Second Read online

  He stepped closer to me and slid his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, as if he needed some time to think of what to say…even though he’d been chasing me down for almost two weeks. “Annabella.” He took a breath after he said my name, like that single word was too much for him. “I want to apologize for what I did, but I also want to explain why I did what I did. It’s not because I’m playing you, keeping you on my hook and taking advantage of your feelings. This isn’t a game to me. You’ve never been a game to me.”

  I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t.

  As if he could read my thoughts, he said, “You don’t believe me.”

  My arms tightened over my chest.

  “Anytime we’re close to each other, I feel this…” With a closed fist, he pressed his hand against his chest, right in the center. “I can’t even explain it. It’s this need to get close to you, to touch you like you’re mine. When I ended things, I thought it would be easy for me to walk away. But I’ve never really been able to walk away. When I see you with Liam, I don’t like it…and not just because he’s not good enough for you. I’m jealous. I’m hurt.”

  “If that were true—”

  “Let me finish.” He slowly lowered his hand.

  I turned quiet even though I shouldn’t obey.

  “It’s hard for me. It’s as hard for me as it is for you.”

  I wanted to argue, but I kept my mouth shut.

  “I’m sorry I kissed you. When we were on the balcony, I forgot about the party inside, I forgot about Liam inside, I forgot about everything. All I could do was feel…feel the woman beside me. I wanted you, and I let my inhibitions go down the drain. But you don’t understand how I look at you, how I think you’re stunning each and every time I see you.”

  How could he say all these romantic things but not want to be with me?

  “I’m not using you. I’m not taking advantage of you. I’m not playing you. I never told you this, but I didn’t end things because I wanted to…”

  My eyes narrowed.

  “I did it because I had to.” He pulled his hands out of his pockets and let them hang by his sides, his shoulders rigid and tight. He stared at me with sincerity in his eyes, his voice softer than it’d ever been. “The Skull King took my father and was going to execute him because of something I did. It was a punishment. And the only reason my father is alive right now is because Hades got to him before they pulled the trigger. My life is always in jeopardy, but that’s never been important to me. But my family…the people I care about…I can’t handle that. And when I imagined him taking you…it terrified me. So, the next time I saw you, I broke it off.”

  That information should comfort me, but it didn’t. It made me regret what I’d lost even more, that I could still have the man I really wanted if he’d just told me the truth. “You should have told me, Damien…”

  He lowered his gaze.

  “This whole time, I’ve been living in the past, wondering if you ever felt anything for me when it seemed like you did, and it would have prevented a lot of heartbreak. And that was my decision to stay or leave. I should have been the one to decide if I could tolerate the risk…because I would have stayed.”

  He lifted his gaze again, touched by my words. “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you, Annabella.”

  When I took my next breath, I felt the pain all the way into my lungs.

  “I would never put you in danger. You deserve more than that.” His eyes were focused on me, shining like emeralds.

  “Then walk away…” That was the easiest decision, to abandon the dangers altogether.

  He was quiet for a long time as he considered the suggestion. “Hades left the business for his wife. That was the right decision for him because he loves her…and they’re supposed to be together. But that’s not me… That’s not us.”

  I understood what he was saying, and it hurt. He didn’t love me…and he was saying it as gently as possible.

  He was quiet for a long time, his eyes focused on the painting on the wall. The tension rose and filled the room with suffocating heat. When he turned back to me, he spoke again. “It’s not easy for me to be around you because my feelings haven’t changed. When I look at you, it still feels like you’re mine. When I see tears on your face, I want to be the one to fix them. When I see a man hold you, I want to be the one who has my hands on you. I bowed out because I wasn’t willing to abandon my work for you, and it pisses me off that Liam won’t stop fighting when that’s what you want. If a man is going to have a wife, she’s his number one commitment. She gets whatever she wants. And if you can’t handle the responsibility, then don’t marry her.”

  He spoke so passionately about marriage, and I knew he got his opinions from Hades and Sofia…and that made me wish I were married to him now. I wanted a man who committed, who would put his wife first, not second. I still wished he was the man I came home to every day.

  “I couldn’t let you continue thinking I was using you…because that’s not true. But I hope I didn’t just make this worse.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, his fingers brushing through the soft strands I used to fist every night.

  “There’s risk with everything we do, Damien. Any man who has money is dangerous. Liam has enemies that could hurt me to get back at him. Even the bank is dangerous if you piss off the wrong person. I wish you had talked to me about this because I don’t care about the risk. I would rather be happy and live on the edge than have a dull and safe life.”

  He didn’t know what to say.

  I lowered my gaze because it was too hard to look at him. “I have no idea how this happened, how I fell in love with you so quickly. We saw each other for, what? Two months?” I asked incredulously. “Liam and I were happy together and I loved him so much, so I didn’t expect to feel that way about someone for a really long time…and then I met you. And it was passionate, deep, and just so quick. I can’t even explain it.” I’d gone over our relationship a million times and still hadn’t uncovered any answers. “But it doesn’t matter now because I married Liam…and I’m committed to making that relationship work. I wish you had told me the truth when I could have done something about it, but you didn’t. So, we both need to move on…” I didn’t want to let Damien go, even now. Sometimes I forgot about the wedding ring on my left hand even though it was so damn heavy. But I had to remember that Damien was already gone, that the past couldn’t be changed, that he still didn’t love me. So, none of it mattered anyway.

  He said nothing for a long time, just staring at me. “Yes…we do.”

  If we had a real chance to be together, to date for a year or two, maybe Damien would have fallen in love with me and left his business. But that opportunity was stolen from us, and that would always haunt me. “Friends?” I extended my right hand.

  He stared at it for a while before he sighed. “I’m not sure we can be friends, Annabella.” He came closer to me and placed his right hand in mine. Instead of shaking it like two colleagues, he fanned his fingers across my wrist so he could feel my pulse. His thumb brushed over the web of my palm, and he came closer to me, our bodies coming so near that we could hear each other breathe. His eyes looked into mine, so damn beautiful that it hurt. “But I can try…”

  8

  Damien

  I sat in my office and worked on the stack of paperwork Hades had dropped on my desk a few minutes ago. We may have buried the hatchet, but Hades still lost his temper whenever we had to do paperwork. My work was never good enough, and he didn’t hesitate to tell me that, accompanied by a string of profanities.

  My assistant spoke. “Your next appointment is here.”

  I looked at the mountain of paperwork and sighed. I had too much shit to do today, and I didn’t want to waste time on my clients. But it was too late to cancel, and my clients were the kind of people you didn’t want to piss off. “Who is it?”

  “Conway Barsetti.”

  At least I liked the guy. “Send him in.
” I stacked the papers and placed them on the edge of my desk.

  A moment later, Conway Barsetti walked inside, wearing jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and a casual blazer on top. A black wedding ring was on his left hand, and he looked so much like his father, they could be brothers. He smiled as he extended his hand. “Damien.”

  I grabbed him with a tight grip. “It’s been a while. Business going well?”

  “It’s always going well.” He stepped to the side and revealed the woman he was with. A beautiful brunette with thick lashes and bright blue eyes. She was tall, and in that tight dress, she had curves in all the right places. She wasn’t his wife, so I assumed it was one of his models. “Let me introduce you to Charlotte.”

  She stared at me for a few seconds before a slight smile stretched across her lips. “Nice to meet you.” She had a French accent.

  I shook her hand. “Damien. Pleasure is all mine.”

  Conway sat in one of the leather armchairs, and Charlotte did the same.

  I relaxed in my chair and drummed my fingers on the surface of the wood. “How’s your father?”

  “The same,” Conway answered. “He took my son to the zoo today.”

  “He’s a good grandfather?” I asked.

  “Better grandfather than father,” he said with a chuckle. “He never took me to the zoo.”

  I smiled because I knew he was kidding. “What are we doing today? Moving money around? Buying another piece of real estate?”

  “Actually, I’m here on behalf of Charlotte,” he explained. “She’s been in my lineup for the last year and has gained immense popularity. Now she’s a rich woman and doesn’t know what to do with all her cash. That’s where you come in.”

  I turned to her. “I can make all your problems go away.”

  She smiled. “I can tell.”

  “You’ll take her on as a client?” Conway asked.

  I wasn’t taking new clients unless they were billionaires, but Conway was a friend, so I would make an exception. “Sure.”

  “Great.” Conway rose to his feet. “I’ll let you talk specifics.” He gave me a nod before he walked out.

  “Tell your wife I said hi.”

  “Will do.” He shut the door behind him.

  I turned back to Charlotte and got down to business. “I can launder a lot of money for you since Conway is your client. He can pay some of your salary in cash since I know his books so well. You have a good boss.”

  “Yeah, he’s great.” She crossed her legs and pulled her hair over one shoulder. “He spoke highly of you.”

  “Well, I’m the best,” I said with a smile. “I earned that reputation.”

  She smiled back. “I’m sure you’ve earned your reputation in other ways too.”

  After we finished with our meeting, I walked to my office door and opened it. “We’re gonna make a lot of money together.” I turned to her and slid my hands into my pockets as I waited for her to walk out.

  She grabbed her purse and stepped up to me. “I’m sure we will.” She opened her bag and grabbed a business card sitting inside. She turned it over, wrote down her number, and handed it back to me. “Maybe we can go out for a drink and talk about it more.” She was the most famous lingerie model in this country, and she was the one who put the moves on me.

  It was incredibly flattering. I took the card from her hand and slid it into my pocket. “I’ll call you.”

  When she got what she wanted, she smiled. Then she flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked out, strutting down my hallway like it was the runway instead of a stuffy bank.

  My eyes moved to her ass in the short dress, and I watched her hips shake. But then I was distracted by something else.

  Heath leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets, and he watched her go with the same interest. He whistled under his breath as he watched her walk, staring at her ass like it was a billboard on a freeway. “Damn.” He walked up to me and finally turned his gaze on me. “Can I get a copy of that?”

  It was annoying when he stopped by my office at the lab, but it was far more annoying when he showed up here. I stepped inside my office. “Don’t show your face here again.”

  He closed the door behind him and followed me. “What?” He stood in a t-shirt despite the freezing temperatures outside, ink up and down his muscled arms. “It’s a bank. There’s money here.”

  “This business has nothing to do with our business. Do it again, and you won’t get paid.” It really didn’t matter where he showed his face. It would piss me off, no matter what. But Hades was in this office, and I didn’t want my drug business anywhere near him. I went to my chair behind my desk.

  He sank into the chair where Charlotte had just been sitting, his knees apart and his thick arms on the armrests. He glanced around my office and took in the bookshelves and artwork. “Pretty snazzy place.”

  “Did you hear what I said?”

  His eyes shifted back to me, his smile fading away.

  “Don’t come here again.” I didn’t care about the threat in his eyes, the malicious expression on his face. If killing him wouldn’t start a full war, I would pull out my pistol and shoot him right now. “You have my number. You know my other place of business. You even know where I live. No need to come here.”

  He sat there in silence, watching me with those arctic blue eyes. He was so still, it didn’t seem like he was breathing.

  “I’ve been cooperative, Heath. But don’t test me.” It was stupid to provoke him when things seemed to have smoothed over, but I didn’t want him anywhere near Hades. Sometimes Sofia stopped by and brought Andrew. This place was supposed to be safe.

  “Don’t test me either.”

  I held his gaze and didn’t back down. “Hades is my partner, and he left the drug business. So, I don’t want you near him or his family.” Maybe that admission would make him understand. Hades and I were finally friends again, but I knew that could disappear in an instant if he thought his family was at risk.

  Heath retained his coldness. “You’re trying to protect your boy.”

  “If you want this to be a long-lasting relationship, respect my wishes.”

  “We both know I wouldn’t be here right now if you behaved like a good little boy in the first place.”

  I was seriously tempted to grab the pistol and shoot him.

  As if he could read my mind, he grinned. “There better be six bullets in the clip. Because it’s gonna take that many to stop me.” It was as if he had X-ray vision, piercing right through the wood to where I stashed my ammo. He leaned forward. “Give me my money, and I’ll be on my way.”

  “I don’t have it.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Choose your words carefully, Damien.”

  “I don’t keep it here. Meet me tonight at the lab. I’ll have it for you then.”

  He continued to stare at me.

  “If you want your money every month, that’s where you should go.”

  “But I like keeping you on your toes. It’s fun.” He rose to his feet. “And pissing you off is fun too.”

  I knew this was payback for the stunt I pulled, and he wouldn’t let it go for a very long time. He would continue to push me around like a punching bag until I was thoroughly humiliated.

  “I don’t want to go to war with you, Heath.”

  He straightened and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “But I will if you come near the people I care about—including Hades.” I rose to my feet so my height could match his. “If you want to keep getting paid for no work, do as I say.” Hades was my family, the brother I’d never had. I would jump on a grenade to save his life. I would take a bullet to save his wife, because if he loved her, then so did I. I’d never truly understood loyalty until I lost my best friend. “You understand me?”

  Heath was silent.

  I knew he wanted me to remain under his thumb, to keep me as his prisoner because he got a kick out of it. If he pushed me too hard, that would all go to
shit. All he did was give a slight nod in agreement before he opened the door and walked out.

  Hades had been just about to walk inside…because I had the worst timing in the world.

  Heath stopped and stared at him, his gaze frozen and fiery at the same time. Hades was the reason his plan had backfired, and he obviously hadn’t forgotten that. He looked him up and down subtly before he walked off.

  Hades wore the same focused expression, unafraid of the giant monster who had just occupied our halls. He watched Heath walk away before he turned his gaze on me—livid. He stormed into my office. “What the fuck—”

  “I told him never to come here again. This place is off-limits. That you have nothing to do with the other business, so he shouldn’t be here. He understood, and it won’t happen again.”

  Hades didn’t argue with me, but he still looked angry.

  “I would never put you or your family in danger.”

  He slid his hands into his pockets.

  “Alright?”

  He sighed and finally nodded. “If I see him here again, I walk.”

  I knew it wasn’t an idle threat. He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the quiet life he’d committed himself to. He had enough money to pack up and disappear forever. “It won’t happen again.”

  He finally grabbed the papers he’d dropped off earlier. “Why aren’t these filled out?”

  “Because Conway Barsetti stopped by.”

  “How is he?” He tossed them back onto my desk.

  “Same.”

  “What did he need?”

  “Nothing. He actually brought one of his models. She needs financial help.” I pulled the business card out of my pocket and held it up so he could see her number written in her feminine writing. “She gave me her number.”

  “I’m surprised she agreed to go out with you.”

  “I didn’t even ask her.”