings back open, and he yanks me inside. I yelp.
“Keep your voice down!” he hisses, but then he sees me in the light, and his hands go to my face. “Mara. What the hell happened?”
“I was mugged.” I shrug away.
“What?”
“I was on my way to the BART station.”
Lucas steps back, his chest rising as he takes in the information with a deep breath. “Where?”
“Where, what?”
“Where did it happen?”
“A block away from Market Street.”
“Did you see the person’s face?”
“No, they had a mask.”
“What kind of mask?”
“I don’t know. Like the one from that movie Scream.”
“I’ll take care of it.” He brushes past me and reaches for the door.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He exits, so I follow him to his room.
“No, what do you mean?”
“Nothing. Maybe one of the businesses has surveillance footage of the guy. I’ll find out tomorrow.” We enter his room, but he turns and points to the hallway. “Out. I need sleep.”
“Wait.” I study his knuckles. “What happened to your hands?”
“Nothing. Now, go to bed, Mara. I’m tired.”
“Don’t you nothing me.” I grab his hand, and he jerks away, but I see his split knuckles anyway. “Lucas.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It looks like you got into a fistfight.”
“Well, I didn’t.” He nudges me toward the door, but I don’t budge.
“There’s a rumor at work you’re dating a woman married to Mario Caruso—a dirty cop whose dad is Carmine Caruso. A mobster.”
“Well, I’m not.”
I fold my arms. “I think you’re lying to me.”
“I’m not.”
“Where were you tonight? Why did you say you were sick?”
“I had something to do. Are you done with the interrogation? I want to go to bed.”
“Why does it look like you punched a cement wall?”
“I fell. It’s nothing to worry about. Now, get out.”
“I know you’re lying. Something must have happened tonight, and I think it has to do with Hazel Caruso.”
“Jesus, Mara. Let it go.”
“If I tell you a secret, you must tell me yours,” I say. “That’s always been our rule.”
YOU ARE READING
Sugar Daddy Season (ONC 2024)
Romance𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 | 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 When Mara Santiago is laid off from work and dumped by her boyfriend, she moves in with her parents. Struggling to find another job as a ballerina, she begins go-go dan...
