Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
“Bit hard when all I want to do is push you down that alley, lift that fuckin’ tiny dress, and bury my mouth in your pussy.”
I’m stunned.
Utterly stunned.
I didn’t expect that to come out of his mouth. I stop walking and look to him, staring up at his handsome face. “You want to fuck me?”
“I want to do more than fuck you, Aviana, I want to fuckin’ devour you.”
Oh.
My.
God.
I bite my bottom lip and give him the most teasing smile I can conjure up. “Well, if you play your cards right, tonight might just be your lucky night.”
Then I keep walking.
He growls and follows me.
“It’s clear there isn’t a Mrs. Cohen, what happened there?”
His jaw gets tight. “Never found anyone that filled the spot.”
“What spot?”
“The spot you left wide fuckin’ open. Nobody matched up to the connection we had. Didn’t even come close.”
He was aching for me, all this time?
My heart feels like it’s going to explode.
I didn’t realize until this very moment that he was likely suffering far more than I realized because he sent me away.
I was so wrapped up in my revenge and my pain that I didn’t stop to think that he was hurting too.
“We did have a great connection,” I say, my voice softer now. “We can have that again.”
“Maybe,” he murmurs.
“You don’t think it’s possible?”
He glances at me, his face blank. “I don’t know if we can ever truly move past the hurt. I don’t know if you’ll ever really get over what I did to you. Don’t want to spend the rest of my life bein’ reminded of the one fuckin’ mistake I made every single time we argue.”
“So that’s it then? You’re not even going to try?”
My voice is stern now, maybe a little snippy.
“I don’t know what I’m goin’ to fuckin’ do, Aviana.”
“Well, if you wait too long, someone else will figure it out for you.”
I walk ahead of him, shame and anger swirling around in my chest. Of course I didn’t expect him to just be my friend again and the entirety of our past would disappear, but I did figure that since we both chose to try and leave the past behind us, that he’d at least try.
I guess I was wrong.
We round a corner and a man steps out in front of us.
I come to a dead stop, my entire body freezing, my whole world stopping.
The air in my lungs stops flowing out and my body turns into a stone, my mind spinning, my heart racing.
There, standing in front of me ... is my brother Manny.
“Manny?” I croak.
How?
It’s not possible.
Manny is dead.
15
NOW – AVIANA
“Hello, sister.”
My brother’s husky voice rings out, and I stand, staring at him, sure I’m having some sort of hallucination. Maybe I got drugged at the club? That’s the only way that this could be explained away. I saw Cohen kill my brother all those years ago. I stared at his dead body. There was absolutely no way that was fake.
“Alarick,” I croak. “Did someone drug me?”
“No,” he growls. “No, they did not. That is your brother.”
I meet the eyes of the boy I grew up with, the boy that turned into a man and followed in my father’s footsteps, slowly losing his love for me and becoming the monster who was in on the plan to sell me.
The years have been very, very kind to him.
Gone are his young man features, now he’s rugged and incredibly masculine. His dark hair is slicked back, shining under the streetlight. His brown eyes are deep, almost black, and his face is chiseled and strong. He’s tall, well-built and, wearing the dark suit he’s currently sporting, he looks powerful.
“I don’t understand,” I say, grabbing the side of my head, checking it’s still there because to be honest, this must be a nightmare. “I saw you die.”
Manny smiles, showing perfect white teeth. “You saw Manny die. I’m not Manny.”
Excuse me?
What did he just say?
Is this a joke?
What?
I shake my head. Cohen steps up beside me, his body pressing against mine, almost protectively. “Who the fuck are you?” he growls.
“I’m Romeo. Manny’s twin brother and the family’s biggest secret.”
Three other men are standing behind Romeo, but until now I hadn’t even noticed them. My focus has been solely on him. They’re standing like loyal servants, arms crossed, all their eyes on me. The club has gathered in front of their women, all of them on high alert, creating a line across the sidewalk, Alarick standing slightly in front of the rest.
“I don’t understand,” I say, shaking my head. “I’m hallucinating. I think I was drugged. This isn’t real.”
Romeo steps forward, and Alarick does, too. “Take another step, I’ll make sure you don’t walk away from here,” he growls.
Romeo looks to him, his smile cocky. “Calm down, biker. I’m not here to hurt her.”