Page 49 of Dangerous Games

Gio pushes the door open, holding it for me to walk through first. “I listen to you, cara. I always listen to you. Sometimes, I just don’t think you’re right.”

“Because I don’t think it’s appropriate I come to your family dinner?” I ask, bewildered, as I climb the stairs to my place.

Gio sighs. “You only think it’s inappropriate because you refuse to open your eyes and see what’s happening here. Do you really think Matteo would have shown up at your work if he didn’t already know you mean something to me?”

I fumble with my keys at his admission, my hands shaking with fear of what I’ve been refusing to accept. After the third try, I finally get the key in the hole and unlock the door, letting us both inside. “I think he wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to rat you guys out after seeing you disposing of an entire body this time instead of just a hand.”

“He knows you wouldn’t rat, babe,” Gio says as he sets everything down on the kitchen counter. He turns to me as he pulls a white envelope out of his back pocket, shaking it in my direction before tossing it on the counter as well. “Before I forget, here’s your next payment.”

“But I haven’t paid rent yet,” I tell him, my brow lowering in confusion as the discomfort sets in. “I shouldn’t be getting hush money when I’m behind on what I owe.”

I get paid tomorrow and will be caught up, but that’s beside the point.

“Don’t worry about it,” Gio says nonchalantly as he turns his back to me to preheat my oven.

“Don’t worry about it?” I choke out as I cross my arms and cock a hip out. “Please tell me, Gio, how I can just not worry about the money I owe a mafia boss!”

He mumbles something that I don’t quite catch, making me move closer to him.

“What was that?”

“Just don’t worry about it, alright?”

“No. I want to know what you said,” I press, the demand lingering between us.

Gio sets the knife down he was just about to slice an onion with and tips his head back. “God, woman, you drive me fucking insane.”

“Gio.”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“No.”

He goes back to slicing the onion, still not looking at me. “I took care of it.”

He took care of it?

I grit my teeth as I try to contain the rage that’s ignited in me because if I don’t, I’m going to end up smacking him in the head. “Are you saying you paid my rent?”

“That’s what I took care of it means.”

I rub my hands down my face as I slowly breathe in and out. “Why did you think that’s okay for you to do?”

“Why are you mad?” Gio asks as he rolls out the dough.

He can’t be serious right now.

“I’m mad because I had it worked out with Matteo. You knew that. And then you decided to ignore that by going behind my back and paying it, making it look like I’m some broke bitch who can’t take care of my own shit!” The deep breathing didn’t work because now I’m full-on yelling.

“Yeah? Have you heard from your dad yet?”

“Fuck you, Gio,” I hiss before storming out of the kitchen. My skin feels flushed with shame and embarrassment. That was a low blow, and he knows it.

I really hate the fact that I live in a studio apartment right now, because all I want to do is lock myself in another room, but Lord knows that man isn’t going to leave my space. I frantically look around my small apartment, trying to figure out where to go as I feel the tears burning behind my eyes. My brain registers the only door in my apartment that I can lock myself behind: the bathroom.

I run to it and slam the door shut. The old wood rattles the frame. I lock it and sit on the edge of the older tub. I make it just in time before a sob hiccups out of me as the tears flow down my face.

My dad has always done this to me. It’s not new, and I doubt it will be the last time. The thing that makes this time suck that much fucking more is there’s people in my life to witness it.