Page 9 of Revelation (Love Isn't What It Seems 3)

I glanced at my reflection in the hallway mirror. My mass of golden curls was a frizzy mess, the black eyeliner and mascara from last night now a smudged mess under and around my blue eyes. There was no need to do a walk of shame when the shame showed through without the walking. Then a thought struck me. Maybe I didn't deserve love and happiness. Maybe that's why I never found it.

Chapter Four

Maxim

Fuck,how long has it been since I touched a woman? It had been over ten months. My last girlfriend and I parted ways amicably. She wanted more; I couldn’t give her more. It wasn’t fair to string her along.

I stared at the menu, aware of the lingering gazes from the women around me. They were always curious, fascinated, or some shit like that. I was sure my friendship with Daniel only increased that interest.

Daniel and I owned businesses together. But he was into so much more than just that. He also ran an organized crime syndicate as his side business. I kept away from those businesses, but it didn’t deter our friendship. After all, experiences tied us for life. And so did our business partnership.

I glanced around the room and some women met my eyes boldly while others quickly averted them. A few of them even openly gawked, hoping I’d get a hint they were interested.No, thank you.I haven’t found a woman I was even remotely interested in for quite some time. Most of them were only interested in my money and too vanilla between the sheets.

Bad combination for sure.

“Damn London traffic,” Daniel grumbled, sitting himself down in the chair next to me. It was uncharacteristic for him to be late.

“I thought since we are meeting at your restaurant, in your casino, you’d be here.”

“Ah, wrong thinking, buddy.” He flagged a waitress that scurried here, like her pants were on fire. “How are you doing?”

“Just great. You?”

He pulled out a cigarette. I knew he quit smoking, but it was a habit of holding a cigarette between his fingers he couldn’t shake off. He rolled it between his fingers, both of us waiting for the waitress to leave us after she poured our drinks.

“Yeah, pretty much the same.” Some days were better than others. There were no words needed. The invisible scars and the memories fucking blew. Sometimes, you wish you could forget something, just to get reprieve. But that was just it. Why would that be fair? We lived; they didn’t.

“Have you thought any more about the expansion?” he asked me, switching it to business. It was easier to talk about that.

“Not really,” I answered honestly. “But I’m game.”

The club, Revelation, was doing so well, we debated expanding it to France, Spain, Monaco, and Greece. It would be a huge investment, but if it did half as well as it did in the UK, we’d make our money back and a decent profit within the first twelve months. Any business we ventured into, we kicked ass.

The problem was when we tried to do something to give back. Both of us were out of our element there. The nonprofit organizations we funded required a different mindset but neither Daniel nor I were wired for it, which was the other reason for this meeting today.

“What the fuck are you doing with your time if not thinking about this business?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Family stuff.” I handed him the invitation to my brother’s wedding. Alexander and Liberty were going through some stuff and came to some accord, although neither one of them openly said what it was. Despite everything, those two had something going on. Though I was pretty sure both of them were too blind to see it.

Daniel raised his eyebrow but said nothing. The papers were all over the Caldwell’s each time there was a new woman in mine or my brother’s life. Yet this hadn’t been in the papers at all, of course. Since they weren’t strictly dating.

But it was a family matter. I didn’t ask about his family, and he didn’t ask about mine. It was what connected us in school. Kids were giving him a hard time about his father, and me about my father. Initially, we tried taking the high road; it didn’t work. It only made those fucking bastards more relentless and crueler. So, we beat the crap out of them together.

Ironic really. Our two backgrounds should have never mixed, but we had so much in common. His father was a dead beat; so was mine. His mother was a drunk, greedy piece of work. Hey, guess what? So was mine, and I could barely even remember her. I had my grandfather to step in; he had an uncle that did the same.

“You tell me if I can help, yeah?”

I nodded. “Same to you, buddy.”

“Were you able to get any information?”

We have been digging into one of our foundations. We poured millions into it, ensuring that families of fallen combat soldiers were taken care of. The cause was worthy, but after speaking to some of the families, it turned out they barely got anything. Instead, the rich were getting richer off of our donations.

“Yes. I got pretty much all of it,” I gritted my teeth. It pissed me off to see stuff like this happen. They were no better than criminals. “They are pocketing the money.”

Chapter Five

Layla

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