“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
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
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
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
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
Layla After work, I showered and changed, then headed down to the courtyard garden I’d discovered on our first day. The last thing I expected was to find Aldo talking to Eli. But that’s exactly what I saw when I entered the interior garden—Aldo crouched beside my son. I hurried down the winding w
Maybe that’s what made the next words tumble from my lips. “Have we met before?” Ethan’s dark brow furrowed, and his words came out softly. “Why do you ask?” “You just …” I chewed my lower lip, trying to find the right words. “You remind me of someone.” “Do I?” The lines of Ethan’s face smoothed
Layla I’d barely stepped back inside the front doors of the hospital before I was returned to the demanding pace of medical life—hadn’t even made it back to my office. “Incoming! Stab victim, male, mid-thirties!” a nurse called, her voice sharp with urgency. In no time at all, I was gloved and ma
Dammit! It wasn’t a shortcut; it was a dead end. My heart plummeted. “No.” The footsteps grew louder, slowing as my follower approached. I turned around, that brick wall to my back, to face the hooded stalker. My hands clenched into fists at my sides. Weeks of self-defense training wouldn’t go to
Layla The hospital’s signature fluorescent lights hummed in my ears as I completed my final round before my dinner break. It was late—far too late for dinner for anyone but a healthcare worker—and most of the staff had gone home. The quiet hours gave me time to think. I wasn’t sure if that was a
“You’d really do that?” she asked, and my chest clenched tighter at the sound of hope in her voice. “Yeah,” I murmured. “I would.” For a long moment, she said nothing. Just studied my face, like maybe she was searching out lies. But this night had been only truths. Relieving ones. Painful ones.
Aldo The light and music of the ball faded behind us as we strolled from the manor. Our footsteps crunched lightly against the flagstones, and the cool night air kissed my cheeks in a welcome respite from the stifling perfumes and colognes and potpourris of the ballroom. A gentle wind wove its fi
I knew what it was to be driven by ambition. I knew what it was to work hard, every day, trying to fill the emptiness in your chest. Only to wonder if you’d be hollow forever. I knew what it was to get the things you wanted, to grow and achieve and prosper, and still lie away in bed at night. That
Layla I found solace out on the rear balcony, in a quiet corner of the night. Free of Marco’s smile and Aldo’s steadfast presence, I felt suddenly shaky, my chest too tight. The champagne in my fingers did little to calm me. The cool air caressed my skin, a welcome reprieve from the suffocating te
The floor was almost entirely filled with guests dressed to make my new attire feel shabby. I lingered along the fringes of the room, tongue-tied, overwhelmed, and outclassed. How long was I supposed to stay here? Maybe I could walk around, nod and smile, and be on my way? “You look beautiful.” Al