Page 617 of Not Over You

“Away from each other.”

“Because of each other,” I said.

“You’re the lock, and I have the key.”

“It’s not that simple, Lilo. Things—”

“Fuck things,” he said. “It is that simple. You buried the key. You kept it all away from me. You kept you away from me.”

“You did, too,” I snapped, but it was still quiet. “Gallo—”

“I did what I had to do to keep you safe.”

“What’s changed now?”

He shrugged. “Everything.”

“Give me more than that, Lilo.”

“I rule my own thing now. It’s eating him up. The night you met him, out in the snow, he threatened you and the gym in a subtle way. You gotta read between the lines in this life. Though I enjoy the gym, it’s just a fucking place. No one can replace you. I took it personally, as intended. Just like he took it personally when I refused his offer and then bought the gym. Shit spiraled from there, but in a controlled way. Me and him, we’re in a cage together, and only one of us is coming out of it alive.”

My throat and chest felt tight, but I took a deep breath and pushed on.

“You said you’re trying to get out. There’s no getting out.”

He shrugged again. “If you’re smart enough, anything’s possible.”

“That’s why he has it in for you. He’s jealous.”

“He took me as a quiet, do-what-I’m-told knee-breaker, at first. But Michele’s mind is mine; the wires are just plugged in differently. I’m smarter than Gallo, and he knows it. He’s tried to have me killed numerous times. But in a way that was business related. I did something wrong, screwed over the establishment, and he was the good man who pointed it out to the boss. I checked him every time. This time, he’ll have no moves left.”

I stared at his chest for a second before he tilted my chin up and our eyes met again.

“You showed up at The Cigar Bar. The first night I worked there.”

It wasn’t a question. I knew the truth. That was why Mo had wanted me to scramble. He was afraid of Lilo. Just because we were separated didn’t mean I didn’t know things. I was telling him the truth when I said I kept up. Ava was my source. And she told me his name was feared on the streets.

“You caused quite a stir, but I had no fucking clue the Luci they were talking about was my Lucila. Not until Ghetti dropped the hint.”

“You haven’t even asked me why,” I said.

“Don’t need to. Sonny.” He ran his finger along my face, all the way down to my lips, tracing them. “He’s been playing with fire for a while. Making bets he can’t pay.”

A hard shiver stole over me from his touch. “I owe him, Lilo. Mo. Or—”

He held a hand up. “You owe no man anything,” he said. “I’ll take care of it. And the next time I see Ava, we’re going to have it out. She should have fucking told me.”

“Like she tells you mostly everything about me.”

“Like she tells you everything about me.”

He searched my eyes in a way that told me he had something on his mind.

“What?”

“You wanted me to find out,” he said. “About working there.”

“No,” I said, almost defensively. “I told her not to tell you.”

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