The Proposition 2: The Ferro Family (The Proposition: The Ferro Family) Read Free Page B

attacked the man, and stabbed him. If I didn’t tell Bryan to stop, I think he would have killed the guy.” I glance over at her, but I can no longer see. My eyes have the pre-tears sheen that makes the world go blurry.
    Maggie lifts her arms and I fall into them. She’s always been like a sister to me. We’ve been there for each other, and I’m afraid this mess with Bryan will make her hate me and what I’ve become. My father would have been ashamed to call me his daughter, and I expect the same from Maggie. Instead, she sits there on the worn mattress and soothes me.
    After one hard hug, she releases my shoulders and grabs my chin. “You and I have been through everything together. Don’t think that I’m bailing because of this. If anything, life just got more interesting, that’s all.”
    I wipe the tears from my eyes and laugh, because she’s so wrong. “That’s the understatement of the year.”
    “My point i s, I’m here for you. I’ll always be here for you.” She bumps my shoulder with hers. “So, Bryan Ferro has a dark side behind all that flash and dazzle?”
    “Apparently.”
    “Was it fun or did he do weird stuff?”
    I smile and wipe my eyes again. “No, not tonight anyway. He called me to his room, I went, and we kissed. Then, he threw me out.”
    Maggie’s lip pull up a little. “He threw you out? What the hell?”
    “I don’t know. It’ s like he was mad and going to Hulk-out or something. He wouldn’t look at me. Things were hot and heavy until then.” Intuition keeps telling me that something was wrong, but I can’t put my finger on what.
    Maggie grins, “He was b etter than Neil, right?”
    I make a face and look at her like she’s nuts. “Uh, Bryan’s blackmailing me.”
    “And he’s hotter than Neil. Go on, say it. I’m your friend, so I already know.”
    I cast my eyes toward the floor and don’t say anything. I don’t have to, my expression says everything. Bryan is so much hotter than Neil that there is no comparison. The two men are night and day, and Bryan is the sexy night. Neil’s the rational voice that sounds like the FDA reminding me to do all things in moderation—but not all things—only the actions he approves of. Damn it. I bury my face in my hands and sigh.
    Maggie pats my back once. “It’s okay. Every guy is hotter than Neil. Don’t feel guilty, but I wouldn’t exactly tell Mr. Perfectly Pressed Pants. He’ll freak out that someone else touched you.” Maggie is pulling off her clothes and tugging on a night shirt and sweat pants as she speaks.
    “Actually, Neil knows.”
    “What?” She’s hopping on one foot, trying to shove her foot into the hole and falls over. “How does he know? You said it just happened.”
    “ Neil knows because he’s the one who told me to do it.”

CHAPTER 4
     
    Maggie has only gone totally nuclear once. It was when we got split up from a foster home when we were seven. Within three days, they had us back together under the same roof. Maggie would never say what she did, only that she went nuke-crazy and launched everything she had at them. The look in her eyes says she wants to hand Neil his balls in a Dixie cup.
    Maggie rocks upright with her pants half on and half off as her jaw locks tight. She looks away from me and cracks her neck, like she’s going to kill someone. When she swings her green eyes back my way, there’s a pleasant, yet terrifying, smile on her face. When she speaks, she sounds cordial, like someone who works in a lovely flower shop and loves people—in other words—she sounds totally demented. “He told you to go?” She laughs lightly and flutters her lashes at me as she tips her head to the side. “And he knew you were being blackmailed?”
    I don’t want to talk about it. I’m so tired that I’m going to start drooling on myself soon. “Yeah, he knew.” I don’t want to tell her the rest. As it is, she’s already three stages passed livid.
    “What wonderful reason did he