“I don’t like it here,” she mutters, tying off the stitch.
“What don’t you like?”
“It’s boring. Lonely. And Una fucking comes and goes as she pleases.”
“I can be home more.” I say, sliding my hands around her waist. “And Una doesn’t have to come over here ever again.”
Gi stiffens when I pull her against me. “But you’re going to keep her on as your assistant?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
She crosses her arms. “I saw her today.”
“Okay.” I’m not sure where she’s going with this.
“She told me everything, Tommy.”
I blink. “Okay?”
Her voice rises, and she blinks back tears. “Did you tell her to do it, Tommy? Were you trying to ruin my life? Spy on me? Did she come back to you with all the dirty details of how miserable I was with Antonio? Did you two laugh about it in bed together?”
I stare at her, stunned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She starts to walk away, but I grab her wrist. “No. Gi, I’m serious. Talk to me.”
Her lip trembles. “If you knew—if you did this—it’s worse than Antonio fucking her in the first place.”
“Antonio fucking who?”
“The betrayal from you is just—”
“Baby,” I grab her hands, my heart thudding in my chest. “What did I do? Please tell me.”
She shakes her head. “Fuck, I can’t do this. If you did this, I can’t fucking take it. I don’t want to know. I just need you to—”
“Giovanna, we’re not doing this,” I cut in. “Listen to me. You are the only woman I’ve slept with. The only one I’ve ever wanted. I did go on dates with other women when we were apart. Some of them ended with—”
“Your dick in her mouth?” She snaps, whipping her gaze up to meet mine.
I sigh. “But I promise you, I never touched Una, and she never touched me.”
She searches my face for a long moment, then asks quietly, “Did you tell Una to fuck Antonio when he and I were together?”
It feels like the counter shifts underneath me. “What? Fuck no. When?”
“A few years ago. He was cheating on me with her for months. He called her his girlfriend. Did you know? Did you ask her to do it?”
It can’t fucking be true. But my brain starts flipping through memories at warp speed, piecing things together.
She went on vacation to Ireland around the same time that Antonio was out of town for weeks.
They both disappeared at one of the New Year’s Eve galas, but I didn’t care at the time because it meant I could stare at Giovanna and not be bothered by either of them.
One of the times I beat the shit out of Antonio, I ripped a chain off his neck that had a claddaugh ring on it. It reminded me of how Gi used to wear my wedding ring on a chain around her neck. And it happened after Una came back from Ireland.
Then there was the time I came into my office after Giovanna was kidnapped to find Una chatting with Berto like old friends,though there is no reason she would have known him. Unless she knew him because she was dating his brother, Antonio.
I can’t breathe. Can’t think. The rage is instant, volcanic.
