Page 6 of Betrayed in the Dark
And the villain of my story.
Chapter two
Eli
Idon’t know the exact day it happened—the day I fell in love with Madeleine Alarie.
Maybe it was when she sent her first letter to me, subtly trying to let me know she missed me without directly saying she did.
Maybe it was when she kissed me during spin the bottle, her heart beating as fast as mine was.
Or maybe it was the day she felt safe enough to break in my arms, letting me see a side to her that she never showed anyone else, in fear of appearing weak.
Like I said, I don’t know the exact day it happened, but that’s only because I can’t think of a single day when I didn’t love her.
“So, what do you think?”
Leo’s voice cuts through my thoughts, and I internally shake my head, looking at my best friend as he waits for my answer. If only I weren’t daydreaming over here about his fucking sister, then I might have a bloody clue what the hell he just asked of me. “Think about what?”
He crosses his arms over his chest, his dark eyes focusing on me. “Reassigning you to Madeleine.”
My cold, beating heart picks up speed for the first time in a long time, thundering violently as if awakening from hibernation.
“You promised to never hurt me.”
The words she hurled at me at her engagement party awaken. Thundering across my skull. Invoking a restlessness that slinks across my chest.
And every day since that night, I’ve wondered, what the hell did she mean?
How did I hurt her when I wasn’t even here?
I’m the one who came back from the Middle East to find out that the woman I’ve been in love with for my entire life is engaged to another man.
I’m the one who had his heart brutally ripped from his chest, shredded into a million fucking pieces.
So, how could she accuse me of hurting her when she’s the source of the pain that emits over the center of my chest, day and night?
“Eli?”
I drag my fingers through my hair, exhaling. “Sorry. Didn’t sleep well.”Not a total lie.I lean against the counter as I process his question. “You want me to be Madeleine’s bodyguard?”
Leo reaches for the bottle of whiskey on the counter beside him and pours it into two glasses, handing me one. His gaze turns to the back of the kitchen, toward the commotion.
A few caterers dash around the space in a tizzy, preparing the final touches on the desserts for his celebratory engagement dinner with his wife. Yeah, I didn’t say that wrong.
A pan falls to the floor, dishes crash in the sink, and someone shouts out orders to others.
“Signore, concedeteci un momento,”Leo instructs the staff, who nod and step out of the room, giving us privacy. He picks up his glass of amber liquid on the counter, swirling the contents before taking a sip. “Actually, it was my mother’s idea. She thinks it will be good for Madeleine to have you nearby. Someone she’s known her whole life.”
Fuck, none of them have any clue as to how well we know each other. If they did, well, I probably wouldn’t be standing here before Leo breathing air into my lungs.
That’s for bloody sure.
Not to mention, he’d probably regret the day in primary school when he beat up the kid for making fun of my accent, instantly making us best friends.
“And what about Scarlett?” I ask before taking a hefty taste of my drink. Scarlett, his wife and a woman I grew up with, is who I’ve currently been assigned to these past few months while they were hunting down her kidnapper.
Leo hesitated to call me about the job offer, waiting until it was essential for my presence, understanding the challenges I had recently faced. He was giving me time to heal—both physically and mentally. However, he didn’t realize that his need for me in such an important matter made me feel like I had a purpose in life for the first time in too long.
