Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
We both sat on the couch.
I wasn’t sure how to entertain him now that dinner was over. It felt strange to be alone with him in the privacy of my home. If he were Bartholomew, we would already be naked and in bed, my face in the pillow and my ass proudly in the air.
I really needed to stop thinking about him.
I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. “You want some wine?”
He nodded. “Sure.”
I opened a bottle, and we drank as we watched TV, neither one of us talking. We did that for a couple hours before it was time for bed. I found an extra blanket and pillow in the closet and tossed it on the couch. “Good night.”
Victor took off his shoes then stood up to pull his shirt over his head. Then he moved to his jeans.
“Whoa…what are you doing?”
He stilled and looked at me, his body hard and chiseled but not as ripped as Bartholomew’s. “It’s too hot, Laura.” He continued his undressing, unbuttoning his jeans and pulling them off.
“Well…goodnight.” I went into my bedroom, locked the door, and went to sleep.
13
BARTHOLOMEW
The bar was empty except for Benton and me.
He’d asked if I wanted to come over, but I didn’t want anyone to see me visit his residence, not when my men were no longer trustworthy. A knife could dig into my back at any moment, and having eyes in the back of my head would only keep me alive for so long.
Benton must have said something I didn’t hear because he said, “Bartholomew?”
I turned to look at him. “Yeah?”
“I just told you Constance had the baby.”
“Oh…congratulations.” I raised my glass to him then took a drink.
Benton studied me with his bright-blue eyes, the same eyes his brother had. “What’s happened?”
“What’s happened?” I asked as I watched my square ice cubes slide over the bottom. “My own men want me dead…and Laura is sleeping with her good-for-nothing ex. That’s what’s happened.”
“How do you know this?”
“I have men tailing her.”
“You think that’s healthy?”
“I did it to keep her safe. Didn’t expect her to shack up with that piece of shit.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“He entered her apartment at ten in the evening and stayed until morning.” I threw the glass at the wall and found some satisfaction in the way it shattered. “I think it’s pretty clear.”
The bartender immediately made me another.
How long until I broke this one too?
Good thing I owned the place.
“You’re the one who ended things, Bartholomew.”
“Not because I wanted to.”
“It’s been a month—”
“You see me fucking around?” I took a drink.
“But that’s not what you told her.”
“She didn’t believe me.”
“Maybe she believes you now.”
I stared into my glass, watching the amber color swish around the translucent ice cubes.
“You shouldn’t gamble if you can’t afford to lose.”
“Is this your way of trying to make me feel better?” I asked coldly. “Putting all the blame on me?”
“I’m giving it to you straight, Bartholomew. Like I always do.”
I rested the glass against my temple, to cool the headache as well as the rage. “I’m so fucked, man.”
“You need to kill Silas.”
“If I do that, they’ll all turn on me.”
“Then you need to find a resolution.”
“I’m pretty sure Silas doesn’t want one. He’s moving his pieces across the board, and I’m struggling to protect my queen.”
“Then surround yourself with the ones you can trust.”
I kept the glass there. “You know what’s sad? I’m not sure who that is anymore.” I stared at my hollow expression in the mirror on the wall, seeing the way my eyes were sunken, the way I’d aged a decade in just a month.
“You gave up everything for her—and you can’t take her back?”
I set the glass down.
“Walk away from the Chasseurs. Get your woman. Be happy.”
“There’s no running from this. They’ll hunt me down—and Laura is the last person I want with me when that happens.” I tilted my head back and drank the rest in a single go. Scotch was a better painkiller than any kind of pill. “And I don’t trust her.”
“You gave her an impossible choice—”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“If it doesn’t matter, why are you upset about her sleeping with someone else?” Benton asked. “You’re sitting here drinking yourself to death over a woman.”
I gently rotated the glass, making wet circles on the counter. “Because it was real…every moment…every night…all of it.”
14
LAURA
My father had made a generous donation to the biggest Catholic church in Florence, and that somehow translated into an extravagant and unnecessary party. I rarely interacted with my father. It was always indirect, maybe a simple acknowledgment across the room, maybe a hand on the shoulder—but that was it.
I knew I needed to do more if I was going to execute this plan.
Victor returned to me, a glass of champagne in his hand.
Bartholomew wouldn’t be caught dead drinking that. The man only drank the hard stuff and water—occasionally wine.