I couldn’t take any more.
I picked up my phone and pressed Gino’s name. I needed to know if he knew.
He answered on the first ring. “Hey, Babe.”
“Hi,” I said, the sound of his voice feeling like fingernails on a chalkboard.
“What’s up?” he asked, having no idea I’d been to his office just an hour before.
“I know this is not ideal, but we need to talk,” I said.
“O-kay,” he said, a tinge of concern in his voice.
“This has been a really shitty month,” I began, hoping he’d say something that would prove he either knew or didn’t know what Carlo had done.
“I know. I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t need you to be sorry. I needed you to be with me. But I know that’s not what I signed up for.”
He sighed.
“I don’t fault you, Gino. I knew what I was getting into when I started dating you. We lived in two different states, for God’s sake. But, I can’t do it anymore.”
“Giselle,” he pleaded.
“I need someone who will be there when the world turns to hell. Someone who can sleep in bed with me every night so I know I’m safe. Someone who can dance with me when I want to dance and drink with me when I want to let loose and have fun.”
“You want to move to Florida?” he asked, as if I was pressuring him into saying it.
“You know I’m not going to do that. I’m never going to leave my family. And I don’t expect you to leave your business.”
There was a long bout of silence on his end. “Well, this sucks.”
He was right. All of it sucked.
“What about the boutique?” he asked.
“Honestly? I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to go back in there.”
“It was your dream,” he said.
“Everything got destroyed that night, Gino. Don’t you realize that? I can’t even go to my condo because he told me he knows where I live.”
“That bastard!” he growled.
My stomach turned. Either Gino truly had no idea Carlo was the one who broke in, or he was one hell of an actor.
“Jesus, Giselle. Why haven’t you told me this was still affecting you?”
“Did you think it wouldn’t be? I had a gun to my head, Gino. A fucking gun.”
He didn’t respond. Did he truly not know it was Carlo?
“Look, we’re ending things on good terms,” I continued. “When the insurance payment comes in, I’m going to pay you back anything I owe you.”
“I don’t care about that.”
I was analyzing every word out of his mouth. Was it all lies? Was none of it the truth? Tears pricked my eyes—not because I was sad—because I was so completely overwhelmed…and confused. “Just give me a few days to clean out the condo. Then you can cancel the lease,” I said quietly.