Redemption - Garrett Leigh Page 0,60
watched Paolo lock up and leave. It took strength he didn’t know he had to stop himself following him home. Only the fear that he’d be seen stopped him. Evidence to discredit the lie he was about to tell. “He’s not my boy toy anymore. I stopped banging him a week ago.”
Dante’s grin turned lizard-like. “That so?”
“Yeah. And don’t pretend you don’t already know. I know you’ve got eyes on me.”
“What about your cushty job?”
“What job? I quit like you told me to. Besides, don’t need a job, do I? I got you.”
Despite Luis’s best efforts, sarcasm weighted every damn syllable, but Dante didn’t flinch. “That’s right. You’ve got me, and I’ve got you. That’s what families are for, right?”
“If you say so.”
Luis went back to scanning the map. He was only there because Dante had insisted he needed to be to learn the details of the clusterfuck the next phase of his life was bound to be, but so far, he’d toyed with Luis for hours and told him nothing except the city where the kilo of coke would be exchanged. No when or why. Another day wasted.
A day Luis could’ve spent with Paolo.
The map blurred as he let his mind drift to the last time they’d been together and Luis had been present enough to enjoy it. Swathes of smooth olive skin stretched out before him, sheened with sweat as Luis explored Paolo with his tongue, absorbing every shudder and moan, committing them to memory. Deep down, he’d always known the day would come when those memories were all he had left, but fuck, he wasn’t ready. He’d never be fucking ready.
Eventually, Dante deigned to tell him the muling op was set up for two days’ time. “You’ve got forty-eight hours to get your shit together. Then I need you at the pick-up by four.”
“In the morning?”
“Yeah. You can blend in with the commuters that way, right?”
“As opposed to the drunks at night?”
“If you were a copper, which train would you search?”
“If I was a copper, I’d have dropped you in the sea.”
“Liar. You love me really.”
“I don’t.” Luis folded the map and tucked it into his pocket. “I wish you were dead.”
It felt good to say, even if they were wasted words Dante would never take seriously. Hate simmered hotly in Luis’s veins. I could do it right now. Kick his fucking head in so he’d never wake up. But aside from the reasons he hadn’t already killed Dante, Luis knew how it felt to hurt a man that way, and he couldn’t live with more guilt.
He made for the door.
Somehow, Dante got there first and blocked his way. “I figured you’d pretend to ditch your man and your job, but you look heartsick, man. Don’t tell me you actually cut him loose for real?”
“What makes you think he didn’t cut me loose after you started fucking with his business?”
“Cos no one turns away Pope dick, man. You know that.”
Luis cringed. “Whatever. It isn’t a thing anymore, so you can stop giving a shit. You got what you wanted. I’m unemployed and at your disposal.”
“Yeah, but you’re no good to me if you’re obsessing over a lost piece of ass. I know how that goes.”
“How? You don’t care about anyone but yourself.”
“No, but I had to deal with Asa’s soft self when you stopped fucking him, so . . .”
“What?”
Dante laughed. “You think I didn’t know about that? Man, you live in a fucking bubble, don’t you? Who do you think told him to come on to you in the first place?”
Luis’s head was too full of Paolo to process much else, let alone the nonsense that spewed from Dante’s mouth, but still he tried. “That makes no sense. I got drunk and fucked Asa once—”
“It was more than that.”
“Whatever. It was ten years ago. The fuck has that got to do with you?”
Dante shrugged. “I’d seen you eyeing him up, so I told him to get you drunk and into your bed. With you disappearing every couple of days to scratch your itch, it seemed like the ideal solution.”
“Yeah? How did that pan out for you?”
“It didn’t cos he couldn’t keep your interest. But that’s not my point.”
“What is your point?” Luis asked wearily. “Because if all you’re trying to do is demonstrate that you’ve manipulated me my whole god damn life, you can stop now. I already know.”
“And yet you’re still here.” Dante leaned back on the door he was blocking. “Why is that?”
Because despite