Page 105 of The Ruin I Chose

My voice was cold to keep from breaking

“Why would I want anything to do with a woman who looks like a hooker?” His voice was ice.

“Excuse me!” she shrieked—high-pitched, grating. Like a cat getting run over by a truck.

His voice dropped, low and venomous.

“Stay out of this, puttana.”

She gasped, eyes wide. I didn’t flinch. Her shock was nothing compared to the implosion inside my chest. She deserved worse. But the damage was done.

I turned and walked to my room fast, before he could see the tears spilling down my cheeks. Before he saw how much he still mattered.

Behind me, she giggled.

“Relax, it was just a kiss. No need to be so uptight.”

But I didn’t turn back. I didn’t care. I’d seen enough. Enough to know he could break me again.

CHAPTER 40

MARCELLO

I stared at the vaulted ceiling, listening to the sound of my breath bouncing off the walls.

The way she looked at me—like I was a stranger wearing the face of someone she used to trust. It felt like a bullet I deserved.

She saw something. Enough to hurt. Enough to doubt. And I’d done nothing to stop it. Nothing to ease her mind. Nothing to fight for her. Nothing to win her back.

The room was quiet, but my mind wasn’t. I lay there, staring at the ceiling, replaying the look on Roxanne’s face. The disbelief in her voice. The way she froze—like betrayal had a face, and it wore my name.

And that vixen. How dare she touch me? Her hands. Her smirk. The audacity. She knew what she was doing. She didn’t just kiss me—she weaponized it.

I’d never raise a hand to a woman. But her? Her neck deserved to be snapped in two.

My phone buzzed. A conference call with Santino and Martin.

“Ciao, fra! Come butta?” Santino chirped.

Too chirpy for my mood. I let out a sigh.

“Oh. That bad, huh?” he said.

“Spit it out.” My voice was clipped.

“I’ve got intel, Lorenzo was seen in Laos an hour ago,” Martin said.

Laos. That bastard was moving further east.

Running like a rat who knew his time was near.

“I’m heading there. Word is the triads from Shandong province are protecting him. I’ve already contacted Cheung and Ronnie. They’ll be sending in reinforcements for the extraction. Hope it doesn’t come down to a blood bath.”

“I want minimum casualties,” I said.

“Santi, all ok in Palma and London?”

“Yeah! Antonio has already left for London to be with his family.”