Page 191 of Valentino

“We do, Anna,” Romeo sneers. “That’s the problem. Go back inside to your boyfriend. Go lie to him.”

“Fuck you,” I spit.

“No thanks.” He looks me up and down in disgust.

My face flushes, in anger, in frustration, in pure embarrassment.

There are no words, none that can make this situation make sense, and my heart breaks all over again. Not only does Val think I betrayed him, but every person at Ferrara believes it too.

I turn and march back into the hospital, I don’t know where I’m going or what to do so I go into the ladies’ bathroom and put my head into my hands and cry.

Alone.

VALENTINO

The red fog swirls, and in slow motion, Carlo winks with a sarcastic smile.

Something snaps, a cord of sanity finally breaks, and I walk into the shower, and I take my gun and hold the barrel at Carlo’s temple…and I fire.

Three shots.

Blood splatters all over the shower screen, all over her.

“Val.” Her face falls. “What are you doing, it’s not how it looks. I love you.”

I hold it to her head. “Please don’t,” she begs.

I pull the trigger.

A bloodcurdling scream rings out….

I gasp in fear and jump awake….

Heart thumping, I stare at the ceiling.

The cleaners have been over and scrubbed Anna’s bathroom, but the blood has stained more than the grout between the tiles.

It’s been five days since I shot Carlo. Five days since I’ve spoken to Anna.

Five days in hell.

We can’t get to him; he has more police on him than there are in the country.

And I hate him…. And I hate her.

And I hate myself for not killing him when I had the chance.

For loving her….

There’s a darkness inside of me like never before, bordering on psychotic, and in my sleep I must have murdered them both at least a hundred times.

With a shaky hand I fill a glass with water, I’ve dreamed about killing men before, but to fantasize about killing a woman that I….

I gulp some water and slosh it around in my mouth before tipping the rest of the glass down the sink.

What the fuck have I turned into?

ANNA