Page 27 of Ruin

It should take over an hour to get to Giovanna’s parents’ house, but I’m there in half the time, pulse hammering the whole way. With one curt call, I move the dean’s meeting to tomorrow night, turning it into dinner at her suggestion, her voice echoing in my head.

The rest of the drive, I torture myself imagining her smoothing on lotion, slipping into a dress, putting on that bright pink lipstick…for him.

Her family’s estate rises like a fortress behind its iron gates: sprawling brick buildings, glass that gleams cold in the winter air, a long looping driveway and eight-car garage. I park around the corner. The last thing I need is Lorenzo catching me here. He hates me enough already.

I slip in a side door and up the back staircase, heart pounding. Her bedroom door opens easily, but her room is empty. My stomach drops until I hear water running in the en suite. She’s in the shower.

It takes everything in me not to walk in, pull her wet body against mine, finish what we started. Instead, I sit on the edge of her bed and wait.

When the door finally opens, steam curling out, she’s wearing nothing but a fluffy blue towel. She freezes whenshe sees me.

Neither of us speaks. My brain short-circuits, her black hair wet and shiny, droplets sliding down her flushed skin. Fucking gorgeous.

“I didn’t fuck her,” I say, my voice hoarse.

Her brows lift. “What?”

“Lexi. New Year’s Eve. We didn’t fuck.”

Suspicion flickers in her eyes. “So you said. But I heard you two disappeared, and she came back looking like a train wreck… in your clothes.”

I nod. “My hoodie. The one you put on her. But we didn’t fuck.”

“She told everyone you did.”

“Because she didn’t want them to know the truth.”

She rolls her eyes. “Okay, so what’s the truth? Enlighten me.”

I drag a hand through my hair, suddenly unsure how much she really wants to hear. “I was wasted.”

She rolls her eyes again, dismissing me with a sharp look. “You don’t drink. Discussion over.”

“I did that night. Matti shoved a bottle of whiskey in my hand to keep me from chasing you down when you left with Tony.”

Her eyes flicker, embarrassed, then defiant. “Go on.”

“She followed me to my suite and asked to use the bathroom, so I let her in. I… got in my head. Like I do.”

She nods tightly. She knows exactly what that means.

“I forgot she was even there. I was thinking about…something else. Someone else. I came.” I swallow hard, taking in her wet skin, the flush on her throat, and blow out a breath. This sucks. “The next thing I hear is vomiting, and she’s puking into a pizza box. She said she gagged on my—” I can’t say the words. I just shake my head, my voice trailing off.

Gi’s lips purse. “Hmm.”

I can’t read her, can’t tell if she’s jealous or angry or both, but I’ll take either because it means she cares. She never gave a fuck that Lexi fucked Tony.

Her voice sharpens. “So she gagged on your dick while you were thinking aboutsomeone else?Jesus Christ, Tommy, if it were anybody but you, that would sound like so much bullshit. Only you can disconnect from your body so much that you wouldn’t notice that someone has your cock down her throat. Did you come in her mouth?”

Heat flares in my chest. The last thing I want to do is give details. “No. And I know it sounds strange, but I was so fucking wasted and I was thinking about getting my cock sucked by—”

I stop. My jaw locks.

Her breath hitches. “By whom?”

I don’t answer. I don’t have to.

“Has this happened before?”