Page 136 of Ruined

Let it end. I couldn’t fight it anymore.

THIRTY-TWO

DOMINIC

Is everything OK?

Why aren’t you texting back?

Fuck.

Luca wouldn’t leave me hanging like this. Tonight was important, the night he finally told his family the truth about himself. Hours had passed, and my phone screen remained dark.

Something was off.

I paced the living room, my mind spinning. Had the conversation gone badly? Did his family turn on him? Ice stabbed into my chest. Luca was strong, but he’d been walking a tightrope for years. The slightest push could send him spiraling.

I grabbed my phone and called Santino.

“Hey,” he answered.

“Where’s Luca?”

Santino hesitated. “He left.”

My grip tightened on the phone. “What do you mean?”

“During dinner,” Santino explained. “He said he needed some air and took off.”

The knot in my chest tightened. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“I thought he might’ve gone to you.”

“He didn’t.”

“Then he’s probably at home.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “What happened at dinner?”

Santino sighed. “I don’t know. He was tense when he showed up, barely touched his food.”

I gritted my teeth. “You must’ve said something.”

Santino hesitated. “I mentioned something that came up last week. Cops found a dead guy in Providence. A Bratva hitman. The cops were sniffing around. I thought he should know, just in case. He seemed upset, but then he nodded and went quiet. I didn’t think he’d take off.”

Fuck. “Do you have any idea where he might’ve gone?”

“I don’t. I figured he needed space.”

“I’ll find him,” I muttered, hanging up.

My jaw clenched. If Luca was spiraling, I knew exactly where he’d be.

The fighting ring.

The place he went to drown out his pain the only way he knew how.

The place that’d tear him apart if I didn’t get to him first.