His face hardens. “I haven’t left your side, Logan. Listen, I understand you’re into her. I’m not going to bully her anymore. I give you my word. But you’re crazy if you think I’m going to abandon my best friend to go check on the girl who has spent the past nine years making your life hell. Got it?”
“Got it,” I mumble after a beat.
I guess I haven’t been half as discreet as I thought. Or maybe it’s just impossible to get anything past Damien. Whatever the case, he’s clearly known for a while now that Lia apparently enjoys nothing more than to put me down.
“What about the mattress?” I add after a short silence. “Who used it, Damien?”
Damien grimaces. “Definitely not the most ideal person, if you catch my drift.”
“Uhm, no.” Anxiety starts to sink its claws into my chest again. I’m not sure I can bear to hear more about the guy who had his cock in Lia last night. “Idon’tcatch your drift. Who, Damien?”
“Carmelo,” he mutters at last. “Carmelo Moretti.”
Carmelo Moretti? What the fuck?
For a while, I can’t do a thing but stare at him in shock. At last, though, I manage, “The guy who shot those five men dead? The guy who owes you? The most useful friend you could possibly have?Thatguy?”
“Yep. And you forgot to add, the don’s son.”
“Fuck.”
I sink back into the mattress, trying, and failing, to process what Damien’s just said.
It was one thing to see her walk into that bar in her tight leather outfit and hear her tell those five guys to beat the shit out of me. It’s another to imagine her getting into bed with the second most important guy in Oakley.
Damien keeps an eye on me as he says, “You know, it’s notlike she didn’t go in there wanting it. I mean, she literally walked straight to him. It’s not like he grabbed her and…”
“I know,” I cut in miserably.
“But I’m also aware thatpossessiveisn’t quite strong enough a word to describe how you feel about her,” adds Damien. “So just give me the word, and he’s dead.”
I stare at him in utter disbelief. “No way would you kill the don’s son, Damien,” I growl. “Stop fucking with me.”
“Not fucking with you. Not at all. Just say the word, Logan, and he’s dead. I can make it as painful as you want, too. You know Vale’s friend Igor? He’s got a machete, and he taught me how to use it. So just say the word, Logan.”
“Bullshit,” I snarl. “Bullshit, Damien. I don’t know what game you’re playing, but—”
“I’m not playing a game,” cuts in Damien. “I’m dead serious. There’s not a thing I wouldn’t do for you, and it’s time you found that out.”
I pass a hand over my eyes. I always knew Damien was a little unhinged, but this is on another level.
“I’m not sure killing him is the best idea, though,” he continues.
“Oh, really? Youthink?”
“I mean beyond the obvious,” he says coolly. “Sure, he’s useful, sure he’s powerful, sure we’d be pretty fucking screwed if we ever went after him. Details.”
“Details?”
“The main thing, Logan, is that this girl has spent nine years making you miserable. Insulting you at every turn. The hard truth is, I’m just not sure she gives a shit. Not that that matters in itself. All you have to do is ask, and I’ll drag her right over to you. I’ll cut her tongue out so she can never cuss you out again. I’ll buy you a private island where you can keep her. Whatever you want. But is she really worth it? Huh, Logan? Maybe it’s timeyou… moved on. What do you say?”
I bite my tongue to keep myself from admitting how tempting all those options are, because I’m convinced he’s in jest, despite there not being a trace of humor in his voice. And yet, even though every cell in my body recoils at his last words… I know they’re the only ones that make sense.
I can’t even remember the last time she wasn’t cruel to me.
She’s so set on hurting me she hooked up with the first man she saw who wasn’t me.
What kind of a guy keeps pining over a girl who treats him so badly?
