Mike paces back and forth, teeth gritting as he thinks. Out of everything, the last thing he'd expected was for Gargano to take two minutes and get ahold of Ciampa, ruining everything Mike had been saying to try to explain himself. He had texted Tommaso, called him, even considered driving by his house a time or two, especially after the hurricane when the radio silence was seeming too concerning to put into words, but there had been no response. So what was going on that Johnny managed a response within moments?
Mike stews, tugs at his lower lip with shaking fingers, and glares off into the shadows before grabbing for his phone. It rings a few times, and then he exhales when finally it's answered.
"Hello?" AJ asks sleepily.
Realizing what time it is, Mike cringes. "I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't realize it was so late."
"It's fine," she says, sheets rustling in the background as she sits up. "Are you ok?"
"I... yeah, I mean, kind of," he says. "But I'm worried."
"So Gargano says that Ciampa was injured," AJ muses. "What does that mean?"
"I'm not sure," Mike says. "I've tried contacting him repeatedly and he doesn't respond, but Gargano messages him once and immediately gets a response? Now I'm really worried that he has told Gargano something." He exhales slowly. "AJ, did I really fuck this up, telling him the truth? I thought I could trust him, but now..."
"I don't know," she says. "I hope not. But I mean, the pieces do kind of fit, don't they? Ciampa disappears, Johnny suddenly says he knows some big secret of yours, and now Ciampa's injured? It feels awfully convenient. I'm not sure what we can do to try to limit the damage of this, but I do think we should try to do something to limit the fallout, as best as we can. For the kids' sakes, especially."
"Yeah," Mike sighs. "God, the kids. This is such a mess, and it's all my fault..."
AJ shrugs. "Listen, whatever happens, we'll get through it together. Like we always do. But I do think we need to bring Maryse and Heath into things. They need to be prepared too. You know?"
"I know," he sighs. "God, I'm not looking forward to this."
"I'll be by your side through all of it, don't worry," AJ promises him. "I love you. This will not break us. I won't let it."
Mike smiles grimly. He wants to believe her so badly.