My eyes came across a particularly hideous flyer that was speckled with gold and music notes. I snatched one up, reading it. The Gilded Rose had just opened tonight and it was already advertising. Made sense, but seeing this here made me wonder if I’d just walked into DeLuca territory.
I didn’t grow up here. I had no idea who owned what, but I could tell you one thing for sure: I did not want to deal with any more DeLuca bullshit tonight. Tonight, I just needed to let it all out. I needed to forget the fact that Viper and Mike might be dead, that Roman and Carter’s girl may have been hurt because of me. I needed to forget about Tony and what he did…
Seeing the Gilded Rose’s interior on the flyer was not helping my current mental state, so I shoved it back in the stand and turned away from it, needing to run, needing to get the hell out of here.
Betrayal. Hands all over, needing and grasping, possessive even though they had no right to be.
Fuck. Why didn’t I just run away? Why didn’t I just go to another city, away from the Lucianos and the DeLucas and the people that followed them? Why not start over somewhere else, now that I was finally alone? I could. I’d done it before. It was doable, especially with a pretty face like mine.
Running away from all of this, hiding like an animal terrified of the hunter chasing it—it wasn’t me. I didn’t hide, nor did I run. I would stand and fight with everything I had. Bianca thought she had me by the throat, she assumed she could use me and get me to kill Maddox and Sylvester.
She was wrong. I would never kill them. I’d risk another twenty years of helplessness if it meant sticking it to that bitch. Yeah, I was that vindictive.
But of course, I wouldn’t take any of this laying down. I would give it my all, and even when all hope was lost, I’d still fight. I had nothing left to lose. With nothing to gain, I was the perfect agent of destruction and chaos.
I needed to get back to the Lucianos. I needed to tell them what happened, ask about the other attacks that had happened tonight. My bloodthirsty appetite could wait, for now. I should save it and bottle it up, unleash it on Bianca when the time was right.
Yeah, that’s what I’d do.
Determination set, I calmed myself down and turned away from the station with the flyers and brochures. Holding my head high, I headed right to the hotel’s sliding glass doors. Emerging into the night’s cool air, I stopped to inhale a deep breath before turning and walking—walking right into a solid chest that had literally appeared out of nowhere to my right.
I stumbled back, and I would’ve stumbled more if the person I’d run into didn’t have quick reflexes. His hands shot out, gripping both my arms to steady me. His hands were strong but soft, the kind of hands that hadn’t seen a day’s hard work in his life… the kind of hands that instantly brought me back.
Since I was me and I didn’t apologize for shit, I turned my chin up at him, puckered my lips, and prepared to punch him in the nuts for grabbing me—I would’ve rather fallen to the concrete sidewalk below than have a stranger’s hands on me—but then I saw the face attached to the body, and then… then it was all over for me.
Right then, right there. There was no saving me now.
The eyes staring down at me were alive with fire, the exact same blue as mine—deep and pure, the color of Grecian waters on a beautiful sunny day. High cheekbones, a nose that had always been a size too big on his face but somehow fit him perfectly now. Blonde hair a shade or two darker than mine.
He looked older now. More mature, and yet I couldn’t stop myself from remembering him how he used to be in the dark, in my room. In my fucking bed.
I stood in the hands of the one person I never thought I’d see again, the one person who shouldn’t be here. My little brother, who’d proved to me so many years ago he was not the little one.
My breath caught in the back of my throat, my eyes widening in realization. How was he here? Why was he here? Why did my shitty luck have to continue tonight? I wanted… I wanted to get away, but life constantly proved to me that getting away was impossible.
At first, he didn’t realize who I was, and I could tell he was seconds from apologizing, as if he’d been the one to run into me and not vice versa. But then it dawned on him what face he stared at, and the smile that curled on his lips right then curdled my stomach for countless of reasons.
Aiden Harding grinned down at me, his hands refusing to let go, and he spoke words I never wanted to hear in my life, “Lola, sister, how I’ve missed you.”
Now, I know what you’re probably thinking. What? You’re going to end it there? I mean, come on, give a gal some time to process, you know? I just had the shock of my life, seeing that asshole again.
Come back later.
Dear reader,
Well, that was a doozy, huh? I know, I know, I ended it on a bit of a cliffy, but book 3 will be out very soon! As in, April 1st.
You can find book 3, Violent Heart, here.
If you liked it, please leave a review. Reviews help books gain traction on Amazon, and any sharing you can do in book groups also gives books life! Seriously, we can talk about our own books all we want, but it means so much more when readers share it themselves.
My Facebook Group: Candace’s Cult of Captivation where you can get all the updates on new releases! https://www.facebook.com/groups/234452154135994/
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Crooked Heart (A Death So Sweet Book 2) Page 21
