Page 13 of Giovanni the Savage

I don't tell Ashley this because I don't want to bother her again.

"I like this side of you," she grins.

"Yeah right," I roll my eyes. "Says the girl who was asking me why I didn't get laid."

"Hey," she pouts. "That's part of me looking out for you."

"Whatever," I sigh, grabbing my bag and turning away from her. "I really need to crash right about now. I have an early shift tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Lu."

I bid her goodnight and head to my room when her voice stops me again.

"Oh, Luna?" she calls.

I turn to see her holding up a white envelope. My chest gives me no warning before my heart starts pumping heavily.

Relax, Luna, it could be the bills.

"Yeah," I reply, walking back to her.

"You had this at your front door when I got here." She slides the envelope to me and goes back to her phone.

She doesn't notice the frightened look on my face or how my hands have suddenly started shaking. Since she doesn't notice, I take a moment to regroup before I take the envelope, assuring myself that it could just be bills.

Even though I know deep down that this is anything but bills.

I clutch the envelope tightly in my fist until I'm behind the closed door of my room.

I'm still very nervous about opening it, but I'll never know what's inside if I don't.

The first thing I see on the front is an all too familiar stamp that makes me let out an audible gasp.

I ignore the sweat running down my spine, remove the seal, and open the envelope.

I take a deep breath and summon the courage to read through the cursive letters sprawled on the paper.

Bold of you to think you can escape. When you're only just getting yourself deeper.

A subtle reminder that we're everywhere you think we're not.

As if my heart wasn't beating fast enough, it increases its pace, and my eyes widen when I see the fingerprint stamp at the bottom.

Except it's not what I think it is; it's in blood.

This is a testament that someone is, in fact, following me.

It's proof that they want my blood.

CHAPTER FOUR – Giovanni

My car screeches loudly as I skid past the red flag and keep up my speed on the asphalt. My adrenaline is at an all-time high, and my helmet makes my temples ache, but I’m grateful for the distraction. I don’t give the Chevrolet in front of me any warning before I swerve past it, barely missing its side mirror.

My grip tightens on the steering wheel, and I glance at my side mirror to see the Chevrolet gaining on me again.

There’s a sharp bend coming in about eight seconds, and my car is too damn fast to slow down now, and if I do, Joe will have a kick out of beating me in a race for the first time.

Dumb decision, but I step on the accelerator even harder and prepare myself for the bend coming up in two seconds. I decide to pull a trick from my heart and slow down for a second, just enough to convince Joe that I’m terrified of the bend, and when he does, I sharply swerve my car through the bend. A smirk forms on my lips as I watch his car suddenly halt after hitting the pavement.

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