Page 91 of Keepsake

“I’m going to ask again, David—”

“I’m just impressed,” he cut me off. “Here in this penthouse all by yourself, and then suddenly you have three kids. Maybe you don’t want them to cramp your style.”

“I want them. Now leave.”

“Lo, don’t be like that.”

“Stop calling me that.”

That was enough ammunition. He smiled like the Cheshire cat. “Do you miss her, Lo? I bet you don’t. What’s the difference between dead or alive when you left her so many years ago, anyway?”

“I never left her.”

I kept making mistakes, falling for his game, letting him take a piece of my soul every time he opened his mouth. I shook my head, trying to wake myself up.

“What are you doing in my house, David?”

He crossed the room, stopping right in front of me. He smelled like tobacco and that cheap cologne, his eyes pale green like Lachlan’s.

“I’m wondering how much the perfect life cost you,” he said. “The perfect house. The perfect kids. You’ve got it all, don’t you?”

I snorted, not even a little surprised. “You want money.”

David waved me off, turning and looking around my house again in a way that was beyond nerve wracking.

“I mean, the house is yours. The children are mine.”

“Sofia left me as their legal guardian.”

“And I came in her cunt to bring them here.”

I practically gagged.

“Don’t be such a prude, Lo. I remember when you wanted her cunt, too.”

“Don’t be so homophobic, David. You have enough sins.”

Whatever reply he had to that, it was missed. The ding in the elevator only left me a second to turn as the door opened and a blur came raging through the door.

A shadow in the shape of Alvaro jumped on David, taking him by his neck. I blinked and Alvaro had the man pinned to the wall. David’s head tipped back, his neck looking fragile under Alvaro’s powerful hold.

“How dare you?” Alvaro growled.

His neck strained, a vein popping in his temple. He was going to kill David.

I rushed to Alvaro’s side, touching his arm. “Alvaro…”

“Are you ok?” he asked, turning from David for the first time.

“I’m ok. Let him go.”

“No.” Another growl. Instead of letting him go, Alvaro’s grip tightened around David’s neck.

Despite how hurtful it probably felt, David proved once again he wasn’t smart. A hollow chuckle came from him, his eyes darting between Alvaro and me.

“And you’re fucking the big brother? You took everything from her.”

His laugh turned into a groan as Alvaro shut him up by pounding his head into the wall. My eyes widened as I saw the blood trickling down David’s neck.

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