Page 43 of Ruin

He leans down close, so close his breath is hot on my lips. “Did you and Tommy plan that little stunt last night? HopingI’d walk in earlier, huh? Maybe join in?”

A few people laugh, one whistles, and everyone is waiting to see what happens next. My expression stays stone cold. I won’t give them the show they want.

Antonio drapes himself over me, forearms heavy on my shoulders. “Maybe we should make a video for him. You bent over, taking it up the ass. You on your knees with my cock in your mouth. Fair’s fair, right? I date you, take you out, text you every God damn day, and he gets that pussy? Nah, babe. It’s my turn.” His lips brush mine, a violation that sets fire under my skin. “Should I take you to the bathroom? That’s kind of your thing, right?”

Fury slices clean through my guilt. I smile razor-sharp. “You wouldn’t know what to do with it if you had the chance.”

The little crowd gathered around us hoots and laughs. Lexi cackles the loudest.

“Why don’t we go find out?” Antonio snarls and clamps his hand around my arm, yanking me up.

The laughter dies, and everyone gathered is oddly silent. Before I can figure out why, Antonio jerks violently away from me, losing his grip on my arm.

Tommy.

“You’d need a manual and a miracle. She doesn’t fake it.”

He has Antonio by the neck, one arm wrenched behind his back. His suit looks fucking amazing, and he’s wearing these incredibly hot black-framed glasses I’ve never seen before, his hair falling over his eye.

But it’s the expression on his face that is most disarming: fucking deadly.

Antonio spits venom through a grin. “Haven’t had as much practice as you, but if you figured her out, can’t be that hard.”

Tommy lets out a low chuckle. “Careful. You don’t want to go measuring yourself against me. You’ll end up jumping off a bridge.”

Antonio squirms in Tommy’s grip. “Fucking robot, Tommy. No heart. Guess you don’t need one when you’re using her for pussy, and she’s spreading her legs to piss off daddy.”

Tommy snarls and throws Antonio face down on the concrete. The crowd gasps as Tommy shrugs out of his suit jacket carefully and hands it to me calmly, like we’re sitting down to dinner. Tie next, then glasses. Then, keeping his eyes locked on me, he rips his shirt off, the little Brioni buttons I picked out flying everywhere.

Everyone steps back except a few women who actually sigh. My chest tightens. He’s brutal and beautiful, and it terrifies me how much I want him.

Tommy jerks Antonio to standing, and Antonio’s fist connects with Tommy’s jaw. Tommy spits blood and grins. “Hope you enjoyed that. It’s your last one.”

Then he tackles him. The fight is a blur of fists and knees, bodies crashing into patio furniture, blood hitting pavement. Girls scream and scramble. Antonio lands some good ones to Tommy’s gut, but Tommy slams his head against the concrete with a sickening crack.

I can’t look away. I just want it to stop. My pulse thrums like the bass, hot and dizzying.

Finally, Lexi snaps, “Jesus, Tommy! He’s wasted! Enough!”

Tommy stands, blood dripping from his knuckles. He glares at her. “You’re part of the fucking problem, cunt. Why don’t you tell her what really happened New Year’s Eve?”

Lexi’s laugh is hollow as she glances around the crowd. “Please. Like I remember anything from New Year’s Eve.”

Tommy snarls at her. He drags Antonio up into a chokehold, pulls a knife from his pocket, and flicks it open with a snap that silences everyone.

“This is your one and only warning. If you fucking touch her, talk about her, or look at her wrong again, I will fucking gut you. Slowly.”

Rage boils in my veins. Another fucking Tommy story to haunt me and get back to my father.

Tommy presses the knife tip into Antonio’s throat until blood beads.

Antonio croaks, “Yeah, I know you’re a fucking psychopath when you don’t get what you want.”

A slow smile spreads across Tommy’s face as he spits blood on the concrete. “The word you’re looking for is sociopath. Treat my girl with respect, or you’ll find out what true disrespect feels like.”

My girl.That’s it.

Flinging Tommy’s stuff on the ground, I grab Lexi’s empty cup, hurling it at him. Ice smacks his skin and slides down his back. “God DAMN it, Tommy!”