Page 56 of Point Blank

“He called me about six months ago. I was supposed to see him and, well, I guess I just got busy with the house.” A vein jumped in his arm and he kept staring at the counter. “That’s not true. It’s hard not to resent him. All those years of never adding up in his eyes, always seeking his approval and never attaining it.”

Yet Milo let Angelo come between us.

Bitterness swelled in her chest but she forced it down. Like he’d said, he’d been young then. A kid. Of course he’d done whatever his father had wanted. Her fingers ached to cover his knuckles. Words singed the tip of her tongue. Did he resent Angelo for coming between them? Milo’s actions had been solely his own, but she knew of the deep yearning he’d always suffered for his father’s affection. He might not hate Angelo for turning him against her, but she did.

“When will he be out?”

Milo shrugged, the movement sullen. “I think he has another year at least.”

“Did he ever talk about Sebastian ratting him out?”

Milo finally lifted his head. His green eyes sharpened on her, but his lips tipped up, taking the edge off his expression. “Why do you want to talk about this? It doesn’t exactly conjure up good memories for either of us.”

“No, it doesn’t. I can see it’s uncomfortable for you, but we have history together. If we ignore it, it will just swell between us.”

He didn’t take his gaze off her, but his eyebrows lowered. “Hash it out now and clear the air, is that it?”

“Exactly. We’re ready for the job—all we need now is for time to go by so we can move in. We might as well pass the time efficiently.”

He laughed. “Efficiently, huh? Not sure I’d call it that, but all right. Yeah, he talked about Sebastian. A lot. He cut my dad out of a million-dollar job, almost had him killed, and then ratted him out. I hope Sebastian is ready for his release. I’ll bet you anything that’s the first place Angelo will show up.”

Serena stared at the flecks of silver in the quartz countertop. Talking about the murder of her uncle should upset her, but it didn’t. Her senses buzzed with anger. If Angelo killed him, Sebastian had asked for it.

“I’m surprised he’s stayed alive this long. He has more enemies than a rat.” She turned to Milo. The words she wanted, no, needed to ask churned in the depths of her belly.

She’d shaken the bottle—but did she want to open it?

She curled her fingers against the cool surface. She didn’t want friction with Milo, but this was something she had to do. “Why did you do it?” The words blurted from her mouth with the force of a bat striking a baseball.

His jaw popped open, and all the fire left his eyes. She didn’t need to explain. He knew exactly what she was talking about.

Why he’d left her.

“I told you . . .” He groaned and hung his head. “Dammit, Serena. I don’t want to think about those days.”

“Why?” Oh god, she was really pushing it. But who was he to shut her out? He’d broken up with her in the middle of the street. Tears had flowed down her cheeks, and her arms had stretched toward him, and he’d stalked off and never turned back. Never reached out to her. Her chest ripped open with fresh, raw pain. She’d buried those feelings under resentment, had forced Milo from her heart since that day. Yet here she was . . .

She studied the top of his head. Dark strands whipped every which way from his fingers tearing repeated tunnels through his hair. A few gray strands mixed in with the black. Time had passed. Over a decade. But instead of feeling sympathy for him—who knows what he’d been through in those years—she only ached more for the years lost.

“Milo.”

“I was weak. My dad beat the shit out of me and told me if I stayed with you, I was dead to him. I don’t know what’s wrong with me . . . why I always craved his approval. I should have told him to fuck off and run away with you.”

“Did you love me?” Her voice broke on the words and tears stung the backs of her eyes. No, no, no. She wouldn’t cry. She needed an honest answer.

“Yes.” His tone was ragged, and the word wrapped around her broken heart.

“But you were ashamed of me?”

“No,” he barked.

“At Alban’s you said ‘Get away from this life.’”

Somber green ice stared at her. God, how she loved his eyes. She’d gotten lost in them so many times. And she was lost in them again. “I’ve always wanted better for you. If we’d stayed together, I never would have let you continue.”

She pursed her lips.

“You know what I mean.”