Page 1 of Ruined

ONE

LUCA

Boss

Get here now.

Bring me dinner.

I stared at my phone, heat coiling in my gut.

Son of a bitch. I’d clocked out two hours ago. I asked the asshole if he needed anything. He told me to go home.

The restaurant hummed with clinking glasses and laughter. Soft jazz barely cut through the noise in my head. Across from me, Maria yapped about office drama. The smell of grilled meats and spices floated through the air. No demands. No orders. No one breathing down my neck. A peaceful night away from my boss, wrecked by two texts.

I stabbed my reply.

Where?

Boss

Casino.

Maria paused with a spoonful of kimchi. “Everything okay?”

“It’s Dominic.”

“You’re joking.”

I only frowned.

She put her spoon down. “Did you tell him you had plans?”

“He doesn’t care.” I stood, tossing cash on the table to cover the bill.

“You’re really leaving?”

She didn’t get it. Maria thought she was mad on my behalf, but she’d never seenrageup close, not like what I’d face if I didn’t go. Dominic wasn’t someone you ignored. You answered his calls and showed up when he told you to.

I pulled on my jacket. “I don’t have a choice.”

“You do. You just keep choosinghim.”

“It’s not that simple.”

Maria sighed, slumping into her seat. “There’s always an excuse.”

A pang hit my chest as she picked up her wine glass. Maria deserved a man who didn’t bail the moment his boss snapped his fingers. She’d gone all out for dinner. Her cherry nails matched her dress, probably because I said red looked good on her last week. She’d done something to her hair. It caressed her heart-shaped face and the pout that might’ve brought any other man to his knees.

It didn’t work on me.Couldn’twork on me. And I hated myself for it.

I’d put off this date for weeks, only to leave after twenty minutes. She was nice and beautiful. Any guy would be lucky to have her. What was wrong with me?

I drank the rest of my wine in a gulp. “I’m sorry, Maria.”

“Yeah.” She crossed her arms and plumped her chest.

I pretended not to notice. Made it easier to explain away. “Me too.”

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