But that rage…it’s always bubbling, always ready to spew like fucking lava from a volcano.
Unless I’m with Sloane. That’s the only time I’m not battling against demons in my head or my heart. I can just be me, a person nobody else on this Earth knows.
Because you can’t ever show hints of weakness.
Weakness gets you killed.
I dart around a corner, leaving Nico, and head toward a side staircase, avoiding the sweaty, grinding bodies sprawled in my path. A hand grazes my ass, and I grit my teeth, not even bothering to turn around because I know what comes next. It’s been her MO ever since that Thanksgiving night.
“Max,” Layla hisses, her hand winding around the front and rubbing the side of my leg. “I hoped I’d run into you.”
“I came by to see Nico. I’m leaving now.”
“I’d really like you to stay. Maybe come again,” she purrs, the double entendre not lost on me.
I peel her hand off my leg. “I can’t. Besides, it looks like you have company tonight.”
“Jealous?” She presses her chest against my back, sliding herself around so she’s facing me.
I let out a sigh. “Listen, Layla. I did what I had to do on Thanksgiving. It doesn’t mean I wanna fuck you, now or ever.”
She trails a finger down the front of my shirt. “You saved my life, Max. You came for me because you were in love with me. I know you were always afraid of what my father would do if he found out, but you don’t have to worry about that now that he’s gone. I see the way you look at me every time we’re together. I know you want me. Take me to your private room and fuck me. Let me taste that perfect cock of yours. Oh, God, I want to feel it everywhere. Please just—”
I place my hands on her shoulders because I need to stress this to her. “It’s never gonna happen, Layla. I don’t care what your father thinks, that’s not why I haven’t fucked you. I’m not interested, okay? Do you get that?”
She smirks and cups my dick in her hand. “Sure, you’re playing hard to get. I love the games. But my pussy is screaming for you, Max. Don’t make me wait too long.”
I roll my eyes and push her hand away. “I told you, I have to go.”
She grabs my hand and presses it to her tits. “You’re the only one who can protect me, Max. You’re the only one I want. And you know I never let anything stand in the way when I want something.”
Thank God I never fucked this woman. No orgasm would be worth this stalker-level master shit she’s parading in front of me.
Imagine what she’d do if I had screwed her…
I yank back my hand. “Go back to your freaky shit. I’m out.” I sidestep her and take the stairs two at a time, not able to get away fast enough.
Why the fuck did she have to call me that night?
It’s a question I’ve asked myself more times than I can count. I sacrificed so much saving her, and for what? I lost Gabe, Sloane, and almost got my own ass terminated.
All for pussy I’ve never even touched.
I walk outside the club and peer around me. No sign of Layla. Thank fuck. I pull my keys out of my pocket and jog over to my car. At this hour, traffic heading back to northern Jersey will be light.
Forty minutes later, I pull up to the construction site. It’s zoned for a strip mall, one that Nico’s dad Joe is going to use as fronts for money laundering. His lawyers create shell companies for each storefront in the strip mall and then he works with his finance guys to run money through them. He runs a huge operation to clean any dirty money coming into the organization. Insurance companies, accountants, lawyers, plumbers, electricians, general contractors…you name it, and he knows someone with a business he can funnel money through. Nico has the same business sense as his father. It’s why everything he touches turns into piles of cash.
My dad, on the other hand, needs ninety-nine cents to make a dollar and is always on the hunt for new ways to line his own pockets with cash. For as much as he makes, he can’t keep a fucking red cent of it. It flies out just as quickly as it comes in.
And he tries to tell me I’m a fucking failure, go figure.
Makes me wonder what kind of plans he’s got in the works. He makes big money moves, most of them bad for the family. It’s what caused the rift between him and Nico’s dad years ago. And it’s also what caused the bloody fallout with the Cappodamo family.
Sometimes I wonder how the hell my dad has gotten away with not getting his ass shot up and dumped into the Hudson River.
Sometimes I think life might be easier if he did…
“Tell me who the fuck you’re working for!” Patty grabs a fistful of the scumbag’s hair. Guy doesn’t even blink, the stupid fuck.