Page 134 of Ruined
His lips twitched. “Yeah?”
I kissed his cheek. “I’m not going anywhere.”
THIRTY-ONE
LUCA
I stood in Santino’s backyard, smoking. I took a slow drag, the burn steadying my nerves. Telling my family I was gay felt like stepping off a cliff, but I couldn’t wait anymore.
I had to tell them.
My heart pounded. Word about us dating would spread. What if they didn’t want anything to do with me anymore?
The door behind me opened, and Santino stepped out. “You’re smoking again?”
“Just needed a break.”
He leaned against the railing beside me, his jaw tight.
Tell him now.
I blew out a stream of smoke, trying to find the words. They stuck in my throat, fear settling deeper in my stomach.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“You hear about that body they found in Providence?”
I frowned. “No.”
Santino took a long breath. “Cops found a body hidden under the floorboards in a restaurant basement. Piroshky. It’s all over the news this morning.”
The cold in my bones deepened, the name alone enough to make my pulse spike. A heaviness pressed down on me.
“Apparently the guy had been missing for years. He was a Bratva member. Some kind of internal feud.”
“Did they release a name?”
“Yuri Petrova. Did you know him?”
The world tilted on its axis, the air sucked out of my lungs. My vision narrowed, black spots dancing at the edges. Yuri. His name echoed in my mind, bringing with it a tidal wave of memories—his easy smile, the way he used to ruffle my hair, his laugh when I’d cracked a stupid joke. And then the way he’d looked before his death.
My chest tightened as though it was being crushed.
Santino’s stare bored into me. “You alright?”
I nodded, my vision blurring. My hands were shaking, my knees weak. I couldn’t breathe. I needed to get out of here.
“I just… need a minute.”
He nodded. “Alright. I’ll be inside.”
“Okay.”
He squeezed my shoulder before stepping back inside, leaving me alone with the crushing weight of the past.
I pressed a hand to my chest, forcing myself to breathe, but the tightness wouldn’t let up. All I could see was Yuri. I pressed my hands against my eyes, trying to block out the guilt, but his face flashed through the darkness. I needed to do something else to drown out the pain.