Page 122 of Ruined

Angelo and Enzo were as predictable as ever. I should’ve seen this coming. My brothers were snakes, but they weren’t the real threat. The Russians didn’t partner with anyone unless they already had the knife ready for their back.

Luca.

His name pushed through the haze in my brain.

I closed my eyes. I saw the sharp curve of his smirk when he thought he was being clever.

I fucking loved him.

And I’d walked away.

I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t want to be the reason he ended up in a grave.

I hadn’t walked away to protect him. Not really.

I’d walked away because I was scared.

Luca wasn’t just a man I cared about. He was theone. Only he could tear me apart with a look.

I imagined his scowl. He’d yell at me for getting jumped. He’d clench his fists, full of fire, and would look at me with that unbearable softness, like I was the only person in the world who mattered.

God, I missed him.

I’d told myself I was doing the right thing, but I’d been wrong. So fucking wrong. Luca wasn’t spiraling because of me. He was just falling for me, and I’d left him to hit the ground alone.

I exhaled, my ribs screaming in protest.

What if this was it? What if I died in this miserable basement without ever telling him?

The thought clawed through me.

No.

I had to get out of here. To tell him everything.

That I loved him so much it hurt.

I couldn’t die with him thinking I didn’t care.

I tilted my head back, forcing a laugh out of my cracked lips. My brothers thought they’d won. They didn’t realize they were already dead men walking.

The second I got out of here, I was going home.

To Luca.

TWENTY-NINE

LUCA

I hadn’t slept in weeks.

Couldn’t focus on anything except him. The way he’d looked at me that night as he said goodbye, like I wasn’t enough to hold on to. Maybe I wasn’t.

I shoved a pile of books off the table, ignoring the dull thud as they hit the floor. GED prep materials, all highlighted and dog-eared from weeks of trying to be more than a fuckup.

The test was in a week. Santino kept reminding me, like that piece of paper would fix everything. My brain couldn’t hold a thing right now. Every time I sat down to study, I stared at the same page for hours, my thoughts spiraling back to Dominic. When I wasn’t drowning in grief, I chased ghosts.

Alexei.