Page 45 of No Darker Temptation

“Imagine what a family might do to have that much power,” Regina says. “They’d fight anyone, kill anyone. Smaller branches have been allowed to operate under the Twelve Families’ control over the years. The Russians, the Balkans, the Italians. But if Sandro continues to ally with them, they’ll become bold. They’ll fight for more territory, more port access, more politicians and officers to put on their payroll. First, they’ll overthrow the Twelve Families’ regime and then they’ll come after Alejandro. Because even if the other eleven families fall, he’s still the most powerful one of them all.”

A shiver bolts down my spine. “Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because he’ll listen if it comes from you. If you love him, you’ll help me⁠—”

My body moves of its own volition. Something ignites in the pit of my stomach—strong, angry, and powerful—and it propels me forward until we’re standing toe to toe.

“Do yourself a favor and don’t finish that sentence.”

Her eyes are cold, voice thin as ice. “I’ve known him a decade and you’ve been here a grand total of twelve months. I have no interest in your relationship nor am I inclined to get into a cat fight over his affections. I care about him—always have, always will. Whether or not the two of you stay together is of no consequence because I was here before you and I will be here after you.”

My chest heaves with the effort to steady my breathing.

“Our lives are forever intertwined; have been from the moment we were born. That’s the way it is in this life. There’s no way out but death and if you want to be by his side in the long run, you better get your shit together and quickly. Because the next Narvaez matriarch isn’t going to be some prissy college girl with an inferiority complex.”

She grabs my wrist and before I can yank my hand away, she shoves a folded piece of paper into my palm.

“This is the number he can reach me at. Give it to him or not, I don’t give a shit. But when he ends up dead in one of these back alleyways like his father, remember I was the one who tried to help.”

Regina doesn’t wait for me to answer. She walks past me and out the door, a gust of cool wind skittering over my bare shoulders in her wake.

Dead in an alleyway just like his father…

Oh my God.

This is where Lisandro was killed.

NO DARKER TEMPTATION

Dahlia

My head is spinning the rest of the afternoon.

Regina.

That tall, elegant, goddess of a woman is Alejandro’s Regina. My Alejandro. The thought makes me sick. Not to mention murderous. I should’ve yanked the hair from her scalp when I had the chance.

His first love, his first heartbreak. My stomach rolls with nausea. Logically, I know his past is filled with other women in the same way that mine is occupied by the men that came before him. The difference is that I didn’t move halfway across the world for those other guys just to be the second woman they’d ever shared their life with.

He’s been engaged before. He’s lived with someone else, planned a different future, all things that didn’t include me. It isn’t jealousy I feel or even insecurity but a third, more obscure sort of anguish that makes the marrow in my bones ache. I am not the first person he’s ever promised forever to but he is to me. Aside from Brent, I’ve never hated anyone in my life and to be fair, Brent is merely an irritating thorn in my side who I wouldn’t disdain so much if he wasn’t married to Karina. But as the car rolls to a stop outside the lounge and Dimitrio goes to open my door, I realize I hate Regina.

I hate her.

I want to take back all the firsts she stole from me. All the I love you’s Alejandro gave her in abundance that she squandered and abused. All the years they spent together, the homes they lived in, the holidays they shared. I want to take back their proposal and the first time he ever got down on bended knee, want to erase from existence whatever joy he felt waiting at the end of an altar for a woman who wasn’t me. Knowing what became of their relationship does nothing to quell the burning inside of me. Not to mention the guilt.

I went to La Rambla after Alejandro explicitly told me not to and now I understand why. The ten-year anniversary of his father’s death passed while we were still in Mexico with his family. In fact, it’s one of the reasons we stayed so long, so that everyone could be together on that day. His father’s murder shattered his family and triggered a period of mourning no one has quite yet emerged from. And the fact that I was there, probably blocks away from where he was killed, all because I was stupid enough to blindly follow the instructions of a mysterious letter…

I’m so distracted that when Dimitrio opens the front door I almost trip over my feet.

His arm shoots out immediately, placing a protective hand between my shoulder blades. “Are you okay?”

“Yes! My shoe.” I wave a hand dismissively. “They’re new and a little tight.”

He doesn’t look convinced but Dimitrio’s never been one to overstep. In fact, I think those are the first words he’s spoken to me all week. He’s quiet to a fault but observant and maybe one of those things has to do with the other. Among our guards, he and Beni are the most handsome. Beni with his swagger and boyish charm who can shine like a supernova next to Dimitrio’s dark star.

He keeps his jet-black hair long enough to reach the nape of his neck and the waves hug his ears. His eyes are near onyx in color, framed by curly lashes, so feminine against the masculine structure of his face. Year round, his light brown skin maintains its color and he always keeps his beard short, just a day or two overgrown from being a five o’clock shadow.

How does Alejandro trust me around his attractive guards all day? I think if he had a guard that looked like Regina I’d kill them both. And then him twice.