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“Gia! For fuck’s sake,” Tyler snapped, his voice tinged with frustration. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“If you don’t tell them, I will!” Giovanna shot back.
“No, you won’t,” he argued. “I didn’t even know who you were when it happened. And if you couldn’t tell, I was shocked when I saw you show up here!”
My hand flew to cover my mouth as I listened in astonishment.
“I know, and I didn’t know who you were either! How was I supposed to know how small the world was?!” Her voice trembled with emotion. Is she crying? “But we can’t keep this from them forever. They’re your family, and you’re putting me in a shitty position. I feel like I’m lying to them, and they trust me!”
Holy shit, I breathed.
“It was one fucking time a long time ago. I was single, drunk, and on vacation. I’m not that guy anymore. I was miserable and lonely back then and caught in a bad place.”
“But—”
“No!” he barked. “I love them and didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want Mila to feel like shit. Now that she’s gone, it feels like it’s just too late to admit what we’ve kept hidden. No idea how Ian will react, and we need to just pretend it didn’t happen.”
“Fine,” she sighed audibly, “well then when you’re ready to talk to me, I have a lot to say to you.”
“I won’t be ready.”
“Tyler, I’m not the enemy here.”
“Listen,” he spat, “I’ll work with you but keep your fucking distance from me.”
“If that’s what you want,” she replied sharply, “you got it.”
I ducked around a corner just as she stormed out, going the other way. The moment she was out of sight, I stepped into the doorway, tapping on the door frame. Tyler was tidying up some papers on the desk, and glanced up, waving me in.
“What’s up?” he asked, trying his best not to appear bothered as he sat down at the desk, rolling underneath it.
“Just wanted to come let you know the club looks great and?—”
“It’s all Luke and Gia. I just make sure no one has STDs and understands the rules,” he interjected.
“Well, thanks for all your hard work.”
He rolled his eyes. “No problem.”
“I’m going to dance, but that’s all I wanted to say.” I pivoted around to leave but stopped in the doorway and whirled back around to face him.
I wasn’t going to bring it up. To let another big secret of the club stay buried forever, but I felt like after all he’d been through, he needed someone on his side. Someone who gave a shit about him and Giovanna.
It was the past, and it wasn’t as if either of them knew they’d one day end up under the same roof again, working at the same place. I’d done worse in my past and many people didn’t have my back in New York. Things were different here. And Giovanna was right. Tyler was family.
“What?” he asked firmly, steepling his fingers on the desk in front of him. And that was when he knew. His face turned ghostly.
But I raised a hand to stop him. “Before you say anything, just listen. We’ve all been through hell together, and we’ll continue to walk through the flames as a family. Luke and I have noticed something between you two for a while now, and I’m sure others have too. If you don’t get your act together and learn to be friends, your secrets will come out whether you want them to or not.” I could see the stress building in his eyes, in his tense posture, but I pressed on, “She’s a good person and this chance encounter isn’t her fault or yours. But if you keep avoiding her and acting weird whenever she’s around, it’ll only make things worse for everyone.”
He stared deep into my eyes in silence, gnawing the inside of his cheek. Finally, he rolled his tongue between his lips. “I told her I’ll work with her.”
“Ty,” I scoffed, “you’ve been such a dick to her and what happened to Mila wasn’t her fault but you’re taking your anger out on an easy target. She did nothing wrong and not to play devil’s advocate here, but you paid her to fuck. You started it.”
“That’s not fair,” he exhaled, flickering his gaze.
“And neither is treating her like shit.”
And with that, I spun on my heels and hurried for the changing room, getting dressed in haste after noting the time, and hurried for the stage. The club was almost pitch black as I took my place in front of the cross light bar. Only a glow from the floor, the bar, and exit signs remained. Taking several deep breaths, I readied myself for my performance.
