Page 24 of Giovanni the Savage

“That and to check up on you.”

“Alright, I’m not dead. I just got beat in a race by a man-child; thus, the rage.”

For fuck’s sake.

“But that can’t be the reason you’re losing sleep, right?”

I scoff.

His eyes narrow.

“Then what?”

I drop my pen. “Who sent you here, Eric?”

“Is it so weird that I want to see how my best friend is doing?”

“On a random Monday afternoon, yes. Especially when you’re not saying anything important.”

“How’s your Friday night looking?” he asks.

In other words, when are we going to go clubbing next?

“Busy,” I offer, in a clipped tone.

I haven’t been clubbing ever since I met the black-haired girl. For some weird reason, it feels like our thing, and if I go to a club, I may catch myself looking around for her.

“You know you need to take a break, right?” he warns.

He has a serious look on his face.

“I know you’re investigating your dad’s … death. I’m sorry. but you need to catch a breath.”

“I’ll rest when the bastard is dead,” I say through gritted teeth.

“It’s been over a month, Gio. Don’t you think it’s enough time for the killers to cover their tracks?”

I smirk. “No one hides tracts from me, Eric. You seem to have forgotten.”

“This is draining you, man.”

“Then let it drain me.”

My patience is growing thin, but I’d hate to ask him to leave when he only came for a good cause. I’d much rather go back to work, though.

“Anything so far?” he asks after some minutes of silence.

“So far, dead ends.” I breathe. “Maybe if I had begun earlier, I would have found something by now.”

“No, man, it’s not your fault.” But it is. “Don’t forget you were also affected by the raid. Hospitalized afterward even. So, it’s not your fault.”

“I only wish he got out unscathed.”

Eric is the only person I talk to, which is why he always walks out of my door freely after so many things he’s said here. We became friends years ago at an event we attended with our fathers. We bonded over being two adults who were thrown into the mob and have been close since then.

“More than anything, I wish that too, man. But you’ve got to move on.”

If there’s anyone that can tell me to move on, it’s Eric. He lost his parents in a similar brutal way, and I still wonder how he’s able to maintain his bubbly personality with all he’s been through.

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