Amare (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 34

Hey everyone! I'm back, I'm baaaack. I hope you are all doing well! The past few days have unfortunately been rough for me. My dog, Koda, who I have had since I was a little girl is going into heart failure and we fear that he may not be with us for very much longer. My heart hurts badly and I like to write to get away from the world when things get painful-even if it is just for a bit. Please pray for Koda <3 He loves you guys. Anyways, also I love the song up here^^^ But my favorite part is around 4:05 seconds in. I hope you guys are able to see my vision better! I really, really hope you enjoy. I love you all with all of my heart! Enjoy! --Hannah :)

******************************

CHAPTER 34: Parking the car, Ethan sat still momentarily. The dorm house had a couple lights on, casting shadows with a golden glow.

The sick feeling in his stomach was still there, unable to relent the trickle of ice that spread outwards from his spine. Clenching and unclenching his fists around the steering wheel as he waited for Giovanni and Nicholas to park their cars next to his before finally exiting, stretching his legs.

Giovanni nodded at him and together they made their way up the cobblestone steps to the front porch.

The doorbell rang and it was silent for a few moments before they finally heard footsteps approaching and just before the door finally opened, he noticed Nicholas give him a warning look that didn't need to be spoken aloud for Ethan to understand.

Tony opened the door, his surprise at seeing them evident on his face along with the fact he was only wearing a pair of loose grey sweatpants and no shirt.

"Oh," he said, flicking his head to get a lock of inky black hair from his forehead. "H-How can I help you?" He asked, eyes going to Ethan before they moved away.

"I'm Ethan, not sure if you remember me or not." He said, voice and face cold and devoid of emotion.

Just thinking about how Tony had looked at Alice the night of the fundraiser ball for Cecily, the way his fingers had moved over her skin as if he owned her, made Ethan grit his teeth as he resisted the urge to get in the other man's face.

"Yes, I remember you." Tony said, voice equally bland as his eyes moved to Giovanni and for the first time Ethan thought he saw a look of trepidation enter his eyes.

Giovanni gave a curt nod, seeing that Tony's attention was now focused on him.

"I am Giovanni Amaro. I believe you are a...friend of my daughter's—Alice Amaro."

Tony swallowed.

"May we speak with you?" asked Giovanni.

Tony's gaze bounced back and forth and for a moment, Ethan wasn't sure if he would let them come inside, but finally he nodded and stepped aside.

"Uh, come in." He cleared his throat. "Let me just go grab a shirt." He said and left the room to jog down the hallway to a door on the right hand side.

Ethan looked around the living room in which they were now standing in, finding it just as he thought it would be in a men's dorm house.

Pizza boxes littered the small dirtied coffee table while red solo cups adorned the white mantle as if trophies, the air smelling of booze and stale food, but nothing was amiss from what Ethan could tell so far and the gaze that Giovanni cut him showed that he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary either.

Tony came back into the room just as he was pulling a white V-neck T-shirt over his head.

He gestured to the rumpled couch. "Please, sit."