Page 40 of Bought
I should call the agency. Request a woman who can put my mind at ease and make me forget. Go to the seedy club outside the city, get the private lap dance in the back, and pay the additional five hundred dollars to clear my mind—anything to stop feeling this way, to stop obsessing over her.
The last woman who had me wound up like this is dead.
I was twenty-four, overly ambitious, eager to prove I could lead. Carlo, my best friend and Isobel’s brother, stands across from me, his face unreadable, hands hanging loosely at his sides. He’d been with us for two years. I’d vouched for him, brought him closer, trusting him with details I should’ve kept hidden.
“Shipment’s late,” I mutter, glancing at my men scattered throughout the space. They’re alert but relaxed—too relaxed—because I told them this was safe. That’s on me.
Then I hear it—the metallic slide of a rifle being cocked. My stomach drops. I spin, but it’s too late. The doors burst open,steel screeching on concrete. The Morettis pour in like shadows given flesh, weapons raised, eyes cold.
My men barely have time to react. Gunfire erupts, deafening and tearing through the warehouse with flashes of muzzle flare. I dive behind a stack of crates, pulling out my Glock and returning fire. But it’s chaos—my men falling one after another, their shouts silenced, the floor slick with blood.
And then I see her.
She’s a shadow that catches my eye, a slight figure running out from where she must have been hiding behind a set of bookshelves. Izzy. She shouldn’t be here. I’d told her to stay away, but she must have followed me anyway. She’s headstrong and stubborn, just like she always is when it comes to me, doing the exact opposite of what I tell her—just to prove to me she can.
I can only see a glimpse of her dark hair as it swings behind her as she turns to run, but I know it’s her.
“No!” I roar, scrambling to run to her My legs feel like lead. My hands shake.
Time slows to a cruel crawl.
A shot cracks. Sharp. Final.
I don’t even hear her scream.
Something in me breaks. I fire until the gun clicks empty, until the slide locks back, until all I hear is my ragged breathing and the ringing in my ears. Carlo is gone—vanished in the chaos, his betrayal etched into every body on the ground.
When the smoke clears, I’m still alive. Alone. Standing over the dead men who trusted me. I go to search for her body, but my loyal soldier, Rafe, pulls me away. “We have to go! Come on!”
“No! I have to find Izzy.”
“They’ll be back. We have to go now. There’ll be more of them to finish us off.” He can’t convince me, but finally, he tells me that if I don’t run, he won’t either.
Essentially, I’d be killing us both by staying.
It was my mistake. My arrogance. My need to prove I could dominate. I let the wolf inside the gates. And the cost was everything.
I leave with Rafe, torn in two, hating myself and wanting nothing more than to carry Izzy’s body with me.
I want a fresh start. A woman to drag me from this grave I’m buried in. I want a woman who will bring me back to life.
I think I’ve found her. And I want to let myself love her.
Truly, fully, deeply.
But when you love someone, truly, you do everything you can to protect them.
And being with me is anything but safe.
My decision is clear. There is only one choice.
I can’t make the same mistake twice.
Revving the engine, I weave through traffic until Manhattan is just a reflection in my rearview.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Erin
