There’s no point talking to him anymore, not when he’s like this.
If I’m being honest with myself, I’d wanted more from this conversation. I wanted him to be sober enough to see me as I am now: happy without him. I wanted that to hurt him. I wanted him to feel even a little bit of my own pain.
But instead, I’m left with this intoxicated mess.
“We’re done, Claudio,” I say anyway. “You can go to hell.”
It’s not at all satisfying. In fact, it feels as if I’ve said those words a thousand times already. There’s no need for closure when it comes to something you’ve already moved on from.
I think he tries to call after me, but I’m already out the door.
At least I got something out of him, even if nothing about it made any sense at all.
Maybe everything he said was an elaborate lie to get me back on his side. It was as if he thought claiming that I was the reason he took the loan was some kind of romantic gesture.
All I can do is hope that this wasn’t some massive waste of time.
I push through the doors leading me back into theCandelabraand plaster on a sultry smile. Now that my part was done, there was no reason for us to head straight back to the brownstone.
But Mia careens around the side of the bar and marches straight toward me. I can tell she’s trying to get me to stop and speak with her, so I turn to avoid her.
Only to see…
Words escape me. My entire world spins out from under me.
“Cas! It’s not worth it.”
Vaguely, I’m aware of Mia’s hands holding down my shaking arms.
As I watch Danny straddling Rocco’s lap, her lips pressed up against his.
19
ROCCO
Danny slides herself onto my lap far too easily.
“Have you forgiven me yet?” she purrs in my ear.
I glance over at the backstage door, but Cas hasn’t emerged yet. “I’ll give you about three seconds to get off me before I make a scene.”
The last time I saw her was that night at theElectrix.I thought she might have finally understood that our little arrangement was over, but considering the stench of alcohol on her breath, it seems she’s not making particularly rational decisions right now.
She scowls at me. “Please. You can’t seriously think we believe you’d settle down with someone like Bellini.”
The name catches me off guard. “What? Who are you talking about?”
Danny laughs. Her golden hair cascades down her back as she throws back her head. “You haven’t changed a bit! You’ve been fucking her all this time, but you still don’t know her name?”
She keeps talking, but it becomes background noise to the thoughts racing through my mind.
Danny is talking about Cassandra. Cassandra Bellini.It was a common enough name. Except…
It wasn’t a coincidence. It couldn’t be.
CarmineBellini.The man who sold Guild intel to the Cartel had a family. At least, he used to before his wife divorced him.
Seventeen years ago.
