Chapter 21
I landed in San Diego at almost 1 in the morning. I slept and cried for the last 15 hours on the plane and the sight of my jeep waiting for me on the tarmac was liberating. My apartment was only 20 minutes away but I prolonged my journey and took side streets making it almost an hour. There weren’t very many cars on the road; I assumed everyone was home, resting for New Years Eve tonight.
When I got home I didn’t even bother trying to go to sleep. I changed into some yoga shorts and a sports bra, went into my gym and ran until my legs quit. At 5:00 am I got into the shower and washed the last 20 hours off of me. I got out, got dressed in gray and navy blue PlayBoy dolphin shorts and a gray sports bra and decided to make some breakfast. I whipped up some eggs with toast then sat on my couch, ate my food, and watched tv. After a little while, I was finally tired enough to go lay down.
I woke up to the feeling of someone creeping up on me. I grabbed the gun from under my pillow and quickly turned around and aimed the gun at my assailant.
“Och, Íra, eímai egó, Ambrosio!”
*“Whoa, Hera, it’s me, Ambrosio!”*
Without taking my eyes off my brother, I pointed my gun at the other unknown man in my room and asked,
“Kai poios eínai aftós o ántras?”
*“And who is this?”*
The tall muscular man had a light scruffy black beard on his sharp edged face, blue eyes, long curly black hair that he finger combed out of his face. He was wearing black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. He was very handsome. Ambrosio’s eyes were wide when he said,
“Aftós eínai o Ntário! Lisoú, Íra, katévase to óplo sou!”
*“That’s Dario! Jesus, Hera, put the gun down!”*
I put my gun down and apologized to my brother and Dario. I asked,
“Ambrosio, pós bíkes sto spíti mou?”
*“Ambrosio, how did you get in here?”*
“Écho éna kleidí. Lypámai Íra, den íthela na se tromáxo. Chtýpisa gia polý kairó kai den apántises stin pórta. Fovómoun óti eíchan symveí ta cheirótera, étsi ánoixa tin pórta.”
*“I have a key. I’m sorry Hera, I didn't mean to scare you. I knocked for a long time, but you didn’t answer. I feared the worst so I opened the door.”*
“Periménete, ti kánete edó stin Amerikí?”
*“Wait, what are you doing here in America?”*
“Énas aderfós den boreí na episkeftheí tin aderfí tou? Mou éleipses. Kai xérete óti agapó tin paramoní tis Protochroniás me ti theía.”
*“A brother cannot visit his sister? I missed you. And you know I love New Year’s Eve with theía.”*
Ambrosio winked at me and I knew he was referring to her cannabis. I rolled my eyes and Ambrosio asked what I was doing sleeping in until 10.
“I got in from Sicily at 1 in the morning and I finally fell back asleep at, I don’t know, around 7:00?”
Ambrosio asked,
“What were you doing out there in the first place?”
I glanced at the beautiful man at the foot of my bed, who was on his phone, I put my face in my knees and finally confessed,
“I don’t fucking know, because I love having my heart repeatedly ripped out and danced on?”
Ambrosio and Dario laughed then Ambrosio sat next to me on the bed and grabbed my hand and asked,
“Why the obsession with the Italian?”
I thought for a moment. Ambrosio wouldn’t understand, so I wasn’t going to bother explaining it to him. I just shrugged my shoulders and Ambrosio chuckled while shaking his head then he asked,
“Are you hungry?”
I shook my head and he replied,
“Ok then, get dressed anyway. Let’s go find something brilliant to wear to bring in the New Year.”
I smiled a wide smile and jumped out of bed and ran past Dario, into my bathroom to brush my teeth, wash my face, and quickly apply tinted moisturizer. Then I ran across my room into my wardrobe. I changed into black denim waist high ripped skinny jeans with a white button up crop top complete with black leather boots and a black denim jacket.
I applied some deodorant and my favorite perfume. I grabbed a black purse with a gold chained shoulder strap and exited my closet back out to my room. Ambrosio and Dario were sitting in the chairs in the corner of my room, staring at their phones.
Ambrosio was wearing dark denim jeans with the hems rolled up with a white t-shirt complete with white sneakers and a cream colored denim jacket, his black hair was freshly tapered on the sides and the long top slicked back. Ambrosio looked up at me and I asked,
“Are you ready to go?”
The guys rose out of their chairs and Ambrosio asked,
“Actually, Hera, do you have any of theía’s kánnavis?”
I laughed as I motioned for them to follow me back into my closet. I opened my wooden box on the counter and picked up a joint and a lighter. I put it in my mouth and sucked on it as I lit the other end. Once it was lit, I handed it to Ambrosio. He inhaled almost half the joint and my eyes widened. Ambrosio saw the look on my face and laughed as he exhaled and said,
“What? I’m on vacation!”
Ambrosio tried to offer it back to me but I shook my head. He raised an eyebrow at me but then passed it to Dario. Dario finished the rest of the joint, putting the roach in the ashtray on the counter. Ambrosio asked if he could grab a few pre rolls and I offered him as many as he’d like. Ambrosio grabbed three and Dario hesitantly took two and then we headed out down to the garage to my jeep.
As I pulled out of the garage, Ambrosio smoked away in the passenger seat. I laughed,
“They don’t have kánnavis in Greece?”
He swayed his head towards me, almost in slow motion and replied,
“Nothing like theía’s.”
I laughed and said,
“You think that’s amazing, you should try the erba they have in Sicily!”
Ambrosio looked amused when he asked,
“Hera, have you been smoking with the Don of Sicilia?”
I blushed and shrugged my shoulders and Ambrosio laughed. I looked in my rearview mirror to glance at Dario. He was staring into his phone then looked up and caught me checking him out and he smiled. Dario’s smile made my stomach elevate, I bit my lip and tried to nonchalantly look away, trying to appear as if I’m just looking around. Ambrosio asked,
“Can we pick up Keegan?”
“What? No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t appreciate you leading on my best friend every time you come into town. Date her or leave her alone.”
“How can I date her when I literally live across the world, Hera?”
I shrugged my shoulders and replied,
“You guys could always meet halfway, in New York. I don’t know, but you need to quit playing with that girl.”
Ambrosio grinned a devilish grin and said,
“Ok fine, don’t call her. I’m sure she won’t be mad at all to find out we went shopping for the party without her.”
I growled at Ambrosio and had the bluetooth dial up Keegan, my gorgeous red haired fire cracker. She answered the phone and I asked,
“Hey babe, are you busy right now?”
“Umm no, not really, what’s up?”
“We’re going shopping tonight for the party. Do you want to come?”
“Who’s ‘we’?”
“Me, Ambrosio and some random hot guy Ambrosio brought with him.”
I glanced back at Dario in my mirror and he was looking out the window with a half smile. Keegan chuckled then replied,
“Yeah I’ll come. When will you guys be here?”
“In like 20 minutes, we’re passing a StarBucks, text me what you want and then we’ll be right there.”
“Ok, girl, sounds good.”
I hung up the phone and immediately received a text from Keegan with her coffee order. Ambrosio lit up another joint, this time sharing it with the gorgeous mysterious man in the back. I looked over at Ambrosio and asked,
“Tha milísoume gia aftón ton mystiriódi ánthropo? Poú eínai o Évanter? Eínai óla kalá?”
*“Are we going to talk about this mysterious man? Where is Evander? Is everything ok?”*
Ambrosio looked at me amused and replied,
“Nai, óla eínai kalá. Chreiazómoun ton Évanter gia na meíno píso gia na frontíso kápoia prágmata.”
*“Yes, everything is fine. I needed Evander to stay behind to take care of some things.”*
“The random, mysterious man has a name.”
I looked in my rearview mirror to the gorgeous man sitting in the back who spoke for the very first time,
“Dario.”
He said as he pointed to himself, looking at me through the mirror. I chuckled and rolled my eyes to hide my interest as I pulled into the drive thru.