Page 83 of Hearts Of Darkness

Like him.

A shard of longing pierces my heart. Savage, dangerous, sophisticated, controlled—there isn’t a man alive that comes close to Dante Santiago.Please God. I know he belongs in hell but keep him alive for me.

“I think we should celebrate.” Anna’s voice floats out to me from the stall.

“Celebrate what?”

“Your successful return to the saddle, of course,” she says, reappearing in the doorway. “First horses, now mojitos.” She takes one look at my expression and rolls her eyes. “Don’t give me that attitude, Evie Miller. I haven’t seen you touch a drop of alcohol in years. I want to see you loosen up. We used to tear up that dance floor together back in college. What d’ya say?”

“Oh, why the hell not.” I’m never going to win this argument.

“Atta girl! Do you dance, Manuel?” Her voice takes on a sexy, suggestive undertone as she turns to address my bodyguard.

Could you be any more obvious, Anna?

“A little.” He shrugs, trying hard to suppress a smile.

“That settles it then.” Her green eyes are sparkling with triumph. “The place I work has a great cocktail deal on. I can get us free entry too.” She checks her watch. “We better getgoing. We only have three hours.”

“Three hours for what?” I say, mystified.

“To make ourselves queens of the nights, silly. And I havejustthe dress for you.”

26

EVE

It’s been five and a half years since I last stepped inside a nightclub. Everything feels strange and unfamiliar, from the faceless crowd, and the relentless indecipherable buzz of conversation, to the flashing lights and the hard beat of the music moving up from the floor and through my body, jarring my bones and accelerating my pulse rate. I feel like I’m being jolted back to life again with every pounding note.

I’m sitting at the bar between Anna and Manuel, two cocktails down and feeling the aftereffects already. It’s packed in here tonight, and my head is spinning. I have to keep shutting my eyes to ground myself, to block out the heat and intensity that is simmering all around me.

My hair is falling in a dark waterfall over my shoulders, and my eyes are ringed with smoky eye shadow. The dress Anna lent me is so fitted I had to pour myself into it earlier.It’s metallic silver, strapless, stupidly short, and it makes my cleavage look ridiculous. Dante would never approve of it. For starters, it’s not even white, and the cut is way past the point of sexy.

“Not such an angel now,” I mutter, yanking it up for the twentieth time.

“Leave it, you look gorgeous,” chides Anna, sliding another pink cocktail in my direction.

“It’s too tight. Corset tight. I feel like I’m in a Bronte novel!”

“Manuel, you’re a guy, tell Evie she looks great,” orders my friend, drawing the young Colombian into our conversation. He smiles, but he doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t dare. It’s more than his life is worth to pay me a compliment. He keeps his eyes fixed on my face so that they don’t stray downward like every other man’s in the vicinity.

“Oh my God, I love this song. Let’s dance!” cries Anna, jumping up to shimmy a few steps to Calvin Harris as his latest tune starts pumping out of the speakers. Her red dress is even tighter than mine, and suddenly Manuel’s eyes are nowhere near me anymore.

“I’m in,” I say, knocking back my cocktail. I can feel the burn at the back of my throat as I drag her to the edge of the dance floor.

“You look like a queen, señorita.Hisqueen,” Manuel whispers as I pass. I shoot him a quick smile in gratitude. He’s the only one in this club who knows my darkest secret.

“He never leaves your side, does he?” Anna muses, throwing him a backward glance as we start to move. Manuel is standing over by the barrier, his gaze constantly flickeringover the crowd.

Assessing the dangers.

Keeping me safe.

“I guess it’s a survivorship thing.” I shrug.

She mulls this over for a couple of beats. “Did you sleep with him in Africa?”

I stop dancing immediately. “Are you crazy? No way!”

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