Page 92 of Bad for You

“Aldo is Gianna’s biggest rival, and we know she doesn’t like competition. She trained us to take him down because who would suspect two kids?”

“How do you know this?”

But I don’t need to answer.

“You traitor, Lenny. You’re siding with Aldo after everything Gianna has done for us!”

“Gianna isn’t the hero in this story! For fuck’s sake! Open your eyes. Look what she did to us! Look at Lewis! I could have helped him before he got to that! And look at what she’s turned you into. She’s turned you into her!

“She knew where your mother was this entire time, yet she held out all these years to tell you. She is fucking evil! She uses people. She doesn’t love. She’s taught us that.”

Valentina exhales slowly. “You know nothing about my mother. Gianna had her reasons!”

“Such as?” I ask, incredulous to this horseshit.

“She was trying to protect me.”

“No, sweetheart, she is trying tocontrolyou. There’s a difference!”

“Lenny,” Bria says, trying to calm me down as she stands. “Hi, Valentina. You don’t know me, and if I were in your shoes, I would be fucking angry too. But what Lenny says is true. Gianna was married to my dad for years.

“He loved her with all his heart. But the only reason she stayed was to steal from him and turn his men, his world, against him.”

Valentina looks seconds away from ripping out Bria’s throat. I stand between them, a gesture that doesn’t go unnoticed by Valentina.

“I mean you no harm. I only want to help Lenny because I’m the one who dealt drugs to his brother. Lenny could have killed me for what I’ve done, but he didn’t. He cares about people. He cares about you.

“But Gianna doesn’t.”

Valentina’s anger simmers when she hears Bria’s confession.

“Please, come with me,” I say, hoping she finally sees reason. “I’m not going back there ever again. I understand if you want to stay, but I just…” I can’t finish my sentence because the words get stuck in my throat.

“Where will we go?” Valentina asks, walking toward me.

We?Is there a we in this equation, then?

“Aldo will give us a place to stay.”

“And what happens to Gianna?”

My silence answers her question.

“Your father was kind to me,” Valentina says to Bria, surprising me. “I remember him. He meant everything he said.”

Bria nods. “Look, he’s a pain in the ass, but he means well.”

Valentina’s lips twitch.

I don’t know what is happening right now, but it’s not bad.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” I ask, confused.

“Okay, I’ll come. But I need to get my things. Gianna isn’t home. So if we go now, we can—”

I don’t let her finish. I wrap her in my arms and hug her tight. I can’t believe this actually fucking worked. I look at Bria, nodding in gratitude.

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