ππππππ DANIEL I took a deep breath after swallowing my second glass of bourbon. The memories felt like daggers piercing the flesh of my heart over and over again. I hated that they still held so much power over me. After all the time that had passed, the memories still tortured me. She still tortured me. "It's a little early for a drink, don't you think?" I looked up at Antonio, who took a seat across from me by the bar. "You want one?" "Fuck, yes." I snorted and poured my brother a drink while refilling mine. That was another thing I hated about all this β everyone knew. Everyone knew who Layla was to me, and what it did to me when she left and it was all my fault. For months after, I was nothing but a walking corpse who lived on alcohol. A shell of myself. I spent my days either drunk, hungover, or thoroughly fucked. Sex numbed the pain. It still did. And the more, the merrier. Gang banging and orgies while drinking myself into a stupor were the only goal I had for
ππππππ DANIELSomehow, I was no longer in the mood for a night out. Just this morning I was all up Antonio's ass about a bachelor party for James, but ever since that goddamn phone call, I was unable to tear my mind away from her. The woman who ruined me. The woman who destroyed the man I once was. And after hearing a voice that was either hers or sounded a lot like hers, the memories felt like it all took place just yesterday. I had been walking around the whole goddamn day as if I was waiting for a fucking bomb to go off. "You warned Vanessa, right?" James touched my shoulder from the back seat. "Because if you didn't, I am going to be in a fuck-load of trouble when I get home smelling like bourbon and unable to piss straight." I laughed. "Where's the fun in that? I love hearing my sister swear at you in Italian. The look on your face is fucking priceless." He snorted. "Yeah, well, I'd like to see you try to keep a straight face when the woman you're about to marr
ππππππ DANIEL James stared down at the broken glass I had just smashed on the floor and muttered, "Yeahβ¦yeah, I see that." I remained still, my gaze glued to the one and only woman I had ever loved. And no matter how she hurt me, how those words in that goddamn letter ripped my heart out, the way Mato touched her made me want to tear him the fuck apart. Questions that should have been running through my mindβ¦didn't. Questions like why was she back? Why did she leave? Why was she here with Mato? Those were questions with answers that fucking mattered, but I couldn't give a flying fuck. All I cared aboutβ¦was her. "This is not good, man," James said beside me. Antonio touched my shoulder again, and that was the exact moment Layla looked up, her gaze meeting mine. That was also the moment my entire world came crashing down around me. Every bone in my body ached, and my lungs were unable to expand because I forgot to fucking breathe. Moments, seconds, minutes, hours. A week
ππππππ DANIEL It took everything in me but I was able to ignore Mato, keeping my gaze focused on her. Layla. "Why?" I asked, taking in every single action she made. "Why in God's name will you be with this kind of man?" As I stared at her, I couldn't help but memorize her. Absorb her. Remember her. She bit her bottom lip, reminding me of how many times I'd bitten that same lip, sucked, and nibbled it. Soft, red lips tortured me with memories of how they felt against mine. Layla squared her shoulders. "As Mato said, I'm here with him." "The hell you are. I don't believe for a second you would be with a man like Mato. Do you know who he is? What he does do? What the fuck is going on?" "Nothing." Mato cleared his throat. "I think what Layla is trying to say is that we're here to have some fun, you know, as a couple." This time I turned my attention to him, every muscle in my body taut as I tried to restrain myself from pulling out a knife and cutting his throat. "I su
ππππππ DANIEL After what felt like a thousand years, Layla finally turned toward me, her amber eyes settling on mine. "I don't know why you would assume I was in trouble simply because I'm dating Mato. But I can assure you, I'm in no trouble at all." From the corner of my eye, I noticed her flick her nails as her palm lay on the bar. Dead giveaway. "You expect me to believe that?" She flicked a strand of her hair back. "I don't expect anything from you." Her gaze moved to where Mato was standing with a crowd of men. More flicking of her nails. I cocked a brow. "You're afraid of him." She looked back at me. "What? No. Of course not." "Then why do you look nervous?" She swallowed, and my eyes caught the movement of her throat. An image of us, of me lapping my tongue down the skin of her neck, tasting her, coaxing her body to ready itself for me. A memory of my lips kissing their way over her naked shoulder and down to the swell of her breast. Oh, I remembered her s
πππππLAYLADaniel seized his kisses, his grip on my breast loosening. The warmth of his breath coated the skin of my neck, and I felt the rapid beating of his heart against my chest. He removed his thigh from between my legs, bringing my feet back to the ground. And I whimpered, knowing that it was over. The moment. It shattered along with the desire that almost consumed us a second ago. He didn't look up, one hand still gripping my wrists above my head. "Why now?" Of all the questions he had, that was the one he demanded an answer for. Why now? Why did I decide to return now? Because I need to ruin you. Another tear moved from my cheek, lapping over my top lip. "We do not decide our fate, Daniel." "Bullshit!" He slammed his fist into the wall right next to my face, and I yelped, my entire body numb with fright. "Why the fuck are you back, Layla?" I closed my eyes, turning my face away from his. Slowly, painfully, reality started to seep back into the moment. My desir
ππππππ DANIEL With more strength than I knew I had, I opened my mouth to respond with, "Not now, Antonio-" but before was done getting the words out, Antonio cut me short with a resounding, "Yes, now." My big brother just had to get the last word, didn't he? "Why the fuck are you bleeding?" He asked and I looked down at my hand to discover my knuckles cut and bleeding. "I had a confrontation with the bathroom wall. The wall lost." Antonio didn't look amused. "Now is not the time for jokes. You and Layla disappeared for like ten fucking minutes. Could you have made it any more obvious?" I looked at him questioningly. "Did Mato notice?" "I'd say he's a special kind of stupid if he didn't." I glanced their way. "And he didn't confront you, or attempt to come looking for us?" Antonio crossed his arms. "No. He sat by the bar the entire time swirling his fucking whiskey in his glass, looking smug as hell." Warning bells rang like shit in the back of my head. "Something
πππππLAYLAMato relaxed in his seat, and I let out the breath I was holding. My heart was beating so fast that the sound echoed in my head. The fear I'd been walking around with for the last few months was starting to carve me open from the inside out. I stared down at the vein in my arm. What they did to me, and what they were forcing me to do now was beyond cruel. Because of them, I had no choice. Because of them, I stood on the brink of losing everything. And once the day came when they had no more use for me, I knew in my heart I would never get back what they took from me. I had been sucked in too deep. It was like Daniel said, once you were a part of this world, there was no getting out of it. But I had no choice, and I prayed to God that when the end came, everyone, I cared about would know the truthβ¦especially him. Daniel. The man I would end up deceiving the most. I stiffened when I felt Mato's fingertips against my back. "I was thinking, since you did so well tonig