“I got that call traced for you.”
“Already?”
“What can I say? I’m fast.”
I lifted a brow. “Ooh, and what does your giant-sized Albanian cock think about that?”
Antonio snorted, and Lorik glared at me. “So not funny. But I will tell you what’s funny. That phone call is coming from the Mancuso mansion.”
Immediately, the banter ceased, and Antonio stepped closer while I straightened in my seat. “The Mancuso mansion?”
“Yeah. Well, it’s either there or really fucking close by.”
Antonio looked at me, and my mind reeled in a thousand different directions. “That’s impossible, then.”
Lorik seemed confused. “What’s impossible?”
“Well, it couldn’t have been Layla. She hasn’t been back in town ever since she left. It can’t be her I heard over the phone.”
“What are the chances that she might be back?”
I pulled a hand through my hair. “None. Besides, I have eyes and ears everywhere, just in case. If she was back in town, I would have known.”
Antonio tapped his finger on the bar. “Between you and me, brother, it’s really weird that you still have people keeping an eye out for her after all these fucking years.”
“Between you and me, brother,” I tilted my glass in his direction, “it’s none of your fucking business, anyway.”
“Okay, okay. Girls, you’re both pretty.” Lorik reached in his pocket and slid a new cell phone over the counter toward me.
I lifted a brow in question.
“It’s your new phone.” He held out his hand. “I need your old one so I can get rid of it. Security is a big thing around here, as you very well know.”
With a sigh, and Antonio’s continued tapping on the counter annoying the fuck out of me, I handed my old phone to Lorik.
“Great.” He got up and tucked the phone in his pocket. “I’ll see you two ladies tonight. I hear we’re having a bachelor party.” He winked and left Antonio and me openmouthed. Asshole was sly as fuck. I could see why Dad insisted Lorik handle most of the security around here. Nothing got by him.
Antonio shook his head. “I’ll see you later.”
I watched as Antonio walked out, and then I emptied my glass. It was working, the alcohol. It was making the memories easier to bear. But it did nothing to fade the image of her face. It also didn’t help jack-shit to ease the longing. Layla had always been the one, which was why I never even attempted a relationship with another woman. I fucked, and I made sure whoever was at the receiving end knew there was no chance of it being anything more.
I sighed then glanced at my wristwatch. It was going to be a long-ass day.
Chapter 4
Dante
Somehow, 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 Lorik, 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 Karina, right?” Lorik 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.”