Page 38 of His Vicious Desire
“No.”
“Oh…”
I don’t want to hear what he has to say, so I hang up.
Walking into my bedroom, I can’t find anything to show she was here.Yet I can still smell her as if she just left the room.
Even though I know I shouldn’t I pull up the camera in her room.She’s in bed with the covers up to her neck.Her roommate is sitting on the edge of her own bed.
“Are you sure?You’re giving me a brand new computer barely used?”The roommate is holding the laptop in both hands.
“Yeah, I don’t need it.You said your battery was overheating.Sandro got me a new one for my birthday a few months ago.He didn’t want to have to come onto campus for mine.”
“Thank you.Now I feel bad about being relieved you stayed away from school because you were sick.”
“It’s fine.I understand completely.I’m still not feeling great, though.So I’m going to try and get some sleep.”
“Oh sure.I’m going to go out into the common area.I’ll turn off the light.Good night.”
The light goes off as the roommate steps out of the room.
I hear sniffling from Bianca and turn off the feed.Closing my eyes, I fall asleep with my cell phone on my chest.
Bianca
It’s been a week since I left Gaetano’s house.Every morning I wake up resenting like fuck that I’m in my dorm room and not his room.
“Are you feeling okay?”Sandro asks me for the second time.
I nod.“Yeah, sorry.I don’t know.Maybe I’m coming down with something.”
“Huh, you never get sick.Same with Gaetano.I think he’s gotten sick two or three times in all the years I’ve known him.He got the flu, and I still don’t think he’s back to normal.It feels like every time I call him, he’s in bed.”
My eyes are glued to the coffee I’m sipping on.“Maybe he’s busy kicking puppies or something and doesn’t want you to know.”
He rolls his eyes.“You can’t still be mad at him.”
“Says you.I can stay mad at him all I want.Is he not helping you when he should?”
“It’s nothing.”The brush-off is one I’ve gotten every time I ask him about Outfit business.“You really want to stay on campus over the summer?”
I steal his move and exhale an almost laugh.“Please, you’re happy I’m staying on campus and not going to the hotel.I want to stay in school mode.The sooner I get my degree, the better.”
I’m afraid I’ll run into Gaetano in the hotel.While I think I could manage to go months, maybe even a year or two, without running into him—I don’t trust myself not to want to run into him.
Gaetano said it never happened.But it did.I don’t want to forget it did either.
ChapterTwelve
Eight Months Later
Gaetano
“I don’t know, Gaetano.Which one do you think I should get her?”Bobby looks between the boxes with confusion.
“Depends.Would Santa think she’s a good girl?”Bobby doesn’t talk about his daughter much.
Mylena was adopted.He and his wife never could have one of their own.I’m aware her biological mother was the daughter of their neighbor who was too young to keep her.When she was still a young kid, Bobby mentioned her from time to time.But once she hit her teenage years, there were times I forgot he had a kid.His wife he bitches about constantly, he can’t stand her.
