Layla“I’m pregnant.” I gripped the thin purple test stick, fingers white against the flimsy plastic. Shaking a little, from shock and another emotion I couldn’t quite name. “Holy shit. I’m pregnant.”And what a time to find out: twenty minutes before my wedding ceremony. The day my family would off
LaylaI froze. Unable to move, unable to fully process the words. Unable to recognize the cold, unfeeling man towering above me. He wore my Vasco’s face and yet, he spoke as a stranger. “We should get a divorce.”No, this couldn’t be my love. When Vasco smiled, he was the sun itself. But this man …
VascoThe wheel turned soft as butter beneath my callused hands. Of course it did. The Bentley hadn’t come cheap, but I’d settle for nothing less for my Layla.Music hummed from the speakers, soothing and subtle. Jazz, for driving mountain roads, Layla had said when she’d picked the station, and I h
LaylaEight years laterSunlight streamed through the wide plate-glass window, glinting silver off the city skyscrapers, as I stripped bloody blue gloves from my hands. Like a celebration of yet another successful surgery—an emergency bypass this time.I gave myself only a moment to bask in that cel
AldoWhy was she here?As silence fell in the wake of the shots, the woman in my arms wrenched away. I let her go, and instantly felt the loss—of her warmth, her softness, the slightly sweet smell of her shampoo. It was the same, the same as she’d always worn.Her smell.My Layla.She wasn’t suppose
How could I not have known … but of course I hadn’t. I’d shut her out so completely, I’d erased her existence from my life. How would I have known she’d returned?I could barely concentrate on family matters.Did my men notice my distraction?Carlo was released from the hospital four days after the
LaylaI turned the car down my street, smiled a little as the brownstone rowhouse came into view. I could practically smell the wonderful dinner I was about to cook for my family. The bag of groceries in my passenger seat would go entirely to that meal—but it was worth it if it was the one I shared
I let my eyes stray sideways, pretending like the sudden heat of his body hadn’t rewired my heart, turned my breath shallow and stuttered.“Do you see the man under that streetlight?”“I see him.” A man in a jean jacket, reading a newspaper. A stranger.“He’s a Mafia foot soldier.”Panic turned my g
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