“Ididend—what?” His words suddenly hit me. “She poisoned Bandit?”
My dog?!I fucking loved Bandit! The black Doberman was with me for seven years, the most loyal, kind, and intelligent pet I’d ever had.
Andrei shook his head, annoyed like never before. “Bro, you can be so fucking oblivious sometimes, I swear.” I blinked at him, refusing to accept his accusations. Not mydog!“Is it a fucking coincidence that he got sick when you were away? She came to visit him every day, and she fucking hated him!”
“Wow.” I heard Jade’s voice right beside me. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her into me.
"Forget the dog, how the fuck are we getting Olya back?" Andrei reversed the conversation back to the problem at hand.
"Easy." I shrugged, placing a soft kiss on the top of Jade’s head. "We kill him."
26
Alex's Biggest Mistake
Alex
The biggest mistake I ever made started as a fling.
Gianna was hot, fun, kind of crazy, and down for anything. She had an alluring vibe of adventure.
For a few months, it kind of worked between us. The sex was good.
But I quickly discovered that she was also boring as fuck. It was simple—she was for someone else, not for me. There was nothing behind her façade. No real thoughts, motivations, goals, or even any kind of true personality.
And one morning cemented my decision.
Gianna’s long nails tapped against the cool glass, the liquid inside sparkling in the relentless midday sun of my backyard. She lounged beside me and in front of my pool, but her facial expression was sour. She was sour a lot lately.
“Babe?”
I sipped my iced coffee, waiting for her to continue. She didn’t. “Hm?” I prompted.
“This Friday we’re having dinner with Vince and Aleka at Le Jardinier. Pick me up at eight.”
I nodded, but then I remembered. “Wait. This Friday’s Andrei’s birthday dinner. He invited us a month ago.”
But Gianna shrugged easily, like she was uninterested in this scheduling conflict. “Okay, but you see him, like, every day? And getting a reservation at Le Jardinier is a miracle.”
“Why’s it a miracle? I know the chef.”
Her jaw dropped and she raised her sunglasses, her eyes accusatory, but surprised. “You know the chef? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I had no idea you even wanted to go. Also, who’s Aleka and Vince?”
“My friends! Aleka is that Italian girl I told you about? The one who’s working with Demure on their rebrand? And Vince is her new fling. I haven’t actually met him yet.”
“Hang on. You want me to skip Andrei’s birthday for dinner with people I’ve never met, and you’ve only met half the party?” I asked, certain she’d realize her faulty thinking.
“Yeah! Come on, we’ve gone out with Andrei and Ola like ten times—”
“Twice. We’ve gone out to dinner with them twice. Also, her name’s Olga, not Ola,” I corrected her, but she didn’t hear me.
“—we’re gonna see them again soon, anyway. Just send him a bottle of something expensive. He’ll understand.”
But that’s whenIunderstood that this was going nowhere. I didn’t show up at Le Jardinier that Friday, and Gianna didn’t show up at Andrei’s birthday dinner. I broke it off with her a month after that. Or so I thought.
Gianna came back a few weeks later. Slithered back into my life—sunk her sharp nails into me, manipulated me, and wore me down.
