Her soft moans filled the air between our mouths, her body trembling against mine. The more I kissed her, the stronger my desire for her became. Sweet lips of ecstasy tempted me—seduced me into wanting so much more, leaving me unsated if I didn’t have all of her.
I moved a hand up her shoulder, fingers weaving through her golden blonde hair. I fisted it in my palm, forcing her head back. My lips slipped from hers, lapping down the skin of her neck. More moans echoed from the back of her throat. I could feel her resistance crumble with every passing second my mouth remained on hers.
“Dante,” she whispered against my lips.
With heavy reluctance I pulled away just an inch, closing my eyes from the ache of wanting her, but knowing it wasn’t that simple.
“You should go clean up. I have a few calls to make, then we can talk.”
She bit her bottom lip, and it drove me crazy. My cock was already cursing this caring, pussy-whipped asshole I turned into during the last twenty-four fucking hours.
Layla nodded then walked off to the bathroom. It was only when I heard her close the door that I managed to take a deep breath. For so long I’d hoped that maybe one day she would come back, give me the answers I so desperately wanted. But never under these circumstances. I never wanted her to be caught in the middle of a fucking war between us and the Mancusos. This was exactly the reason I wanted to give it all up, to move on with her and forget about the life I had been primed to live.
But that sure as fuck failed because now we were exactly where I had hoped we would never be. In the middle of a war, torn apart, and alone. Plus, I had my family to worry about now as well. Antonio made no secret of how he felt about Layla. I wasn’t sure on which side of the board my father was, but he had always been unreadable—unpredictable. But I couldn’t chance it. I needed help.
I pulled out my phone and dialed.
“You know that favor you owe me?”
Chapter 13
Layla
I closed the bathroom door and sagged back against it. My heart was racing, my body humming, primed and ready to be taken by the one man who had always owned my heart. God, I was so weak when it came to him, unable to resist the seduction that clung to him like a second skin. My body betrayed me every fucking time I was near him.
With a deep breath, I pushed myself away from the door. It was only when I passed the mirror on my way to the shower that I saw how filthy I looked, patches of dried blood all over my clothes, my skin, my hair. I’d never seen a man die before, let alone be killed with a bullet to the brain. Just thinking about that exact moment made me shudder.
I wiped at a tiny patch of blood at the side of my face. There were dark circles under my eyes, my cheekbones more pronounced than they ever were. My hair was a knotted mess.Iwas a complete mess. I was wasting away, little by little. This was not how I envisioned my life. And this was not the life I wanted for him. I only wanted to protect him, to let him have the kind of life he deserved. But unfortunately, I was no longer able to do that. Not anymore.
A tear slipped down my cheek, and I wiped it away with the back of my hand. It was the worst kind of torture to make me choose. Matteo was making me choose, and I did. I chose. But I didn’t think it would be this difficult to let the one go while protecting the other.
I missed him. I missed him so much, it hurt. But I needed to make sure he was safe, no matter how much pain I had to endure to ensure it.
I glanced down at the vein in my arm, the burn starting to intensify. It was also Matteo’s doing. His way of guaranteeing my full cooperation, and also ensuring my demise. He wanted to ruin Dante, ruin every member of this family…and I was his weapon of mass destruction.
With a heavy chest and an aching heart, I undressed and stepped into the shower. I had no idea how long I stood there watching the pink streaks of old blood flush down the drain. It might as well had been my own blood washing away since I had no hope of surviving any of this. Not with the burn in my veins, the craving that made me rot from the inside out.
Everything played out exactly the way Matteo wanted it to. I had hoped Dante wouldn’t fall into the trap. That he didn’t care as much about me as Matteo thought. It would have been so much simpler if Dante didn’t have feelings for me. A part of me rejoiced because the man I still loved appeared to still care about me. But my heart was in agony over what I knew would happen while Dante played into every corner Matteo had pushed him, like a goddamn puppet. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I stepped out of the shower…and that was when it hit me hard, like a fifty-pound hammer. I collapsed. I was nothing but a puddle of regret, a pathetic sack of bones. I cried. I screamed out in agony, my chest hurting as if it was being cracked wide open.
Secrets. Lies. Deceit. It all came crashing down, and I no longer had the strength to keep standing.
Dante slammed against the door. “Layla? What the fuck is going on?”
I couldn’t answer him. I couldn’t even fucking breathe between the heavy sobs. Tear after tear I cried over all the mistakes I had made. Over mistakes I would be forced to make in the days to come. With my arms clutched around my naked chest, I rocked back and forth, unable to numb the pain.
The next thing I knew, Dante kicked down the door, rushing toward me.
“Jesus. Layla.” He wrapped a towel around my shivering body before helping me off the floor. “What is going on?”
All I could do was lean into him while burying my face in his chest as I continued to cry. It was when I felt him place his arms around me that his heat slowly started to comfort me. The familiarity of feeling him against me soothed me; it tamed the ache.
“I wish you would tell me what was really going on, Layla.”
“I can’t. I can’t tell you.”
“Why? Why can’t you tell me?”