Page 96 of Ruining Vanessa

There’s the reaction I’d been expecting, and I relax a little. Giulio really is hard to get presents for, and I’d thought this would be a runaway hit. Not as good as assassinating Victor Corvi for him, of course, but something for him to enjoy. “A total dick, which, coming from me… Well, that’s saying a lot. We are almost to his home, my friend, and I have the full torture bag in the trunk. Just for you.”

Giulio starts smiling. “Aww, this is the most romantic thing you’ve done for me. We’ll have to take all the pics to share with Damien. He’ll be so jealous when he finds out where we’ve been.”

“Would’ve taken him, too, but someone needed to stay with Vanessa,” I say, and I’m surprised to find I’m being honest. Damien dislikes me a whole lot more than I dislike him, but we still don’t get along. Still, he’ll get the full experience, like he’s there, because I do plan on memorializing this occasion.

I pull into a parking spot a few streets away from Brad’s place, out of sight from casual passersby. Turns out, when you’re a rich fuck with nice, rich parents, you get your own place even as a college student. He couldn’t have made it easier for us if he’d tried.

We get out of the car, and I grab my duffel bag of goodies from the trunk.

“We can’t kill him, though,” I warn Giulio. “That’s more of a mess than I want to deal with.”

Giulio grins at me, that same manic smile he’d given me the first time we’d met. “Oh, I think I can live with that. We’re going to have so, so much fun.”

23

GIULIO

There’s a car parked outside the small house, a fucking luxury car of all things, and I have to wonder about Brad’s parents. Do they know they’re enabling him into being an entitled little dickwad?

Maybe they do, and they don’t care. My old man sure as fuck wouldn’t have.

I casually knock on the door and wait outside of the peephole’s view. Only Slayer is visible, and he actually looks presentable.

These days, it’s kind of a toss-up on whether anybody opens the door even when they are home, but it turns out Brad isn’t as careful as some other people might be.

“About time,” Brad says as he opens the door. “I ordered almost an hour…. Uh, where’s the food?”

Slayer grins and pushes the door open the rest of the way. “We ate it, sorry.”

Before Brad can yell, Slayer lunges at him and knocks the wind out of him. Brad stumbles to the ground, gasping, while I heft the duffel bag and shut the door behind us.

“Nice place,” I say, looking around. “How much is the rent here? I’m thinking of getting a condo in Benton, but a little house in the suburbs might not be bad.”

“The fuck?” Brad wheezes out.

I get a good look at him. I’ve been told I look like a douche with my frosted tips—which, really, is so offensive—but this guy just looks like an asshole from the start. Even struggling to breathe, his features look so arrogant that I want to punch him. Blond hair, blue eyes, tall but maybe not quite as tall as Vanessa, slender… He looks like every other college frat boy. What was Vanessa thinking, dating him?

“You got a tiled room around here? Bathroom might be a bit small, but maybe a basement rec-room? Or we can just use the kitchen. There’s lots of knives there, anyway.” I start heading farther into the house. The kitchen’s got wide-open windows with barely-there curtains, so that’s out. But I do find a door leading downstairs, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s unfinished.

“Over here! It’s perfect!” I call out to Slayer.

We’re both wearing gloves, of course, and beanies to cover our hair. I’m reckless, but I’m not sloppy. We’re going to have our fun… with proper protection.

I snicker to myself at that thought.

“What’re you laughing at?” Slayer asks as he drags Brad to the stairs by the collar of his shirt.

“Thinking about how we need a barrier for all the fun we’re about to have.”

That dress made your boobs look less tiny, he’d texted to Vanessa. My face hurts trying to keep the grin in place.

I pat Brad on the cheek. “Hey, cutie, you got condoms around here? I forgot to bring some.”

Brad looks at me, still looking dazed, and it seems to take him a moment to understand what I’m implying. When it hits him, though, he gapes at me like a fish out of water.

“Well?” Slayer asks, shoving him. “You got any or not?”

Brad shakes his head, though I’m willing to bet it’s a lie. A guy like him would always have condoms around.

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