Page 1 of Ruin
1
OURS TO TAKE CARE OF
LILY
When I wokein the late hours of this morning, I was expecting today to be just another day. I’ve spent the last three months hidden away within the walls of the exclusive club my best friend owns. I’ve rarely set foot outside of the suite he’s marked as mine. A place to heal, while hiding from the monsters from my past.
My stay here is a closely guarded secret. And I’d hoped to keep it that way.
But as soon as I open my bedroom door and find a man I’ve not seen in eight years leaning against the door to my suite, I know this isn’t going to be just another day. With his arms crossed and eyes blazing, his expression is a mix of concern and frustration.
And despite all the years apart, a long forgotten flutter grows deep in my belly.
And I know my life is about to change yet again.
Whether I’m ready or not.
I’ve long grown accustomed to having no say in how my life is lived. When your entire existence is at the whim of powerful men, you become complacent.
Meek.
Mild.
Small.
Mute.
Anything to keep those men from snuffing you out of existence entirely.
But the two men in front of me right now have never treated me as a commodity. If anything, the DeLuca brothers are the only family I have ever really had, although there is no blood relation there. My father viewed me as nothing more than a possession that he could use as a bartering tool to work his way up in the world. And my mother never stood up to him. It was only once I met these two men as a doe-eyed teenager that I realised how a true family should behave.
Both of them have been in and out of my life for seventeen years, since I was fifteen. One is like a brother to me. The other?
Well, I guess that’s complicated.
I’ve been sitting in Daniel’s office for the last twenty minutes while he defends keeping my current situation from his older brother, Sebastian.
Sebastian has avoided looking me directly in the eye since he entered Dark Desires thirty minutes ago. I’d hoped that after eight years of silence things would be different, but I know now that those complicated feelings are still very much in play for both of us.
“I can’t believe you’ve kept this from me for the past three months,” Sebastian says, the slight shake in his voice the only obvious evidence of his anger as he keeps his gaze fixed on Daniel.
I sit perfectly still in the lone armchair, tension coilingthroughout my entire body, while Sebastian sits on the leather couch across from me. While he gives the impression of being relaxed, the muscle twitching in his jaw gives away just how hard he is fighting his emotions right now. Anyone else probably wouldn’t have noticed it. But I’ve been attuned to this man's tells since I was a teenager, and despite the years since we were last in a room together, it seems I can still read him like a book.
I’m not entirely sure if that’s a good thing or not, though.
To my right, Daniel rests his forearms on his solid oak desk, watching his brother process my presence with a small smile playing across his lips.
Now in his mid-thirties, with his jet black hair cut short, Sebastian has just the right amount of stubble to give him an almost dangerous appearance. With startling blue eyes and high cheek bones, his Italian heritage is more pronounced than Daniel’s. He is, in short, more beautiful than ever.
He’s filled out in the years since I last saw him. Though still tall and lean, the muscles in his arms strain beneath the sleeves of his shirt in a way they never used to as he scrubs a hand over his face. It’s obvious he spends a lot of time working out these days.
“I promised Lily that I wouldn’t tell anyone she was here,” Daniel replies, a lock of his blond hair falling across his green eyes as he flashes me a comforting smile, before turning back to meet his brother’s incredulous gaze.
The two of them have always been like different sides of the same coin. Although their facial features and builds are similar, Daniel was always the light to Sebastian’s dark in more than just physical appearance.
Quicker to smile.
Quicker to trust.
