Page 134 of Ruin
Tommy lunges for Antonio as he laughs, and Matti pullshim back.
“You mean thatonetime when I came screaming Tommy’s name?” I snap. “And you freaked the fuck out because you couldn’t get him out of my head despite your best efforts?”
Vin is practically doubled over laughing. “You two are the only dipshits I know who love each other so fucking much that even when you’re getting blown by someone else, you come saying each other’s names.”
Matti bites back a grin, but my eyes are on Tommy. There is anguish in his eyes as he looks at me, and it kills me that I let another man put his hands, much less his mouth, on me. I know he’s done the same thing with dozens of women since we split up, but this feels worse. I don’t know any of the women he’s been with other than Lexi. And he not only knows Antonio but hates him.
Vin clears his throat and grows serious. “Alright, so you were just trying to fuck her, and all this shit about your life being threatened, her life being threatened—it’s all bullshit, right?”
Antonio glares at him then jerks his chin toward me. “Ask her. She knew.”
Tommy darts a glance at Antonio then whips back to me, his jaw ticking. Matti and Vin turn to look at me too, and my shame deepens. My throat is so dry I can barely choke out the words.
“Aurelio came to my apartment a few weeks after we broke up,” I say, speaking only to Tommy. He’s the only one who deserves to hear this from me. “He told me to leave you and disappear. He threatened my parents first, then he said he’d have his men rape me in front of you if I didn’t end our relationship for good. When none of that worked, he saidhe would kill his own child to get what he wants. I couldn’t let that happen.”
The last word snags on a sob as the memory of that day comes hurtling back, and Tommy huffs out a breath like I knocked the wind out of him.
“That’s why you had those bruises? The last day I came over, the day we—” Tommy’s voice is broken, guttural, and I cut him off with a nod, glancing at Vin and Matti. I don’t want them to know the details of the day Tommy carved an orchid into my thigh.
Tommy turns to Antonio, his voice flat. “I thought it was you.”
Antonio throws his hands up in the air and shakes his head. “Of course you did.”
I turn to Tommy, my voice trembling. “I was upset with you, and I did break up with you for the reasons I said. But I missed you so much, and I wanted to come home, but then Aurelio…”
His expression twists as he moves toward me, pulling me into his arms. “Why didn’t you tell me? I came to see you when you still had his bruises on you, Gi.”
Tears burn my eyes, hot and unstoppable. “Because I wanted to protect you. I knew you’d want to be with me, anyway. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you because of me. And then all those headlines, pictures of you with all those women. I thought you moved on.”
“Baby.” Tommy pulls out his phone, opening to our text thread and starts scrolling. And scrolling. And scrolling. And scrolling. It’s hundreds, thousands of texts, all from him to me. “And those are just the texts.” He changes the screen to the phone record and shows me all the unanswered calls. “I never left you—”
I’m crying, the tears pouring down my cheeks, and Tommy tips my chin up, his touch so gentle. His voice is low, hoarse. “Never keep anything from me again. Promise.”
I nod, sobbing as he pulls me into his arms, pressing my face against his chest. His heart pounds beneath my cheek.
Vin’s voice cuts through, sharp as a blade. He’s glaring at Antonio. “She didn’t say anything about having to be with you.”
Antonio shrugs. “Those were my orders straight from Aurelio: keep her occupied and away from Tommy. The marriage proposal, the ring—that was Lorenzo. And Aurelio was all the way on board. It’s the only thing I’ve ever seen the two of them agree on.”
Vin scowls. “It doesn’t add up. My father doesn’t give a fuck who’s at Luminous & Co. It’s a money laundering joint. As long as the cash is clean, that’s it. And why the fuck would he care so much about who Tommy is fucking?”
Vin jabs a finger at Antonio and then me. “Set up a meeting with your parents, Giovanna. Confront them. I’ll be listening in.” His eyes cut back to Antonio. “And if I find out you’re lying, you won’t have to worry about my father ending your life because I’ll do it for him.”
61
Giovanna: Present Day
The clock on the wall ticks too loudly, each second puncturing the heavy silence between Antonio and me. My apartment feels smaller than usual, claustrophobic.
Antonio is slouched at the kitchen island counter, spinning the neck of his beer bottle between his palms, eyes hooded but restless. Every so often he glances at me like he wants to say something, then thinks better of it. His leg bounces beneath the stool, a steady, jittery rhythm that sets my nerves on edge.
I suck my teeth and check the time. My parents are supposed to be here any minute for the meeting we set up, and I’m supposed to record everything for Vin, Tommy, and Matti.
It’s been a long time coming. So many times, my parents couldn’t make it at the same time, or they canceled last minute. Antonio and I have been maintaining our facade, but Tommy and I have been seeing each other almost every day, meeting up in different parts of the city where we don’tknow anyone.
But now it’s the beginning of September, and this meeting is finally going to happen.
I pace the length of the living room, my heels clicking against the hardwood, arms folded tight against my chest. Finally, I can’t take it anymore.
