Destructive

by Jessica Prince

  He grabs hold of my shoulders and spins me to face him, but I keep my eyes trained over his shoulder. “No, baby please. Please don’t do this. I’m begging you. We aren’t over! You aren’t leaving. I won’t allow it.”

  I can’t help it, everything inside of me is so screwed up that I can’t control my actions, at his declaration I throw my head back and laugh hysterically. I know I look and sound like a crazy person—hell, I feel like a crazy person right now, but I can’t stop the insane laughter that bubbles out of me.

  I laugh so hard and so long that I’m out of breath by the time I look back at him. “You won’t allow it?” I say sarcastically. “My God. You are exactly like him!”

  “I am NOTHING like him!” Gabriel yells as he shakes me by my shoulders. “Do not fucking compare me to Almaraz! We are nothing alike!”

  My laughter dries up instantly. “Really? You honestly believe that?”

  “I know it,” he growls between clenched teeth. His fingers flex, tightening their hold on my arms and I have to yank hard to get out of his grasp.

  “You’ve killed people, Gabriel. You deal coke. God only knows how big your operation actually is. The only difference between you and Eduardo is that you put up a better front. You live the high life, throwing your wealth around so that people can’t see the monster underneath it all. You are. Just. Like. Him.”

  “Bella—”

  “Don’t call me that! I’m not your fucking bella, I’m nothing to you. Do you understand me? Nothing! You made me think I could actually have something good. You made me fall in love with you, and it was all a huge fucking lie!”

  “It’s not a lie,” he rushes to say. “I love you, Marley. So fucking much.”

  I can’t breathe in this place. I need to get out. I turn and grab my bag from the floor and throw it over my shoulder before forcing myself to make eyes contact. I’m dying inside—absolutely destroyed. “You know, he always said that too.”

  And with that, I turn and walk away.

  “Marley! MARLEY!” Gabriel yells after me as the door shuts behind me.

  I press the button for the elevator repeatedly as the sounds of glass breaking reverberates through his front door.

  Sobs wrack my body as I step into the elevator. I hunch over, wrapping my arms around my stomach, trying in vain to hold myself together against the pain of leaving him. When I walk out of Gabriel’s life I leave my mangled heart with him.

  ***

  It’s been two days. Two of the most agonizing days of my life since Marley walked away from me, leaving me broken. The only time I’ve hurt worse than this was when I lost my family. Losing Marley has caused me to spiral down lower than I ever thought I could go.

  I don’t eat. Sleeping without her warm body pressed against me is impossible. I’m walking around like a zombie, only leaving the confines of my home to go to work, where I sit in a daze most of the time. When I’m not working or trying to force her to see me, I’m drinking myself into oblivion, trying to drown out the agony that’s slowly consuming me.

  I’ve called, I’ve texted, I’ve beat on her apartment door to the point I almost broke it down. And I got nothing.

  According to Aldo, she’s locked herself up at Carmen’s place and that little dictator refuses to let me see her or talk to her. When I showed up at Carmen’s place last night the devil woman stood outside the door like a fucking pit bull, not budging an inch. When I attempted to physically move her, she help up her phone, showing 911 already keyed in, just waiting for her to push send.

  “Boss,” Aldo’s voice sounds, the deep timbre rumbling through my office. “You need to snap the hell out of it. You look like shit.”

  “Fuck off,” I mutter, focusing on my desk, but not really seeing the work in front of me.

  He exhales loudly before leaning back in the chair and propping his massive feet up on my desk. I don’t even have the energy to make him move them. “We finished review the video footage of the parking lot. Figured out who that asshole is who left the note,” he tells me when the silence drags out too long for his liking.

  I didn’t need him to look into it. I already knew, and I was going to personally end his life.

  “Gianni,” I reply coldly, not needing confirmation.

  “How you want to handle this, Gabe? He got too close to your girl this time. We need to find him before he’s able to get any closer.”

  He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. “He’s dead. You do whatever you have to do, I don’t give a fuck if it leads back to our doorstep. You find that man and you bring him to me. Alive.”

  “Fuck that. I say we kill him the minute we find the son of a bitch.”

  I lift my head and stare at him. “Gianni’s good as dead. But I’ll be the one to do it. Understand? I want to be front and center when that pieces of shit takes his last breath.”

  He remains silent for several seconds, no doubt concerned about the cold, calculated tone of my voice. “You got it, brother.”

  I open my mouth to speak but am interrupted by a knock of my door.

  “What,” I snap out.

  Yvonne cracks the door open and peeks her head in. Even she’s been smart enough to stay out of my path these last few days. “You had a package delivered, sir.”

  I wave her in and take the padded envelope from her outstretched hand. There’s nothing on the outside. Ripping it open, I turn it over and dump out the contents on the top of my desk. My stomach roils and my heart squeezes as I look down at the Mercedes key and the access card for the elevator to my house.

  I look up to a nervous, fidgety Yvonne. “Who dropped this off?”

  “It came by courier, Mr. Bertozzi. He didn’t have the sender’s name.”

  I wave her off and palm the items in my hand. “Thank you, Yvonne. That’ll be all.” When she walks out, I grab the slip of paper that tumbled out with the keys. Her elegant handwriting is like a slap to the face.

  The car is parked in its spot in your garage.

  That’s it. One sentence. Ten fucking words and I feel like my life just ended. With that note my mind is made up. I once told Marley that I always get what I want. I’m done standing back. I’m finished chasing after her like a love sick puppy. I know what I want, and I going to damn well get it. Grabbing the offending items, I stand and reach for my jacket, jamming my arms through the sleeves forcefully.

  “Where are we going?” Aldo asks as he stands to follow, knowing where ever I’m headed I’ll probably need him at my back.

  “You said Carmen told you she’s at work today, right?”

  A slow smile creeps across his face. “Yep.”

  “Then I’m going to Fletcher’s. This isn’t done, not by a long shot.”

  Determination courses through me, my newfound resolve giving me the push I need.

  “That girl is mine whether she likes it or not. And I’ll make her see that if it kills me.”

  THE END

  FOR NOW