Page 17 of The Air You Breathe

“Did it hurt?” I blurted.

“Did what hurt?” he asked, as he turned around glancing at me before he bent down to get my keys from a safe.

“The tattoo on your spine,” I said admiring his other tattoos, noticing a stag on one of his pecks.

“The one that hurt the most was the one on my ribs,” he lifted his arm up showing me what looked like a tree but in the shape of a circle.

“Do they all have some sort of meaning?” I asked.

He chuckled. Whoa, it was a deep rumbly laugh and it lit his whole face.

“No, unfortunately, I lost a bet and got this guy because of it.” He turned his forearm to show me a tattoo of a minion.

I laughed because it was so random and cute. “Shit sorry, but I didn’t expect that.”

He shrugged with a small smile on his face. “My brother and sister ganged up on me. I’m actually ok with it, it reminds me of a good memory.” The fondness on his face made me melt.

“Then it does have meaning, family,” I said, smiling at him as I enjoyed seeing a different side to Dev.

He looked back down at it and then at me with those gorgeous eyes of his. “You’re right, family.”

His intense gaze usually was hard to hold but today it felt different, it felt comforting. He cleared his throat, breaking the moment and I didn’t know if I was sad or mad that he broke the spell. Handing the keys to me, he told me that the balance had already been taken care of. He nodded his head at me before going back into the garage and getting back to work.

I got a glimpse of his gorgeous backside before I made my way to the Mercedes, not expecting to like Dev the way I did, but the only thing that really held me back from pursuing him was he might be related to a man I loathed.

7

EVAN

Icouldn’t help myself, ever since Darcy and I had sex, she had been on my mind constantly. The feel of her against me, her soft cries, the way she took charge and the way she said my name as she came.Fuck, I’ve missed her so much. I passed by her home again to see if she was there and wasn’t surprised she wasn’t.

She had been avoiding me since that night and I didn’t have her number anymore, so I had to resort to passing by her house or the coffee shop. Ok maybe it was more like stalking but I really wanted to talk to her.

No, I needed to talk to her. I was an idiot to let her go but I couldn’t stay away anymore. I still loved her, and I made a promise that I intended to keep. Waiting till I was away from Lucio wasn’t an option anymore. There had to be a way for me to make it work, I would do anything to make it work.

Deciding to do something differently, I pulled the note I had written earlier and attached a camellia flower to it. Exiting the car, I jogged to her front door to leave it there hoping she would read it. I left my number, and I sent a silent prayer to the universe to help me out.

Please let her call me.

I looked over at Mary’s house, checking to see if she was home because I was desperate enough to endure her wrath just to talk to Darcy. But it looked like no one was home, so I made my way to my car, feeling defeated.

I hadn’t gone inside the coffee shop yet because I didn’t want to cause a scene, but it was looking like that might be my only option. She had until the weekend to talk to me before I gave her no choice.

We were long overdue for this conversation. Three long years had passed and my guilt was eating me alive. I regretted leaving her all those years ago because Darcy was my sun and moon. She was the reason I woke up every morning. I couldn’t wait to spend my days making her laugh, cry, and feeling stupidly happy. I rubbed my chest absentmindedly as I started my car. Lately it had felt like I was having a hard time breathing, like I couldn’t take a full breath the longer we were apart.

My days had been consumed with her but tonight, I knew I needed to get my head on straight. It was our big fight night that had enticed some rich guys to come and check us out. Lucio said it had to be a great night, no matter what.

On big fight nights, I usually came into the club right before we opened to make sure everything was running smoothly. I made myself available in case fighters were being unruly, drama queens or had any concerns.

Today, I had come in really early because staying at home had been brutal and I could use the extra time to make sure tonight was a perfect night.

The drive to Monroe was traffic-free, leaving me to go through lists in my head on what I had to do when I arrived at the office. I parked my car in the rear, using the back entrance. It was quiet as I walked into my office, since we wouldn’t open for a few hours. I looked at the roster for tonight, immediately seeing something wrong.

First thing I noticed was that Dev was fighting someone who had more experience than him. I had paired him with a shit fighter since it was his first time. Second thing I noticed was Cal was paired up with Brent Alvaro. That psycho Giovanni had to step in and stop him from possibly killing his opponent.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I Immediately dialed Giovanni’s number hoping that maybe it was him who had changed the schedule. If that was the case, it would be an easy fix and I could get away with changing up the roster.

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