Page 1 of Enraptured

CHRISTOS

She’s been gone for weeks. I tore apart Dimitri’s house looking for her. Slammed more than one body against a wall. My roar of rage rattled windows when she vanished without a trace from Alex’s bachelor party. No one had seen anything and yet she had slipped right out the damn front door. I watched the security tapes myself. My fist clenches. I’m still a ball of rage ready to explode at a moment’s notice.

“Have a drink, Christos. You look like you need one.”

I turn from the balcony, away from millions of twinkle lights and the laughter echoing up from the gardens below. Dark emotions swirl around me like the finest mist. Even the most calculating and bold woman in the crowd knew enough not to bother me tonight.

“Fuck off.”

“You’ll find her. But not tonight, or tomorrow for that matter. Paste a god damn smile on your face. You’re supposed to be my best mate, not the grim reaper.”

“I half-expected you to run, leaving her standing at the altar alone.”

“I thought about it. I won’t deny it. But since you won’t bankroll me, my new father-in-law will have to do.”

“You could work like the rest of us. I promised you, that I’d never let you be weak again. If I gave you money, what purpose would that serve? Man up Alex, it’s past time.”

“I know. Thank you, old friend. I’ll never forget what you did for me in Scotland when we were just boys. And bloody no, I won’t run. I’m a titled man, from one of the oldest families in Britain. Fuck no. She’s getting what she wants—the title of Duchess and I’m getting her money… seems fair enough.”

I shake my head at the scene below us, “This is a lot of fluff and romance for a marriage of convenience.”

He shrugs, sips his drink and takes out a smoke from the inside pocket of his sport coat. “You of all people, know how important it is to deceive. How appearance can be everything.”

“I might not have to do that anymore. The pills are working.”

“What pills?”

“The ones my late mother donated her entire inheritance to fund research for. It’s off- market, still in trials, with me being the lead subject in the study. They’re fucking me up…them andher.”

“Bloody hell. I never thought a single soul would ever witness the day Christos Devillo, got fucked up over a woman. She’s a slippery one sneaking out like that though, eh?”

“Shut up, you wanker. Love sucks.”

“Now I know you’re fucking with me. Love? You?Not bloody likely.”

“You’re right. All I feel is—darkness. Despair. RAGE.”

“Makes sense to me. You are an evil bastard.”

“What does that say about you, Alex? Having me as your best friend?”

“It says, ‘I’m smart Better to be best mates with the devil than having him as an enemy.’”

I shrug, tipping my glass of scotch to my lips.

“Let’s go have a smoke.”

“Fine,” I reply, reaching into the inside pocket of my own sport coat for the small carrying case with my Cubans inside. “Those skinny sticks are for pussy’s like you.” I brush past him, deliberately knocking into his shoulder on my way down the balcony stairs.

“Fuck. I’ll help you find her just because I want to see what ‘lovesick fool’ will look like on your face, as you beg her forgiveness. I’m going to piss in my knickers; I’ll be laughing so hard.”

“That’s never going to happen. I might have my emotions turned on. But I won’t ever be a fool for love again.”

“Then stop acting like you are, and let’s fucking party, eh?” He claps me on the back, trotting past me down the steps. I knew he was likely going to be out of control tonight. I need to keep an eye on him, so he doesn’t take this last night of freedom too far.

My captain, Stavros, had called me more than once from the satellite phone on board Oasis informing me that Alex took his games too far. One girl had to be resuscitated after he choked her during sex. Luckily for all of us, she came to. We were able to silence her with a check, keeping what happened quiet. Alex might be poor on paper, but he’s a celebrity in the UK, and right up there under me and my other friend, Dimitri, on the ‘most eligible bachelor’s list’.

But tonight, he could do real damage if I don’t follow him. It’s the eve of the day he’s been running from. I crave rough sex as well. The more hair pulling with harsh foreplay the better. But I’ve never lost control…untilher.I can’t blame her for running. Watching her with Dimitri enraged me but I wanted it. Craved it. The burning. The burning inferno of our love will never die. I fucked Fiona harder, turned on by watching my dove come while watching me hate fuck someone else.

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