Page 101 of Ruining Vanessa

Slayer holds me firmly to him, and only my pride keeps me from flailing uselessly against him. He has to hear me. He has to agree with me. He saw the picture too. He heard what Brad said about Vanessa.

He brought me here.

“To teach him a lesson,” Slayer says, his voice even despite the rage biting at his tone. “We’ve taught it to him. Now let’s get the fuck out of here before one of his neighbors comes to see what’s going on.”

He’s right. I know he’s right. I’ve got enough heat on me with my mafia dealings and Corvi and Romano and everybody else who probably wanted my old man dead. I don’t need to worry about this catching up to me too.

“What’s even the point of being—” I cut myself off. “Fine. Fuck. You deal with the cleanup.” I wait until Slayer lets up, then storm to the stairs. I stop there and grin at Brad. “Hey. You’re so fucking lucky you caught me on a good day. Because I don’t want to cause too much trouble for my friend. But if I find out you snitched about this to anyone… I probably won’t be in a good mood anymore.”

Slayer eyes me, almost like he’s expecting me to double back and go for Brad again. He’s not wrong to think it’s possible, either. But I stalk up the stairs before either of them can respond.

Fuck.

Fuck!

I still have Brad’s phone in my hand, and I stare down at it. The picture of Vanessa’s still right there, and I want to go back down the stairs to finish what I started. I’m so close to doing just that, but Slayer comes up the stairs with the duffel bag over his shoulder in record time.

“Out,” he barks, gesturing to the front door.

I shrug, pasting on a large grin. “It’s like you don’t trust me at all.”

But I follow him out, because… because I don’t trust myself, either.

24

VANESSA

Larry looks annoyed, but that doesn’t stop Damien’s lecturing.

“If he says he’s going somewhere, you have to find out where. I know you can’t stop him from doing what he wants—” not like Damien, who is the only person I’ve seen who can actually herd Giulio like the cat he is “—but at least make sure we can get a hold of him.”

That’s the main problem here. Damien and I had cooked dinner together, but when he’d called Giulio to invite him over, Giulio hadn’t responded.

I take a sip from my cup of tea, enjoying the warmth, and I listen. I’m a bit bemused by the whole thing. Damien and I had actually had a decent day, somehow, until Damien had realized Giulio was missing. That had been three hours ago, and there’s still no sign of him.

“He was with Slayer,” Larry says for the third time. “It’s not like I let him go off on his own. And I’m sure he has his phone. He always has his phone.”

It’s like a broken record, but Damien doesn’t seem to be hearing anything Larry is saying.

“Then why isn’t Slayer answering his phone?” Damien asks.

It’s weird how Damien can manage to sound so intimidating without ever raising his voice. I remember how my father yelled; I remember Emilio Pavone raging. That anger was scary, but Damien’s quiet, intense voice is like a wall in its absoluteness.

Despite his protests, Larry is sweating.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” I say, feeling a bit sorry for Larry. “Damien, you know Giulio wouldn’t…”

But do we know that? I don’t know what Giulio would or wouldn’t do. My neck prickles, remembering how he’d dumped me in the woods. The terror of being stretched out on the cold table.

Whatever I think, it doesn’t matter, because there’s a small sound near the door, then it swings open.

Giulio strolls in, grinning, and my entire body tenses. “Yo!” Giulio waves at us. “Hey, Larry. Get the fuck out, would you?”

The grin means bad news, and when Slayer follows him in, his expression is solemn—maybe even a little chagrined, which does not spell good things at all.

Larry looks between Damien and Giulio, like he’s waiting for permission from Damien to leave. He’s already in the doghouse, and he obviously doesn’t want to piss Damien off again.

Giulio notices the hesitation and heads over to Larry, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Hey, Larry. Quick question. Who’s the boss around here?”

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