Page 127 of Ruthless Sin
She stops.
“I watched you smile and charm and entertain and be everything this family needed you to be. But you weren’t here. Not really. You were gone. Somewhere else. Somewhere none of us could reach.”
Her voice cracks.
“And then she came. And you came back.”
I look up at her.
“For the first time in three years, my brother was back. Present. Alive. I could see you again.”
She wipes her eyes.
“So yes. You fucked up. You lied. You hurt her. And maybe she’ll never forgive you for it.”
“But she brought you back from wherever you’ve been for three years. And if you let her walk away without fighting for her, you’re going to disappear again. And this time I don’t think you’ll come back.”
My throat closes.
She knows.
Three years of pretending and Gia saw through every second of it and she waited because she’s Gia and she was never going to stop waiting.
I look at the floor.
“Gia.”
She stops.
“She made me want to be here again.” My voice goes wrong. “I didn’t know I’d stopped wanting to until she walked in. I didn’t plan it. I’m in it. Over my head. Terrified I won’t get the chance to try.”
She looks at me.
“I know,” she says.
She walks out.
Closes the door.
I sit on the floor.
Giada’s right.
I can’t survive losing her.
There’s another knock.
Harder this time.
Marco doesn’t wait.
He walks in. Folder under his arm. Small brown package in his right hand.
I’ve seen his face this way once. Low. Capo voice.
“This came at the outer gate.”
I stand.
