I slowly walk toward him, glancing straight into his eyes with superior confidence building up within me. “Thank you,my friend,” I rasp and we shake hands.
I grab my luggage and head out of the room. I have no time to lose. Rocco watches me with his hands clasped over his abdomen. I am sure he feels relieved that his opponent will be gone. But I’m leaving, certain that I will return to reclaim my woman. Ava will be mine. Sheismine.
DAMIEN
I
walk over to Rocco’s private jet. Although the day is sunny, a chilly wind is sweeping my cheeks.
“Sir.” One of The Phoenix’s men greets me as I am about to trot up the stairs.
I close my eyes briefly, inhaling the Sicilian breeze once more. I know I should move, but something is urging me to stop. “Damien!” I hear her voice calling out my name.Is it just in my head?
I hesitantly turn back to seeher. Avalyne. She’s running in my direction. Her long blonde waves are blowing in the wind while she’s trying to get the strands out of her face. She looks gorgeous. She’s so fucking beautiful. She stops just a few steps away, breathing heavily, locking her luminous eyes with mine. “What are you doing here, Ava?” I whisper, stunned by her flawless beauty, bewildered by the growing hope inside me. A hope that she’s come here to go back home with me.
Ava presses her lips together, furrowing her brows before she speaks. “I need to know…” She pauses; her chest moves up and down and her eyes flicker between mine. “Did you kill him for me?”
My gaze never leaves hers while I state firmly, “Yes.”
She closes her eyes, squeezing her eyelids together as she turns her head to the side as if fighting with her feelings. As if refusing to surrender her heart to me again. I can’t blame her. I broke it into more pieces than it was made of, so how could I expect her to give it back to me? To the person who was supposed to take care of it, protect it, cherish it, but instead shattered it like no one else before.
I slowly move closer to her and put my hand on her cheek, gently caressing her soft skin with my thumb. She leans into my touch before opening her eyes and setting them on mine. “I’d kill anyone for you, baby,” I say, semi-whispering, and she sips the words right off my lips.
“You’re a goof.” She chuckles softly. For a moment, it seems like the world around us disappears. It feels like there’s just Ava and me. Our feelings desperately wanting to take charge of our bodies and reconnect. Reignite our love that never died. It merely slumbered. We forget about the adverse circumstances, Bianchi’s men flanking us, or the past events that made us go our separate ways.
“That day at the club when I messaged you … before I saw you with…” I start, struggling to say the words out loud as the images of Ava that night at the club, sitting in Rocco’s lap, and his words still ringing in my head make it hard for me to speak. “Withhim.” I clear my throat. “I wanted to tell you everything, Ava. I wanted to hand you the matches so you could bring your own kind of justice.”
Ava’s eyes scan my face. I see a kind of sore disappointment painted all over her. “Why didn’t you tell me then? Why didn’t you tell me from the very beginning, Damien?”
“I wanted to protect you,” I say, defeated, knowing I made the worst mistake of my life. This moment makes me realize that nothing is more dangerous than the words that should’ve been said but never were. Had I told Avalyne the truth about Oliver, I would have spared us both the major heartbreak and months of excruciating pain that tore our hearts apart. We could’ve gone through this hell together, but I chose to push her away and right into the arms of another man. What a fool I was. Wanting to protect her, I could’ve lost her. I should’ve surrendered to this love instead of pushing it away. I won’t take this risk again. I won’t risk losing Ava. “Come back home with me, Ava.” I implore her with my eyes darting between hers. “I’m begging you.”
Ava lets out a heavy sigh, slowly moving back. Her gaze drops down for a short moment before she looks into my eyes again. “I’m sorry, Damien. I can’t.” She gives me one last glance full of regret before she turns around and heads back inside the house of another man. A man who didn’t refuse to give her his love. A man who didn’t underestimate her and took her for how she was. A man who didn’t make a mistake that I did. A man who sees her value and is determined to fight for her.Fuck. Have I lost her?
DAMIEN
T
here is a pain in my arm I can’t decipher. My eyes won’t open and my head is throbbing. The feeling in my throat is that of a thousand needles. A voice is muffled but definitely a female.Ava?
I grunt and everything fades to black.
I was asleep for minutes, hours, days, or even weeks, I’m not sure at this point. My eyes are heavy but I can open them. Every time I do open them, I fade again. What I do know is I am a prisoner. There is a medical grade IV in my arm. When I open my eyes slightly, they shoot me with what I’m guessing is a heavy dose of morphine.
“You have to let him wake up. What’s the fun of having him here to torture if he is constantly sleeping without pain?” a male voice mumbles to maybe someone else. Maybe to himself.
“Lianne wants him sleeping until she gets here.”Lianne! Oliver’s mother.
A cell phone is ringing. I can’t risk opening my eyes. I need to get as much information as possible.
“She’s here,” the male voice confirms.
The clicking of those high-heeled shoes. I’d know them anywhere. Oliver and I used to make fun of his mom for stomping a little louder on marble floors. He wasn’t all bad, was he?
“Wake him up.” Her voice stings as a burning sensation runs up my vein from the IV, causing my eyes to shoot open. Fuck! My head.
“Lianne.” My voice is hoarse, barely a loud whisper. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Her black hair is slicked back in a bun. Makeup is caked on her face, her lips are blood red, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she is wearing one of my mother’s dresses.
