Gio laughs too. "Okay, okay. You’re right. You’ve earned it." He pulls me into him. Our foreheads touch and I breathe out slowly, like everything finally settles. "I feel relieved," I admit.
"Me too," he says. I hesitate. "So can I have my gift later?" Gio groans. "Horny freak." I burst out laughing. "Sorry—"
"Don’t apologize," he cuts in. "I love that about you."
I nudge his shoulder. "Shut up."
He laughs, then looks at me properly. "You feel okay?"
I nod. Again and again.
"Hundred percent?" he presses.
I nod harder. "Yeah. I’m good. Really good."
And I mean it. Everything’s quiet now. Because of him. Only him. He watches me a second, then smiles. "Alright. Then we can go back."
…
He stops in front of my house.
"Go park the bike, I’ll grab some stuff and come over," I say, sliding off. Inside, the house is quiet. Jin is in the kitchen, hunched over a bowl of cereal, YouTube playing in one of his AirPods. Daisy is curled on the couch with her laptop. I toss my keys on the counter.
"Hey. Might be a good idea for you two to disappear before… dad gets home. Unless you wanna hear a full sermon about how cursed and fucked up your brother is." Both heads snap up. Daisy leaves her laptop. "Wait, what happened?"
I smile, open my closet. "Oh nothing major. Just finally said everything I’ve been shoving down for the last twenty-two years. Oh—and he punched Gio in the face."
"WHAT?!" they say together. Jin nearly chokes. Daisy jumps up. "Is dad still breathing?!"
"For now," I mutter, grabbing clothes and stuffing them into a bag. Daisy covers her face. "Jesus, Rava…I’m proud of you. But what’s his problem? Is Gio okay?"
"Gio’s okay."
"But what about you?"
"I’m done pretending this house is a home."
"Are you staying with Gio?" Jin asks.
"For tonight, yeah." I zip the bag. "If I see his face again, I might do something I’ll regret." Daisy lowers her voice. "Does Lorenzo know?"
"He left early."
I grab my charger, then panic and pat my wrist. The bracelet’s still there. I breathe. Sling the bag over my shoulder and head for the door. "If he starts acting weird, please leave. I’ll be next door. Call me if anything happens." Jin nods.
I close the door behind me.
25) Revenge
Gio
I feel like a starved animal.
We step into my place, and I trail behind him, shutting the door and locking it. He takes off his blazer and hangs it up on the hook, like this is his house too.
I'm so fucking horny I could combust. Rava fucking stood up. For me. For us. But mostly, for himself. I don't even care that Charles hits me. It’s worth it. Every second.
Because I got to see Rava become a fucking storm. I've never been so goddamn proud. I want to press him up against this door and make him forget every single awful second that came before it.
