Page 31 of Broken Promises
Fuck. Fuck.Fuck.
He’s the last person I would’ve considered as the promotor. The last person who should’ve agreed to actively participate in this charade. He’s Layla’s godfather. Frankie’s brother by choice. My fucking brother by choice too. I hadn’t once considered him to be the promoter. He never had much of a moral compass, but accepting this role should’ve been out of the question if only because he held Layla five minutes after she was born. Hewatchedher being born.
Frankie didn’t make it to the hospital on time, even though he had plenty of time. From the stories he told me, Layla was in no rush to get out into the world. Labor took nineteen hours. Morte was there the whole time, Godfather of the year.
“What’s the plan?” Layla tucks her head under my chin, cheek plastered to my chest. “You can’t possibly think you’ll kill everyone who tries their luck.”
Watch me.
I tighten my hold around her frame. “I’m here now, baby. This is when you stop worrying. I’ll take care of it. No one will touch you.” I’ll crawl out of my skin to make sure she’s safe. I’ll sell my soul to the devil himself.
The intensity of my feelings is as crushing as the magnitude of power she holds over me. This isn’t fucking normal, surely...
She inches away, a weak smile tugging at the corners of her lips—swollen from my kisses. A glint of unease in her eyes is not what I hoped for. She must think her smile looks believable. It sure doesn’t. It doesn’t reach her eyes, so I know it’s forced. She doesn’t believe I’ll close the hit.
Too bad she has no idea what I’m capable of.
Twelve years. Twelve long years, I’ve been involved with Mafia. The list of my sins is ever-growing. I’m not a good or decent person by any definition of the word.
Since day one, I’ve had a substantial advantage over Dino’s people. They were all clever, crafty, and loyal. They followed orders. They respected the hierarchy. All as it should be, but one thing distinguished me from the rest, which allowed me to rise above my so-called colleagues. Something that made me invincible, unstoppable... I hadnothingtolose. All Dino’s men were vulnerable to blackmail. They had girlfriends, wives, or kids that could’ve been used against them. They had to err on the side of caution at all times.
I had no one. The only person in my life I cared about to an extent was my mother, butI didn’t think highly of her back then. She wasn’t any better at being a mother than Jess was to Layla. Once my father died, Isla spiraled into grief and depression. She resented my existence because I reminded her of her late husband. She nosedived into work to keep sane, spending as much time away from home and measpossible. She left on tours for weeks on end, and whenever she returned to New York, she spent her time composing, shopping, or meeting her friends.
I had to grow up fast. Not an easy task when you’re a sixteen-year-old spoiled, entitled brat with an ego the size of Illinois. A stereotypical college douchebag—rich, football team captain, fucking around with the whole cheerleading squad. That’s until I left New York for Chicago to move in with my uncle, Carlton’s father. Ruled by hormones, desperate for an outlet for the pent-up rage, I became a lethal weapon in Dino’s hands; greedy, untouchable, careless.
Until Layla.
I was in trouble the moment I saw her. I knew then that I’d happily let her wrap me around her finger. Something I mocked for years hit me harder than a freight train the second she opened her mouth. One sassy comment, one look at those big, gray irises, andfeelingsknocked my breath out of my chest. A whole magnitude of feelings. Three months down the line, Layla is it for me. The one person that anyone with half a working brain can blackmail me with. The one person for whom I’d give up everything. Back in my bachelor days, I pitied the fools who fell in love, making themselves vulnerable... turns out I was the fool. The kind of vulnerability that comes with love isn’t a flaw. Taking caution with my actions is a strength, not a weakness. I’m wiser now that I have something to lose.
A faint knock on the door makes Layla jump. She wriggles out of my arms, keeping close enough to hold onto the hem of my jacket as if she’s afraid that severing the connection between us means I’ll apparate out of here like a Death Eater.
“Come in.” She drapes her damp hair over one shoulder as a pink glow heats her otherwise pale cheeks.
The door swings open inward slowly. Spades enters, stiff as a board when he stops two steps inside, eyes on Layla. He sizes her up with an unreadable, emotionless expression that has Layla squirming beside me. “Hey, girl.” His scowl morphs into a crooked smile. “Glad to see you’re okay.”
Two wrinkles sprout on her forehead as if she can’t understand why Spades isn’t mad. Where the hell is her confidence? Where is the biting tongue and her godawful attitude? I want it back. Right now.
“Remember what I told you when you ditched classes and I found you in the cafe?” he asks, giving her a second to recall the afternoon.
Shit...that’smy answer. The one I’ve been looking for lately. That very afternoon is when my protectiveness over Layla spiraled out of control. I waited for her outside the college building, leaning against the side of my car as I flicked through my phone to check recent emails. The crowd of students thinned within five minutes. Soon enough, the courtyard was empty. No Layla in sight. I called her once, twice, and a disgraceful number of times after that. No answer. Not a single idea where she could be or what could’ve happened.
Cue the dark scenarios: kidnapped, raped, dead.
My anxiety hit a crowning point, spiking my mind with rage, dread, and fear too intense to express. The tiny possibility of Layla being hurt set a match to my composure, andpoof,it went up in fucking flames.
I remember dialing Spades’ number. The tension in my voice, back, and throat. A rope tightened itself around my chest. What a sad state of affairs. The inner turmoil was irrational. I never felt or acted so out of character before. I’d also never felt anything remotely close to what I feel for Layla. The sudden onset of jitters was both justified and infuriating. Absolutelycrazy.
“It stands,” Spades continues, watching Layla with a small smirk. “Dante still has hay instead of brains when you’re not around, so be a doll and don’t leave his sorry ass again. Deal?”
As hard as it is to admit to my weaknesses, he’s right. I really can’t deal with reality when Layla isn’t mine. Fourteen days without her were a blur of pain, regret, and self-loathing.
This can’t be normal.
No way people experience this kind of emotional instability. I’m sure it’s just my twisted mind working this way, or else people would fall off the tallest buildings more often than they do now, driven mad by the intensity of their feelings.
Layla bobs her head once, relief flashing across her exhausted, beautiful face. “Deal.”
“Now.” Spades moves his attention to me. I think he’ll ask me to step outside for a second, but he changes his mind. “I sent Nate to find Layla’s cousin. She threatened to claw his eyes out if he won’t let her come over here and refused to talk to anyone who isn’t you.”
