Page 123 of Ruin

As weighing my options, Matti and Vin waiting to back me up if necessary. Lorenzo breaks the silence with a dry scoff.

“Learn to recognize when you’ve lost, Demonio. She is out of your bed, your number is blocked across her devices, and she is living with a better man. Her last name will never be Demonio.”

My smile doesn’t falter, but my stomach churns. He blocked my number from her devices? Every morning, I text her. Every night, I call—for years. No wonder she thought I was lying. She must think I abandoned her. If she’s moved on with Antonio, then killing him would only hurt her more.

When I don’t respond, Vin scoffs. “Antonio? Please. He’s just keeping my brother’s seat warm ‘til he comes to collect. And trust me, Lorenzo, Tommy always collects.”

Lorenzo presses his fists into the display counter and leans toward Vin. “I’m protecting her from a life of pain and humiliation. I’m protecting her from—”

Matti cuts him off. “It’s not Giovanna you’re protecting—it’s yourself. You’re afraid of what she will become when she is by Tommy’s side.”

“And you should be,” I add, still smiling.

Lorenzo slams his fist down on the display case, causing the glass to rattle in its mahogany casing. “Berto, take outthe garbage,” he snarls with a wave of his hand.

I turn, slow as a tide, toward Berto. He’s the perfect outlet for my rage: Blood-related to the fucker I’d like to gut, and I haven’t forgiven him for attacking me. On top of that, the dumbass is grinning like he’s enjoying the show. Bad idea.

I move before he can blink. Fist to his gut, elbow to his jaw, dragging him across the display case in front of Lorenzo and Antonio in a rain of papers and cash. He wheezes, tries to snarl something smart, but it’s cut off when I drive my knee into his ribs. The crack of bones is sharp and satisfying.

When I stomp on his leg, I say, “That’s how you break a tibia, bitch.”

I straddle him on the floor, my knife already in hand. I don’t carve the orchid. Not for him. That’s mine and hers now, sacred. No, instead he gets a smaller mark, a crude slash curling into a half-vine just below his collarbone. Something to serve as a reminder to not cross me again.

Antonio lunges over the counter, but Vin halts him with a gun on him. “That’s okay,” says Vin. “No need to help Tommy out. He’s got this.”

Matti stacks the cash into the duffle bag, staring down the guards who look conflicted.

Berto screams under my blade. I backhand him across the face then press a hand over his mouth, polite as a priest conducting a ritual. “Consider yourself fired, Berto. You are no longer a Demonio associate. You will never be a soldier. I’m sure you understand.”

I wipe the blade clean on his shirt and rise.

Lorenzo is pale but furious. Antonio is sneering at me, held back only by Vin’s gun. Both men know better than to cross us further, but Antonio brings a fingertip to his cheekand slowly traces the mark Giovanna left there like it’s a trophy. As he should. She is a fucking trophy.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” I say smoothly. “The Demonios are grateful for our profitable partnership.”

I give them a quick nod and turn on my heel, Matti and Vin right behind me.

As soon as we are in the elevator, Vin laughs, delighted. His eyes shine as he claps a hand on my shoulder. “There he fucking is! My ruthless little brother. Christ, I missed you! Let’s go get fucked up, get laid. This is something to motherfucking celebrate!”

Matti grins, nodding, but I shake my head. My voice stays calm, but the smile is gone now that it’s just me and my brothers, and inside, my chest is burning. “That’s not how I celebrate.”

Vin arches a brow. “What do you want to do, then?”

“What’s next on the list? Who needs to learn a lesson? Who owes us money?”

Matti nods. “Meaning who can he hurt.”

Vin chortles with laughter and punches my shoulder. “Oh my God, this is the fucking shit, I’m telling you! Hell fucking yeah, let’s go find you some bitches to carve up, Tommy.”

I can feel the darkness consuming me. Without Giovanna, there is no light. Without light, violence and ruin are all I have left to sustain me.

56

Giovanna: New Year’s Eve, 4 Years Ago

Antonio is in the shower, steam curling out over the glass door, when his phone lights up on the bathroom counter beside me. I’m at the mirror, halfway through my eyeliner, when the text comes in.

A text with a picture of what appears to be a waxed vagina in a lacy thong.