LaylaI sprang away like I’d been burned. Nearly tripping over my own feet in my haste to extract myself from the warm, bare skin of the man I’d once loved.“Vas—Aldo!” What was he doing in my bathroom? How had he even gotten here? Was this some kind of attempt at reconciliation? “How dare you—”“La
He was cutting a damned bullet out of his shoulder. With the calm of an ER surgeon. Like he’d done it countless times before.“After the attack at the hospital,” he said, and I was so caught up in watching him work, it took me a moment to realize he was answering the question I’d asked, “I sent men
AldoI couldn’t look away from her long, graceful fingers on the needle. My blood stained their tips red, but she didn’t pause. Didn’t flinch away. Didn’t so much as ask for gloves.She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.My Layla. The words made their way into my mind without my beckoning. Because it wa
If Carlo noticed my hesitation, he didn’t comment. Merely bowed his head again. “I’ll find out everything there is to know.”***I didn’t sleep that night.I tossed and turned in an unfamiliar room, on an unfamiliar mattress, beneath unfamiliar sheets—but those minor inconveniences were hardly what
Layla“I need to ask you a favor.” I hated the words even before they’d left my mouth. Hated thinking them. Hated that I’d cornered Marco in the break room of the hospital to ask this of him.Marco was a nice guy; everybody knew it. He was one of the most well-liked doctors at the hospital, and here
“How … lovely!” Surprise bloomed inside my chest as I accepted the gift, but I played it off with a laugh. “Really selling it here, eh?”He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “They suited you.”“Pink carnations?” I shook my head. He was really going all out for this role, I’d give him that. Anybody looki
Layla“He doesn’t love you.” Aldo’s words echoed in a flat, toneless bark through the empty hall. Stopping me in my tracks. Shocking me so much I couldn’t even think of a response before he added, “You shouldn’t waste eight years on a man like him, even if he is Eli’s father.”I almost laughed. Almo
I changed the course of my trajectory, diverting from the spare bedroom to the back of the house. I slipped through the back door and across the sprawling yard towards the building at the edge of the property.I’d take my anger out at the gun range.The familiar scents of the expansive arena immedia
Aurora had vanished from the house, too, though I couldn’t be sure where she’d gone. I trusted her enough that I didn't keep tabs on her whereabouts. Carlo, I was sure, did.“Vas?”Speak of the devil. My aforementioned second in command poked his head through my opened door as I drained my second mu
LaylaJust like that, this strange woman had read beneath my mask like she’d torn down his. In mere minutes, this woman—who I’d spent nearly eight years hating, blaming for my heartache—had seen through my lies to the real me.You still love him.Was I so obvious to everyone around me? Was it obviou
Such an easy option. My best option. My only option.And I couldn’t touch her. I felt nothing for her—not even arousal.Maybe it was the feeling of my own fate slipping out of my control, but I couldn’t … I couldn’t do what she wanted, what I needed. What my family needed.“I’m sorry,” I murmured, a
AldoMy fingers tightened on the gun lowered at my side. I knew she spoke the truth—there was still a reckoning to be had, consequences for my actions. Debts that would certainly be paid in blood.“I bet,” Aurora continued, probably noticing the tension in my jaw, “they’ll be coming to talk to you s
I changed the course of my trajectory, diverting from the spare bedroom to the back of the house. I slipped through the back door and across the sprawling yard towards the building at the edge of the property.I’d take my anger out at the gun range.The familiar scents of the expansive arena immedia
Layla“He doesn’t love you.” Aldo’s words echoed in a flat, toneless bark through the empty hall. Stopping me in my tracks. Shocking me so much I couldn’t even think of a response before he added, “You shouldn’t waste eight years on a man like him, even if he is Eli’s father.”I almost laughed. Almo
“How … lovely!” Surprise bloomed inside my chest as I accepted the gift, but I played it off with a laugh. “Really selling it here, eh?”He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “They suited you.”“Pink carnations?” I shook my head. He was really going all out for this role, I’d give him that. Anybody looki
Layla“I need to ask you a favor.” I hated the words even before they’d left my mouth. Hated thinking them. Hated that I’d cornered Marco in the break room of the hospital to ask this of him.Marco was a nice guy; everybody knew it. He was one of the most well-liked doctors at the hospital, and here
If Carlo noticed my hesitation, he didn’t comment. Merely bowed his head again. “I’ll find out everything there is to know.”***I didn’t sleep that night.I tossed and turned in an unfamiliar room, on an unfamiliar mattress, beneath unfamiliar sheets—but those minor inconveniences were hardly what