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A box of his clothes and other essentials were inside said garage with a note that declared he could either schedule a time to pick up the rest or she could have it sent wherever he chose. In the meantime, she was going away for a little while. She didn’t say where.

A frantic visit to the house in Chappaqua revealed nothing. Nadine assured him Vanessa was okay, but she wasn’t there, and Nadine was not at liberty to reveal where she’d gone. Bobby, who’d become like one of his own brothers, had come outside and raged at him for breaking his sister’s heart.

And when she got back, and they spoke, she said she’d meant it. They were over.

Santino couldn’t believe it when he realized she’d blocked his number and blocked him online.

He went to the house every day and begged, begged for her to let him back in, but she’d cut him off like she never even knew him.

Finally, reality sunk in that he’d lost her.

At that point, he retreated to his parents’ house, got in his old bed, and didn’t get out of it for weeks.

He fell. Tumbled into a void, a hole so deep, so black, it seemed bottomless.

And he still hadn’t completely clawed his way out to this day.

The old rage, the constant ache, flared up again. He swiped his face with a quick, harsh gesture while Gina’s eyes softened.

“Of course, I’ve tried talking to her.” His heart was thumping painfully in his chest. “She doesn’t want to hear what I have to say.”

“Santino, you obviously still love her,” Gina said. “Maybe you need to try again.”

Santino’s face blazed like the volcano in his heart at those words. “I’ve tried. I tried today. I don’t know what else to do.”

“My sweet summer child, dragging your feet in court may keep you legally married for a little while longer but being a pain in her ass isn’t how you get her to want to stay married,” Gina suggested gently.

“Look. She’s blocked me on everything, won’t answer the door when I drop by. The only time she agrees to see me is when lawyers are involved.”

“Well, you keep playing these asshole games you’re gonna keep winning asshole prizes.

Think of a different tactic,” Nico said.

“If you want her back, you need to do everything in your power to make it happen, and I mean everything. But no more unhinged Santino stunts, alright? Just sit down and talk it out. Now, I’ve gotta go put my son to bed.

Amore , I’ll come back down to get you.”

All big brother lectured out, apparently, Nico turned and went up the stairs with Adriano. Dani turned back to Santino, her hand flopping down the side of the couch.

“’Kay. But Tino, you ain’t heard this from me but Vanessa said…

she…” A light snore followed while Gina pushed her to the other end of the couch and patted her face.

But apparently Dani wasn’t completely down for the count.

She giggled, raising her arm one more time where it wavered in midair.

“You might need to pull something crazy because shit is about to go…” She hiccupped. “’Bout to go down in Montreal.”

Going from deep regret to panic in under two minutes almost gave him whiplash. “What did you say about Montreal?”

“She’s going to Montreal to get fucked and play jazz. New guy…loves jazz…”

The arm flopped again. Santino rushed over and shook her by the shoulders. “What about Montreal and gettin’ fucked? What about Montreal?” But Dani was down for real, and all he got out of her was more snoring. “ Goddammit! ”

While he stood staring down at her with his chest heaving, his sister blew out a breath and laughed, pushing her hand through her neck-length dark honey hair.

“Whew! Sounds like the clock is ticking, Tino Bambino,” Gina said with a raised eyebrow. “What are you gonna do?”

“I’ll figure something out” Santino said.

“Well, I was right about one thing,” she responded with a grin. “I did tell you I didn’t need to go to a lounge for a wild night.”

“Yeah, you’re a real psychic,” he groused.

Santino left not too long afterward on foot while Gina drove home with his nephew.

As he walked, he kept an eye out as usual, relieved that once again his brother hadn’t pressed about the reasons Vanessa had left him beyond what he’d been told.

He pondered what Gina and Nico had said about his present, his future.

Was stalling the divorce getting him closer to having his wife back?

She was the one who left. He figured it had to be up to her to decide whether she could trust him again and come back when she was ready.

But maybe that tactic had been wrong. Maybe waiting her out and giving her time was going to cost him if she ended up moving on with someone else.

By force of habit, he went to the garage and popped the trunk of his car. He saw the gleaming metal shine in the moonlight from the open garage door. Then he shut the lid, making sure it was locked.

He’d climbed the steps to the front door of his sad ramshackle rental house which was in dire need of a reno, when his phone rang. It was Dom. Santino paused on the doorstep, looking up at the sharp, glimmering crescent moon cutting into the dark navy blanket of the sky.

“Yo.”

“I found out more about that Malone motherfucker.”

Speaking of fucking psychics. “What?”

“You remember that girl Shontae from Norwood I used to talk to? Well, her cousin was married to his cousin like, fifteen years ago. According to the cousin, the wife cheated on him. When everything blew up, somebody jacked her up bad. She refused to admit who did it or press charges. It could’ve been Malone, could’ve been the other dude.

Nobody knows. I can try to track down the other guy, see what he has to say. ”

That information was like a punch in Santino’s gut. “Jesus,” he said slowly. Nodding, he said, “Yeah, do that. Find him.”

But in the meantime, he couldn’t wait for hearsay one way or the other. He was seized with thoughts of that ginger’s rough hands all over Vanessa in some luxurious hotel room. That was the “best” outcome.

Alternatively, he pictured her getting fresh with Malone as she’d done with him over some remark she didn’t like and imagined the man’s face twisting into rage. She’d be alone and defenseless up there. The thought of either scenario made him sick.

Things were getting dire. Maybe it was time to take some of his siblings’ advice to heart mixed with a little bit of Dani’s. Drastic measures were necessary now. Vanessa could refuse to listen to him, but he was damned if he was going to let her go to Montreal or anywhere else with Scott Malone.

He was going to have to find a way.

Get creative.