Page 112 of A Dark Duet

She places her finger over her lips in thought. Her eyes find mine and she says, “Show her you care about her. Remind her of the good times you two shared. Get to know her on a level no man has ever done, make an effort, Jaden. You are going to have to crawl to win Briana back. It is not going to be easy. I’m her best friend and I know how Briana thinks. She is convinced you don’t need her in your life. Briana doesn’t stay where she isn’t loved.”

Giselle looks at the screen, replaying the clip of Briana and Ethan arriving at the fundraiser. “That man is in love with his dead wife and Briana knows that he couldn’t love her the same way. Even if he ends up falling for Briana because everything in life is a possibility. It would be pointless.”

“How do you know that?” I ask.

Her gaze finds mine and all the guys are holding their breaths, listening intently to Giselle. She tilts her head, and her eyes go soft when she talks about her best friend she loves and adores like a sister. “Because no one can compete with a girl’s deepest love. There is no greater love that can compete with just one day of her loving you.”

My stomach clenches at Giselle’s words when she describes the type of love I had from the most important woman in my life. Like a fucking idiot, I let her go. She must feel like I betrayed her, that my promises had an expiration date. The day I told her to go and not set foot in my gym, the things I told her that day replay in my mind, and I feel disgusted with myself. I left with Janine to lunch to push her away and I did what I thought was the right thing to do and now I regret every single thing I did to her that day.

Everyone thinks I’m the best fighter in my prime with an undefeated title but in truth, I’m a coward because I didn’t fight for the one girl who loved me.

“I’m going to win her back. I’ll do anything for her.”

“Then you better start groveling because that guy she is with up there just found out the diamond he has is actually priceless if you know what I mean,” Brian says.

“Fuck him. All he is going to do is put a target on her head. People like him have a lot of enemies and he thinks by parading Briana out in the open he isn’t endangering her. If anything, I have to protect her.”

“What do you mean?” Giselle asks with a frown.

Looking around to make sure it is only us and no one is eavesdropping on our conversation, I lower my voice and tell Giselle how we are involved with Ethan Carter.

“We have ties with the Mafia. Nate and I used to run with them and are partners in many of their business operations. Nate and I love MMA but it is not what we always did. I run all their tech and firewalls, surveillance, you name it.”

Giselle looks at Nate. “I know you told me something, or rather that you run in darker circles, but the fucking Mafia, Nate?”

“I know it sounds bad, but we aren’t in as deep as Ethan because we chose this life and we are always in the limelight. Jaden and I always wanted to fight, that is how we got out of it. We have had to do things that we aren’t proud of, but we all don’t come from rich families. We come from the foster care system and ended up on the streets. We have no parents, no lineage, we have nothing, Giselle. We have to make it out there and sometimes it means we have to deal with bad people to make it ahead. Ethan Carter is part of the Mafia and is considered a Mafia king because he directly deals with them and his father is a leader and what Jaden is saying is that he thinks Briana is now in danger.”

Giselle’s eyes widen and so do the guys’. She turns to look at me with a look of fierce determination and says, “You have to do something. I’m not going to sit here while he puts my best friend in danger.”

“I’m on it. Trust me, nothing will happen to her. You have my word.”

Briana

Ilie down, my head hitting the pillow with a thud, and my cell phone rings. When I look at who is calling, I see it’s Jaden. I answer the call, closing my eyes. “Hello?”

“Open the door.” He growls.

I sit up, bolting from the bed in my simple white T-shirt and lace panties. “What?”

“If you don’t want me to get in your apartment my way, I suggest you open the door.”

I end the call and hurriedly open the front door and Jaden is standing there, filling the open doorway with his broad frame, looking sinfully attractive with his shirt stretching across his chest with his sweats hanging low on his waist. He raises a brow as he catches me ogling him. “Please don’t give me another excuse. Why do you answer the door dressed like that?”

My head lowers to my bare thighs and the black lace panties visible but barely covering my pussy. The hem of my white T-shirt barely covers the band of my panties. When I raise my head, he moves inside, closing the front door with a thud and flick of the bolt. I cross my arms across my braless breasts, trying to cover my hard nipples from his gaze. His eyes flicker over my arms, covering my traitorous nipples.

“I don’t invite men inside my apartment.”

“The only man invited inside this apartment better be me,” he quips.

I lift my chin in a challenge. “Or what?” I snap.

He drops the strap of his gym bag I hadn’t realized was hanging on his shoulder because I am too busy admiring his perfect chest and bulging muscles that I want to be wrapped around my body.

He moves to lift me, and my legs wrap around his waist as he walks us back to my bed. “Or I will have to kill each and every man that comes through that door with the intention of touching you. No one gets to touch you,” he says, holding me against his body with both hands on my bare ass.

My panties barely cover the cheeks of my ass, and the lace doesn’t do much in concealing my skin underneath. My hands are wrapped around his neck and his clean ocean-scented cologne smells like an exotic place that I want to get lost in. My eyes trace his chiseled jaw, straight nose, and gray eyes. His light-brown hair up close looks messy, like he has been running his fingers through it in frustration.

It only makes him look sexier, and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want him. My lace-covered pussy is making contact with the skin exposed just above the waistband of his sweats, giving off a scorching heat. He must feel it because he hesitates to place me on the bed with my back to the mattress.

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