“Your father treated me like I was his own son. He went out like a warrior, if that helps,” Marco said.
“It doesn’t. Nothing’s going to be all right ever again.” She took off his jacket, shoved it back at him, and left the church. The emptiness inside her continued to grow and she wondered how long it would take before it fully consumed her.
Chapter One
Present
Lila knew she was being watched and she didn’t care. Her silent stalker wasn’t a threat to her yet. She understood why he was here, but she didn’t want to confront him yet. Old emotions swirled deep in her chest, threatened to rise and drown her again, but she stuffed them back.
Lila shut her eyes and blocked out all the negative emotions. She’d left her father’s funeral grief-stricken and full of rage. Five years later, she returned, not for vengeance but to learn to forgive. To let go and for other reasons as well.
She opened her eyes and gazed at her father’s tombstone. He’d been lain to rest right next to her mom. Lila pushed aside her own personal problems. Standing here in the quiet cemetery felt peaceful.
She noticed the wilting roses next to the fresh white ones she’d lain earlier.
Someone else had been here recently and she wondered if it was him. She sent a silent prayer above before turning to face the man waiting for her.
Marco Severin looked older than she remembered, his profile harsh under the bright afternoon sunlight. Five years ago, she still saw hints of the boy he’d been, the boy she’d shared her first kiss with. Now, a man stood before her. Deadly and beautiful.
Today, he wore a dark gray suit perfectly tailored for him. Marco seemed to have gotten only bigger. He’d bulked up. There were a few grays in his dark-brown hair now. Those blue eyes looked like a dark storm cloud today, troubled. Haunted.
“Hello, Lila,” he said in that deep voice of his that made her suppress a shiver. She wondered if he also used that same voice whenever he was having someone tortured for information or seducing other women.
Other women. She bet he had women falling all over him. His last girlfriend had been a model or an actress. She remembered reading the article online once.
Lila stayed clear from that line of thought. Going down that path would ensure she’d have a tombstone right next to her parents. Marco and the Familia would probably make all the funeral arrangements as well.
Violence was in Marco’s blood, just like it was with her father and everyone else she knew from the Severin Familia.
“Did you have someone place those roses on his tombstone?” she asked because she didn’t know how to start a conversation. Remembering the way she’d acted the last time she saw him appalled her.
Lila hadn’t forgiven him completely, but she could’ve acted more mature back then. Instead, she’d acted like a brat. A child.
“I did. I come by here often.”
“Why?” she had to ask.
Lila had only stayed until the burial. She’d lingered in the back, never spoke to anyone. She was thankful Marco kept his distance. Lila hadn’t visited her parents in five years. She didn’t have the guts to. Hatred held her back from returning to this place but now, desperation forced her to return to her beginnings.
“To remind myself of the sacrifices others made for me over the years. People like your father are the reason why I’m alive and where I am today,” Marco said.
Lila glanced over his shoulder but saw no one for miles. Was it only the two of them here in the cemetery? “No bodyguards with you today, I noticed.”
“They’re around,” Marco said with a shrug. “Let’s get a coffee. Catch up.”
Refusal came to mind, but Lila surprised both of them by saying, “Okay.”
Guilt crept into her. She wondered if Marco knew just how much trouble she’d landed herself in.
“Did you drive here?” Marco asked.
She shook her head. “I took a cab.”
“My car’s parked nearby. Come.” He held out his hand to her. A truce? Of course, a man like Marco issued commands and expected others to obey his orders. Lila stepped forward, gave his fingers a squeeze, and then let go. His hands were big compared to her own, callused and rough.
Marco didn’t make a big deal out of it, merely started to lead the way. They said nothing to each other until they arrived at the parking lot. Lila began to feel self-conscious around him, like she was a nervous teenager again.
No one spoke to Marco the way she did and lived. Lila knew that well enough. Maybe he only let her off that day because she was grieving. Did he hate her as much as she despised him? With her father dead, there was no reason for him to talk to her, much less invite her on a coffee date.