go big, you don't get to go home. When you go big, you end up tortured in basements."
Dante's cheek twitched. "I went home."
"That time," he said, "but you're running out of lives, pussy-cat. You wasted the first eight. Playing fast and loose with number nine isn't smart."
Dante's eyes narrowed, and he started to counter that, when Gabriella laughed. "You two argue like an old married couple."
Gavin shot her a look, while Dante scoffed. "He wishes we were."
"Fuck you." Gavin flipped his middle finger at Dante before glancing at Gabriella, who again laughed. "You know what? Fuck you, too. Fuck both of you."
"Not interested," Dante said. "I told you I had a girlfriend."
"He does," Gabriella said, grinning.
"You," Gavin said, pointing at Gabriella. "You need your head checked. And you…" He pointed at Dante as he stood up. "I can't wait until somebody finally gets the balls to shoot you, because you know what I'm going to do when that happens?"
"Cry?"
"Laugh," he said. "I'm going to stand back and laugh, because your dumb ass will deserve it."
Gavin walked away, shaking his head.
"Is it sad that I think that jackass might be my best friend?" Dante asked, turning to Gabriella.
That declaration surprised her. "Really?"
He nodded. "These days, well, Gavin's pretty much the only one I trust… except for you."
Guilt. Gabriella never thought of it as a tangible sensation, but she felt it swelling like a wave, threatening to break and crash into her. "You trust him? You trust me?"
Dante's brow furrowed. "Why wouldn't I trust you?"
"You said you didn't trust anybody," she said. "You said you could only depend on yourself."
"Yeah, well, I said a lot of shit," Dante said. "I was angry. I'm still angry. But if I've learned anything, it's that maybe I just trusted the wrong ones."
Gabriella frowned. The two people he let himself trust were keeping a secret from him. A life-altering kind of secret. It was lying by omission, as far as she was concerned, and she was tired of lying. Would she ever be able to stop?
"Anyway." Dante motioned to the dance floor. "Did you want to dance?"
"Dance? To Beethoven? How?"
"Looks like you kind of just spin in circles."
She grimaced. "I'd rather just go home. I think we've been here long enough."
"Are we allowed to leave?"
"I'm grown. I don't need permission."
"Says the woman who didn't want to come in the first place but had to because her mother said so."
Gabriella scowled, close to taking a move out of Gavin's playbook by flipping him off for that. "Come on, let's make our escape while they're preoccupied."
Dante stood, and Gabriella took his hand, spinning around to head for the exit, when she almost smacked into somebody walking by. Seriously? Dante yanked on her hand, pulling her to him so hard she stumbled, her back flush against his chest. Everything inside of her froze when she came face-to-face with Bobby.
Whoa.
"Alfie's little girl, right?" he asked, eyes studying her. "Nice to see you again."
"Uh, hello," she said, smiling awkwardly through her panic. This was not how their great escape was supposed to go. "I was just, you know... psheeeww."
It wasn't even a word.
What the heck was coming out of her mouth?
He nodded, like he understood, and stepped aside for her to pass. She kept a grip on Dante's hand, pleading with the universe under her breath. "Please don't do it. Please don't do it. Please—"
"Barsanti."
Gabriella closed her eyes at the sound of Dante's voice, sighing the rest of the words. "—don't do it."
Why did he have to acknowledge him?
"Galante," Bobby responded. "I see you're well."
"Still breathing," Dante said. "My heart is still beating, too."
"Your heart? Wasn't aware you ever had one. Congratulations. Must be a big deal in your family, a Galante that isn't hollow."
Gabriella braced herself, expecting Dante to whip out a snide comment, but instead, he shrugged it off. "Who would've imagined?"
"Certainly not me."
"Yeah, well, if you'll excuse us, you've got to vroom, or whatever the hell she said."
"Psheeeww," she mumbled.
Dante pushed against Gabriella, and she was more than happy to start walking again, leading him out of the ballroom, jogging in her high heels to get away. The man with the clipboard stood outside, radioing something into his walkie-talkie the second he spotted Dante.
Letting go of her hand, Dante felt around in his pockets. "Shit."
"What's wrong?"
"Your grandfather practically had me strip-searched. They took the fucking Valet ticket."
"Crap, I'm going to have to go back in."
"Fuck that," Dante said, heading straight to one of the lingering Valet boys. "Hey,