Page 55 of Ruin

You owe me nothing.

Don’t be all weird, Tommy. New Year’s

Eve, I was a total cunt.

You were. But it’s done. I

fixed the mess you made.

Did you? Because Giovanna is out

on a date with Antonio.

So whatever you did, fix it before

she does something she’ll regret.

She’ll never say it, but she’s in love

with you.

You didn’t hear any of this from me.

Now we’re even.

Giovanna’s in love with me?

It feels like champagne is exploding in my chest. If she loves me, she’s truly mine. Not just physically, but all of her.

At the same time, rage scorches through me. If she loves him, what the fuck is she doing on a date with Antonio?

I call her, scanning through the texts she’s sent over the last 36 hours as the phone rings. They range from flirtatious to concerned to confused to furious. She thinks I’m ghosting her because of some bullshit Lorenzo said?

The call goes to voicemail, and I call her again. And again. And again. She doesn’t answer.

Is she really fucking going out with him like we’re nothing, like the other night didn’t happen, just because I missed her texts?

We are about to have a serious conversation about how she deals with anger. She can’t call Antonio every time I make her mad or I’m going to fucking kill him and spank her so hard she’ll be standing permanently.

I dial Vin’s number as I jog down the service stairs to the parking garage. He answers on the second ring.

“Yeah?”

“What’s the 20 on Tony the Hack?”

Vin scoffs. “Probably up Aurelio’s ass. Who fucking cares?”

“I fucking care.”

“So text him.”

When I don’t answer, Vin sighs. “Hold on.”

After a minute, Vin finally says, “Fucker is on a date. Some little restaurant I’ve never heard of in Brooklyn on thewaterfront.”

A fuckingdate.

I slam the car door too hard and rev the engine, peeling out of the space and out onto the street.