Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
“I’ll do the job,” I mutter, closing the terminal that shows my connection to Laura. I try to do it all stealthily, but Valentina notices and makes a little noise in the back of her throat. “What? Got something to say?”
“No, nothing. I just couldn’t help but notice you were checking the connection again.”
“I miss the days when you didn’t know anything about computers,” I say, annoyed with myself for teaching her stuff.
“Yeah, well, I miss the days when you weren’t mooning over some Bianco girl.” Valentina sighs and runs a hand through her hair. She turns away but doesn’t leave the room.
That first morning was brutal. She was pissed, and for good reason. Laura’s dad killed her dad, and Valentina’s been holding onto a big-time grudge. She was under the impression that I hated the Biancos too, and we had to have a long talk about how I ended up with Laura Bianco on my doorstep.
Things are still tense. She seems to understand, but she’s unhappy about it.
“I’m not mooning.” I make a ‘fuck off’ gesture. “Don’t you have anything better to do right now?”
“Not really.” Her shoulders stiffen then she lets out a long breath. “Seriously, Marco, you’re not going to let it go, are you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I look away at my computer screen, but she turns around.
“I was thinking about it, and I can’t remember the last time I saw you interested in another person. I mean, there’s your little crime lord buddies and the alliance you’re building, but you don’t even like any of them, aside from Ronan. Forget about friends, girlfriends, lovers, fuck buddies, whatever. You’ve been like a single-celled organism ever since my dad died.” She runs a nail down her forehead, her eyes squeezed shut. “And I have too.”
I let that sink in. She’s right—ever since Luciano was killed, we’ve both been mourning in our own ways. I threw myself into jobs, while she sat on my couch and watched TV, but just because it manifested differently doesn’t mean we’re not dealing with the same thing.
“I like her,” I say, which is an understatement, but I’m not about to explain to Valentina how good it feels making Laura finger-fuck herself over video chat.
“I know you do. And I know I fucked it up.”
“That wasn’t your fault. She saw you, and I think what we were doing really hit home for her, and she bailed.”
“Still, she shouldn’t have. You’re a good guy, Marco, one of the last loyal people in the whole fucking world, and if you want to be with her—” Valentina shakes her head almost like she can’t believe what she’s about to say. “Well, I just mean, I won’t give you shit for it.”
I stare at her, genuinely shocked. “Are you serious?”
“You saved my life after Dad was killed.” She chews her index fingernail and can’t meet my eye. “You know how much I owe you, dude. You’re my best friend, and yeah, I find it really gross that you’d want to be anywhere near Laura Bianco, but it’s not for me to judge. I just don’t know how you plan on destroying her family while also, you know, fucking her or whatever you’ve been doing.”
I’m honestly touched. Valentina is a lot of things, but selfless isn’t usually one of them. It must be really hard for her to set aside her own feelings right now in favor of my own, and I appreciate the gesture more than she’ll know.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “But it doesn’t matter because she’s not talking to me. I’ll get over it eventually.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“I’ll have to. I fucked up, Val. I should’ve told her who I was sooner, but I was too much of a coward, and I didn’t want to ruin what we had by taking off the mask.” I glance over at where the jackal face leans against the corner of the room on top of a table. “Now I have to live with that.”
“Maybe, or maybe you shouldn’t give up. You’re Marco fucking Vitale, the best computer guy in the whole city, and a dangerous motherfucker on top of that. You should get out there and take your damn girl.”
I snort and shake my head. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
“Whatever. I’m gonna go purge now. God, Laura Bianco? Sickening. I mean, do you, so proud and supportive and shit, but gross.”
“There we go. That’s more like you.”
“Goodbye, loser, and finish the job before Gregory strangles me and does weird things to my corpse.” She leaves with a flip of her hair and a wave, and I sit alone in my office again before turning to my computer.
The connection is still alive.
After all this, Laura still hasn’t gotten rid of me. Not entirely, anyway.
There’s a glimmer of hope, and Valentina’s right, I’m one stubborn bastard.