Page 13 of Run

“I don’t do anyone’s bidding, Vincent,” she said. “You should know that.”

“There you are,” I said, smiling grimly, perversely happy I still knew at least that about her and hurt by the reminder of how she’d left me. But as it had been for so long, that hurt would be my fuel.

I got closer to her, grinned when she stepped back, though I noticed she didn’t break eye contact. Good. She needed to see how serious I was. How I was no longer subject to her wishes. I was here on orders, but she didn’t know that, and having her think that I’d broken her hold on my own, at least for a little while, gave me satisfaction.

I gave her my firmest stare, not that she even flinched. “I know how things used to be, but they’ve changed. I’m feeling generous so you can go back to your place to get your stuff. Then you’re coming with me.”

I had been there already and had felt that same disgust. She lived in a shitty basement apartment, and to my mind there couldn’t be anything there worth going back for. However, I chose not to share that with her.

She frowned. “I think you’re mistaken. I don’t take orders from you, or from the person who gives you yours,” she said significantly.

I hadn’t missed what she meant.

She was thinking of Santo, maybe her mother, and I paused, considering. It wasn’t my place to tell her all that had changed, and now definitely wasn’t the time. Plus, given how angry I was, I didn’t think I could break it to her in a compassionate way. So instead of taking the bait she had tossed out to me, I didn’t respond and instead said, “Giovanna, I think you’re confused about this. You’re coming with me, and I will carry you out of this alley if necessary. Let’s go.”

“Vincent, I’m not going anywhere with you. I—”

“Is there a problem here?”

Both Gia and I looked toward the sound of the voice.

I’d seen him inside, sitting next to the one who was in charge. He was the most clear-eyed of the bunch, and from the few minutes I’d observed, I’d seen he had plans. His idiot boss was too busy staring at Gia to notice, but this one had designs on the top spot.

Internally I was irritated, mostly at myself. I knew how Giovanna was and had let myself get sucked into a meaningless argument with her when I had better things to do, that I’d let my guard down.

Five minutes and Giovanna Carmelli had thrown me off yet again.

“This is a private conversation,” I said, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible.

I had an objective, and getting wrapped up in a bullshit power struggle was not part of it. Gia might have his boss’s eye, but this guy was here for me. He’d watched me the entire time I’d sat in the bar, no doubt trying to figure out who I was and why I was in their place. I wouldn’t play into it, though. Sergei had specifically trusted me with this task, and I wasn’t going to fail him.

“Is that true?” the man asked, looking at Giovanna.

Giovanna looked at the guy, then looked back at me. I realized I didn’t know what she would say. When I had known her before, it wouldn’t have been a question. But I was again reminded that no matter how deeply I felt, no matter how much I thought I knew her, the Gia of the past was just that, of the past. This was a new person, one I didn’t know, and couldn’t trust.

“Actually, this conversation is over,” she said.

When she finished speaking, she looked surprised, and when I looked at the other man, I could tell he was too.

I guess all three of us were, though I doubted either of them was nearly as surprised as me. There was nothing I could do about it now. Not without raising unwarranted attention. So instead, eyes hooded, I watched as Giovanna walked away, not saying another word to him or me.

At least I got to see her leave this time. I snorted at the thought, though there was no humor in it. How did she still have the power to crush me? And why, after she had, did I still love her so much?

Each clack of her retreating steps was like a dagger in my heart. A heart that didn’t know how to stop loving her. And I stood, listening, until the sound was gone.

“Who the fuck are you?” the other man finally asked.

I’d been staring at the direction where Gia walked, but then turned to look at him.

“Hope you never find out, and tell your boss to keep his hands to himself,” I said.

Then I walked away, refusing to give in to the emotion that coursed through me.

I wanted to punch the wall, strangle Gia, go find her, fuck her until I couldn’t move, my body still wanting her as much as it always had even after she’d again walked away from me.

I didn’t do any of those things.

Instead, as I continued to walk away, I turned on the disposable cell phone I carried and made a call.