Layla “Aldo, what’s wrong?” Had he taken some kind of drug? The man in my bed was definitely Aldo Marcello—those chiseled cheekbones and strong jaw, the plumped lips and long black lashes, the scarred, muscled body, could belong to no other. But it wasn’t him. “Nothing’s wrong.” He leaned in tow
Fuck. I shoved away from him, my chest heaving with panted breaths. “I can’t do this.” My whole body ached for him. But I couldn’t answer the call. As much as his touch awakened a passion inside me I hadn’t known for years, this wasn’t real. He was high—probably on some kind of aphrodisiac. “Lay
Aldo “I never married her,” I murmured into the pelting droplets of icy water. I didn’t know where the words came from or why I spoke them. But I was suddenly glad they were true. She’d drugged me. Aurora had slipped something into my drink, I was almost sure of it. I hadn’t realized it at the ti
Layla I paced a lap across the sprawling room, from the oversized bed to the towering armoir. Back again. The bathroom behind me was silent, like Aldo didn’t dare move. Maybe he feared my wrath. Good. He should. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And scorned I surely was. No. I’d been score
Layla My heart shuddered to a halt. Blood buzzed in my ears, like my stagnant heart had caused it all to pool in my head. The sky whited out, and all I knew were Aldo’s lips moving as he formed the question: Eli’s mine, isn’t he? Why. Why had he suddenly asked that? What could possibly have led
It took two days. Did my fingers tremble ever so lightly as I lifted the phone? Did I press the speaker a bit too hard against my ear? “This is Aldo Marcello.” The monotone female voice at the other end delivered the results without so much as a tic in intonation—I wasn’t a genetic match. Eli wa
Aldo Instinct took over, and I dove sideways. The intruder’s gun cracked again. Again. Again. My feet hit the glossy hardwood behind the bed, and my knees folded. Dropping me down behind the makeshift barricade. Safe—for now. The bullets shattered the wall behind me. White plastered sprayed th
Layla Someone was screaming. High-pitched, frantic. Unending. Someone was screaming like they were being torn apart alive. Chased by the hounds of hell. Plummeting to their doom. Screaming like the world was ending. A woman? Was a woman screaming? For a moment, my mother’s face swam before my
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