Book two of 'The Vengeance Duology'
Five years ago, the lads and I made the biggest mistake of our lives-a reckless decision that shattered everything.
We destroyed what mattered most, but my deepest regret is how much I hurt her.
Every moment of pa...
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The phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out, glancing down to see the group chat lighting up with a new message.
Theo: Alright, so... thoughts on Tom?
I roll my eyes, knowing exactly where this is headed. I type back quickly.
Me: Do we even need to ask?
Nicco: He's not a good fit. Just look at him—he's too... soft.
I smirk. Trust Nicco to get straight to the point.
Lucas: Soft is putting it kindly, bro. The guy couldn't handle the heat of a kitchen, let alone our world.
I chuckle under my breath. He's not wrong. Tom wouldn't last five seconds with the kind of pressure we deal with every day. My fingers hover over the keyboard as Gio jumps in.
Giovanni: He's too... polite. Did you see the way he was trying so hard to impress? Desperate.
I can almost hear the disdain in Gio's voice, see the sneer on his face. He's not wrong either. But it's not Tom's politeness that bothers me—it's everything else.
Me: She chose him, boys. Maybe there's more to him than we see.
There's a pause, like everyone's holding their breath. Then Lucas fires back.
Lucas: Don't tell me you're defending him. You saw the way he looked at her—like she was some prize he'd won.
I grit my teeth. Yeah, I saw it. I felt it in my bones. Tom doesn't see the real Valentina. He doesn't know her past, her scars, or what she's been through. He thinks he's landed a trophy girlfriend, but Valentina is so much more than that.
Nicco: I'm with Lucas. He doesn't know her like we do. Never will.
A ping from Gio follows almost instantly.
Giovanni: I say we test him. See if he can handle even a fraction of what we do.
Another buzz in my hand, and another message lights up the screen. I don't need to read it to know what it's about.
Theo: Honestly, it should be you with Valentina, man. Not this guy.
I bite the inside of my cheek, my eyes flicking to Tom, who's standing across the room, talking to Domenico like he belongs here. It makes my skin crawl, like I want to rip this whole moment apart and start over. I hate seeing him with her. I hate that he gets to be the one at her side when it should be me. When it was me.
Lucas: Yeah, man. You were always the one. We all saw it.
A sharp pain shoots through my chest. They're not wrong. I was the one. We all were, in our own way. But now she's with Tom. Fucking Tom. A Wall Street pretty boy who doesn't know a damn thing about what she's been through, what we've all been through. He doesn't even know the half of it.
