Page 54

UNREQUITED LOVE

SANTINO

T he next morning, Santino hit the gym first thing.

He’d been slacking off, preferring to get in his morning workouts with Vanessa instead.

But with Bobby in the suite that obviously had been impossible.

From the look on Vanessa’s face last night, he highly doubted she would have wanted it, anyway.

So here he was, sweating to a weight training session in hopes of getting out all the stress, if it was possible.

The entire time Malone was running his mouth, Santino had been itching to put his fist through it. Make the man eat some teeth along with his steak. He even hated the way he chewed. He hated even more that Malone had seen his weakness when he’d come to tell him to leave her the fuck alone.

But worse than the pity was how Malone’s words had torn Vanessa open. How he’d forced apart the tender petals of her soul, and exposed that dark, quiet place inside her where all her deepest insecurities dwelled.

Yes, Santino had seen her quick glances these last few days whenever someone attractive was in their presence, but he’d pretended not to notice.

It was vital to keep the peace at all costs.

To not rock the boat and plunge them back into a sea of regret.

But goddamn Malone hadn’t just rocked that boat, he’d kicked it over full force with his booted foot.

And after that, she changed. It was subtle, but Santino could sense it.

She’d withdrawn somehow, back behind that invisible barrier he’d thought he’d finally broken through.

But they were stronger than that. This week had proven it. And he would keep proving it. Malone was wrong. They could overcome this.

Santino finished his workout, feeling a little more in charge of himself again.

After he courtesy-wiped the weight bench to clean it of his sweat, he pulled on his T-shirt.

He was on his way to the café Vanessa liked to get breakfast when he spotted Virgil behind the front desk, talking to one of the clerks.

His first thought was to get the hell out of there before he was spotted, but too late.

Virgil’s head swiveled at the exact moment Santino was about to pass behind one of the tall, mirrored columns.

Sighing, squaring his shoulders, Santino walked to the desk. Virgil gestured to him to come around to a quieter spot.

“Hey, man.”

“Hey.”

The two looked at the other guests, the bellboys, people coming and going in a constant stream.

“Friday morning. One of our busy days. When the Jazz Festival is over in a couple more days, we move onto the Festival Nuits D’Afrique. They’re gonna have African bands, Latin American, Caribbean. If you and Vanessa had the time…”

“Nah. We’ll be leaving tonight, most likely.”

Virgil nodded with remorse. “Well, it would have been fun.” He was smiling, but there was something different in his gaze. Not sadness, not anger or betrayal. Peace. Maybe it was peace.

“I’m sorry about what happened last night with Bobby.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Virgil scoffed softly.

“Ling is great, but it took last night for me to finally understand that I wasn’t doing her any favors by letting things go on like that.

And when it’s not right, you’ve got to let it go.

” He tilted his chin up, taking in a deep breath of air.

“I feel a lot better. I really believe Ling will too, eventually. Now, the next time some handsome doctor comes along, she’s free to be swept off her feet like she deserves.

Now if I can just get Scott to visit my parents and have him eat dinner with them. .. whoo boy.”

They looked at each other and despite the seriousness, despite the shimmer of regret in Virgil’s eyes, rueful laughter bubbled up from both of them.

“He’d definitely tell them some things,” Santino remarked, and Virgil’s laughter deepened.

“He definitely would tell them some things.” Virgil looked up suddenly.

A woman wearing a skirt suit was bearing down on them with a determined stride.

“Oh, shit, it’s Ms. Tremaine. I’ve been dodging her all morning.

” But before he went, Virgil paused and held out his hand.

“It was really good to hang out with you, Santino. Come back anytime, buddy.”

“I will. We will. And whenever you make it back down to New York, hit me up.”

Santino left Virgil at the mercy of Ms. Tremaine. Grinning, he left to get those croissants Vanessa loved plus something super rich and tasty for himself and Bobby, only to head back upstairs to find…

No one. The extra duvet and pillow that were on the couch had slid half-way off onto the floor.

Vanessa’s purse was gone, but surprisingly, her phone was on her nightstand still plugged in and charging.

Disturbed but not knowing why, Santino fished his own phone out of his pocket and called Bobby’s number.

It went to voicemail after a few rings, meaning Bobby’s phone was on; he was simply choosing not to answer.

Maybe the two of them were out taking a walk, getting some fresh air. Bobby definitely needed it if anybody did. His unraveling last night had been more than uncharacteristic. It seemed like a bad omen.

That fucking Malone had been right about another thing. Nothing that had happened last night inspired confidence in relationships. In fact, of the four couples that had started dinner, three were done by the end. Like dominoes, they’d fallen one after the other.

There was only one left standing.

“Fuck it. I warned him. B-Man will have to figure it out,” Santino mumbled to himself, trying hard to ignore that dread creeping back up his spine.

Sitting down on the terrace to enjoy this last full day in town in whatever way he could, Santino dug into his breakfast, soothing himself with the green vista of Mont Royal Park while he ate.

Someday when he and Vanessa came back here, they’d bring their kids and stroll up and down its cool paths.

Deep in his bones, no matter what the so-called prophet Malone had foreseen in his wack-assed crystal ball, Santino knew that future would come to pass.

When he was done eating, he tugged at his T-shirt, now sticking uncomfortably to his skin.

He pulled it off as he went to the bathroom to turn on the shower, those sweet daydreams of all the things that awaited him and Vanessa still running in his head until they were rudely interrupted by someone banging on the door.

It was too early for room service. Maybe Bobby had come back alone while Vanessa was still out with the only other keycard. The person who’d been knocking when he looked through the peephole made the dread sink deeper into his spine, leak through the walls of his gut and pour in like battery acid.

Against the voice in his own head urging him not to, he opened the door. He didn’t even manage to get in a word before Zoe bulldozed her way in, pushing past him.

“Where’s Bobby? He said he was spending the night here. Or was he with that fucking gold-digger?”

In the three years he’d been around Zoe after meeting Vanessa, he’d never seen her this way, showing such total disregard for her appearance.

Her dark hair was loose, frizzy and uncombed.

She was in a tank top that had some kind of cream smeared on the front and what looked like pajama bottoms. The large breasts on her petite frame were obviously bra-free.

Her eyeliner was smudged, lipstick smeared, like she’d gone to bed in last night’s makeup, if she’d gone to bed at all.

Maybe she hadn’t. Even the blurred eyeliner couldn’t conceal the prominent dark circles underneath.

There was a wildness in her eyes. Whatever was about to spew out of her mouth, he wanted no parts of it.

“Bobby did spend the night here, but he’s obviously gone, so…” Santino gestured back toward the door, but she stomped into the bedroom. “Hey. Come out of there. Vanessa’s not here either and it’s too early for bullshit. Go.”

“Where is your precious little wife? Up for a morning run or doing one of her little Pilates workouts in a garden somewhere, fresh as a fucking daisy after a good night’s sleep? Or did you guys stay up all night having a good laugh about how you set me up to humiliate me?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Santino protested, holding his palms up. “Nobody set you up for shit. You set yourself up, coming up here with your little agreement. The both of youse should’ve stayed your asses back in New York.”

“No, you’re the one who shouldn’t have come up here.

” Zoe was much smaller than him, but the way her teeth were clenched, the way her fingers were hooked, made him back up.

Those pointy manicured nails looked like they could do damage and in the state she was in, she might end up using them.

“I came up here to try to save my marriage, and you fucked everything up, you and your stupid —”

“Yo. Before you say something that’s really gonna piss me off, you need to get out, Zoe. Now.”

Pulse flaring, he pointed at the door that had swung closed on its quiet hinges. Defiantly, she stood there glaring at him, raking her eyes up and down his bare chest and his shorts. A cruel smile stole onto her face, bringing back memories he’d rather forget.

“What is it about Vanessa, huh? What is it that makes men turn to idiots and come chasing after her, no matter how badly she treats them? Look what she did to you, then to Scott. What? Does she give good head? Does she take it up the ass? What’s her secret?” Zoe asked with that filthy smile.

His temper flared dangerously high, but he restrained himself. Everything he and Vanessa did was sacred to him, not something to be mocked or cheapened. Something was off with Zoe for even wondering about it, let alone asking.

“I don’t want to have to put hands on you to get you out of here, but I swear to God, if you don’t leave right fucking now, I’m not gonna have much of a choice,” he uttered.

“Tell the truth. You don’t want Vanessa.

You only got together with her because she was the good girl, the prize.

And the bad boys always have to win the prize.

” The cloying tone in Zoe’s voice was laced with scorn.

“I bet you told Vanessa about us in that bathroom at the wedding. That must be why she’s hated me all this time. ”

“Yeah, the bathroom, where I was taking a leak and you walked in on me. You got on your knees in your wedding dress and offered to suck my dick. At your own wedding. And I didn’t say anything to anybody because I knew they would’ve blamed me for it.

I’m sorry I didn’t. Maybe I could’ve saved them years of dealing with you. ”

The confusion, the stomach-turning decision he had to make in that moment came roaring back. With that one drunken, stupid move, Zoe could have destroyed what he and Vanessa had before it even got started.

His chest pounding, he glared at her, but she gazed back with that fucking smirk, like this was all a game.

“Just fucking face it. I didn’t want you then and I sure as fuck don’t want you now.

Now get. The fuck. Out. ” She just stood there.

He thought about calling security, but she was standing right next to the desk with the hotel phone, and he had no intention of getting that close.

“Have it your way. I’m gonna go get security.

Do yourself a fuckin’ favor and leave before we get back. ”

Before he could take a step toward the door, Zoe suddenly pulled up the hem of her tank top and off it went, seeming to hover in slow motion before hitting the carpet.

Then she matter-of-factly pushed down her bottom layers.

Shocked, he spun around to face away from her before he could see anything more.

His feet couldn’t fucking move fast enough as he headed for the door with panic and disbelief snapping at his heels like a pair of wolves.

But just as he was merely a foot away from the door, he realized it was already half open. And then it swung open all the way.

Of course, Vanessa was standing there with her keycard in her hand, taking in his half-naked body, wearing only his shorts and Zoe behind him wearing nothing at all.

Of course, Bobby was right behind her.

Of course.