Page 74 of Bad for You

“How do you know all this?”

Aldo sighs heavily as if reliving a memory that plagues him to this day. “I know Gianna because she is my ex-wife.”

My poker face is long gone because what in the ever-living fuck? If Gianna is his ex, does that mean the girl I saw sneaking out of the crack house is her daughter?

This shit just gets more and more fucked up, but I guess it explains a lot because nothing in life is a coincidence.

“I promise your brother will get the help he needs. All I ask in return is you pledge your loyalty to me. But to do that, I need you to do whatever Gianna says. She cannot know anything is amiss.”

“And then what happens?”

Aldo appears saddened by what he says next, but all’s fair in love and war. “Then I take back what she stole from me. Her empire was built on everything I taught her. I confided in her, I…loved her, and in return, she stabbed me in the back because greed is more important to her than love.

“She has no heart. Trust me when I say this. She will use anyone to get what she wants. There is a war coming, Lennon. And I fear that war is not between me and her. I fear it is between you and Valentina…just the way Gianna intended.

“She has no problems killing me and burning my empire to the ground. But she knows she cannot win. She’s tried but has always failed. She’s forgotten who taught her everything she knows. Her allies grow tired of her games.

“She needs a new queen, one she can control, one she can trust. New blood is needed. A new leader who can seduce any man to do what she commands.”

“Valentina won’t leave her. I’ve tried.”

“Then you must try harder.”

“Even if I get her to agree, she has an unbreakable loyalty to her. Valentina believes Gianna can help her find her mother and get revenge on the orphanage.”

Aldo’s face soon changes, and I know why.

“You know where her mother is, don’t you?”

He replies after a few moments of silence. “Yes.”

“Then tell me, and this can all be over!”

But I soon realize he won’t, and that’s because nothing in this world is free.

“Prove your loyalty first, and then I shall tell you everything.”

“And until then?” I ask, angered because I’m now left with more questions than answers.

He simply smiles. “Until then, we sell crystals.”

I’m envisioning punching Lenny in the face, but I don’t feel any better.

It’s incredible how easily my emotions can switch when thinking about him.

Love him.

Hate him.

Love him.

How dare he think he can tell me what to do? Just because he made every part of me feel alive doesn’t give him the right to dictate what I should or shouldn’t do.

But a small, annoying voice screams at me that he’s right.

Gianna’s behavior has been different lately. It feels as though she’s preparing us for something, and when she knocks on my door, it seems I’m about to find out what.

“Are you all right?” she asks, catching me off guard.

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