Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“Another go,” I repeat.
That’ll make this the fourth or fifth time since their divorce talk started.
Mom pouts like she’s angry with me. “I thought you’d be pleased.”
“Well, good luck,” I say, standing. “I’m tired.”
“Ruby…”
“Mom, let her go,” Lexi snaps. “She doesn’t have to listen to this if she doesn’t want to.”
I leave the room. Maybe Luca was right. Maybe I’m acting juvenile. Maybe all those long sessions with my head buried in history books weren’t enough to make me mature.
As soon as I walk into my bedroom, there’s a knock on my door. “Ruby, it’s me,” Dad says softly. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
He opens the door and walks slowly across the room, sitting on the edge of my bed and touching my hand. “I know how this seems.”
“Then you understand why I can’t be excited,” I tell him.
“But it’s for real this time.”
“You were arguing earlier. Throwing things. It’s just the same cycle, Dad.”
“You know we love you, don’t you?” He squeezes my hand almost desperately, like he needs me to understand this.
“Of course, I know that,” I tell him. “I’m just not sure if you and Mom love each other. It hurts, Dad, waiting for her to decide.”
“This isn’t just about her,” Dad says. “It’s about me. I haven’t always been the husband I should have.”
“Then why are you trying again?”
“Because you’re wrong. We do love each other. We just don’t always like each other. One day, you’ll find a husband. You’ll realize what a relationship is—ups and downs, fighting to make it work.”
I think about Luca and the… the what? The mini argument we had?
“Yeah, maybe.”
“You’ll see, kiddo,” Dad says.
“Can you not call me kiddo anymore?” I ask, even though I like it when Lexi calls me kid.
He smiles tightly. “Old habits… Too old for that now, though, aren’t you?”
I try to return his smile because it hurts when he’s trying so hard, and I’m just sitting here. I know where this cycle will end—where it always does. “Just a little.”
After Dad leaves, Lexi knocks at my door, making me think she was waiting for him to go. She closes the door behind her wordlessly and sits on my computer chair, spinning from side to side, her mismatched eyes filled with deep misery. But Lexi isn’t the kind to let it all out. I understand she just needs me to sit with her.
Finally, she says, “I’m going to die alone, Ruby.”
I gasp. “Don’t say that.”
“You don’t need to act like it’s a bad thing,” she mutters. “It’s a decision. After seeing them together, I can’t imagine being with anyone. Not after I’ve seen where it ends.”
I picture Luca, tingles dancing over me. For some reason, I feel the need to defend relationships, almost like I’m defending what this strange mafia prince and I might one day share. “It’s not the same for everyone.”
“Do you really think some people have perfect relationships? That they never argue? It’s not worth the stress. You can have a good life being alone.”
“I’m not saying you can’t, but what if you meet someone? What if they’re the perfect man for you, but all this stuff about Mom and Dad makes you sabotage it?”
She looks at me closely. I can tell what she’s thinking—that I’m projecting. “Have you met someone?” she asks.
I turn away. I can’t look at her as I lie. “No, but I want you to be happy.”
“I will be,” she says. “Happy and alone. Forever.”
CHAPTER 8
Luca
“I thought they were waiting for us,” I say to Elio, leaning against the wall of the club’s office. Music pumps from beneath us, dampened by the soundproofing but not completely silenced. There was a time when the music would call to me, but now, the idea of going down there, drinking, and meeting some random woman makes me feel hollow.
“They’ll be back in a few minutes,” Elio says tightly. “They wanted to grab a coffee, apparently.”
“Pfft. It’s a power play. A way to let us know they don’t wait for us. It’s the other way around.”
Elio frowns at me from his place at the desk. Even now, he’s got this aura around him. I never would’ve believed it before. Although we’re dealing with some depressing business, it’s like he’s fighting the urge to smile. Can I blame him? He’s got Scarlet. He’s got Molly. If life’s a game, my big brother won.
“What?” I snap when he keeps staring.
“You’ve checked your phone six times since you got here.”
I put my phone in my pocket. Honestly, I didn’t even realize I was doing it.
“Waiting for a text?”
“Ruby and I didn’t leave things on good terms,” I tell him. “She doesn’t want me to do the right thing.”
“Which is?”
“Put Nate Kingston in the dirt.”
Elio sucks in a breath. “I happen to agree with her there, Luca.”
“Do you know what it takes for a man to do what he did?” I snap. “To drug a woman? To take a photo of her…” I curl my hands into fists. “He’s the lowest of the low.”