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Falynn
PLAYLIST: ? BOYS LIKE YOU - TANERÉLLE ?
“Got a second?”Robby asks.
Nobody else at the dinner table hears him. They’re still buzzing about what happened earlier with Gio and Claro. As they sip espresso and nibble on cake, no one notices I scoot my chair back and follow Robby out of the room. He leads me through the house to the front door. When I stop and raise a brow, he guides me outside.
“We’re gonna stand here for a chat.” He offers me a cigarette, but I shake my head.
The night’s cool and breezy, dark except for the lights from the house windows. Robby’s silhouette looms against the shadowy background, almost blending in. The only feature of his I can distinguish is his hook nose in profile and the shift of his beady eyes as he stares at Claro and Juliana’s front yard.
“Gio knows, Falynn.”
The words stop my heart even if I have no clue what he means. I’m already jittery as feelings of guilt shake through me. “Knows? What does he know?”
Robby lights up his cigarette and takes his first drag. “C’mon, Falynn, don’t be stupid.”
“I’ve never been stupid a day in my life, but you are right now if you think I’m into your games, Robby.”
“Lorenzo Espinosa,” he says. The weight of his gaze is heavy even in the dark.
My blood runs cold. “Wh-what about him?”
“See? There you go, being stupid. We both know you’re no dum-dum, Falynn, so why are you acting like one?”
“Call me another name and—”
“What? You’ll go run to Gio? Tattle on me like you did Claro?” His laugh is sharp and cold, biting into me on sound alone. “If you keep up this little innocent bird act, I’ll run to him for you. Tell him all about how you’re protectingEnzo.”
“I’m not protecting anyone!”
“Then what happened opening night of the Vittoria? Where’d you disappear off to? With who?”
Sothisis what he’s brought me out here for. Robby had been keeping an eye on me the night Lovato’s guys shot up the casino, and I went missing. He hasn’t mentioned it since, but I should’ve known an asshole like him resents me. When I disappeared, it made him look bad in Gio’s eyes. He blames me.
But how does he know about Enzo? How does Gio?
“What do you want?” I ask tightly, folding my arms.
“You need to get outta here,” Robby says, blowing smoke. He uses his fingers holding his cigarette to point at me in the shadows. “I’m only gonna give you this out once.”
“An…an out?”
“Let me put it this way, Honey. You’re fucking shit up big-time. You’ve got Gio’s head—the wrong head—in all the wrong places. The thing is, he’s never gonna hurt you. He’s a cold-blooded man, but he cares too much about you. Even if you’ve betrayed him, he can’t have you blasted. He won’t do it. I can tell.”
“I’veneverbetrayed Gio!”
“You realize it’s your word versus Enzo’s? How do you think it looks, you disappearing off with your ex? The same ex who’s working for Lovato? Who shot up Gio’s casino? Who looks like the bigger shithead here? You or him?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll explain to Gio what really happened—”
“Too late. Word’s gotten around, Honey baby. Should’ve calculated those steps better. Now the story’s been spun, and the target’s on you. Whether you realize it or not, it’s already in motion,” he explains. A grin forms around the cigarette stuck between his lips. “Now, I’m gonna tell you how to get outta this. It’s up to you if you take the out.”
“But if you say Gio will never hurt me, then what do I have to be afraid of?”
Robby plucks the cigarette from his lips and laughs. “You sweet little innocent thing. Maybe you are really that dumb. Honey, you’re in the middle of a Mafia war, or have you not been paying attention? I saidGiowill never hurt you. Didn’t say a damn thing about anybody else. Including Sorrentino Sr.”
The coldness in my blood spreads into my lungs. I can’t even breathe. I stand there without air, staring at Robby with wide eyes, unsure of what to do or say.
