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In life. In death. In love.
And aren't they one and the same, really? Loveislife, but ultimately ends just like death.
All of the words have been spoken. The feelings have been felt. Nothing is new and fresh, and every bit of it eventually fades into the abyss. Only for the cycle to repeat again and again, claiming anyone who dares gamble the greatest wager of all—their heart.
Bloodied, beaten, shattered—no matter what you do to avoid it from latching hold of you and sinking its vicious claws into your chest and ripping the thing out. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll make it out of it alive, but sometimes, if you do, you’ll have wanted to die anyway.
“June,” Gwyneth says from across the table. “You’ve barely touched your ceviche.”
“Sorry,” I tell her and shovel a bite into my mouth, chewing it with a forced smile on my face. “It’s delicious,” I murmur once I’ve swallowed and patted at my lips like a proper, polite lady.
“As I was saying, I do think you’d adore Italy. The northern coastline is truly magical with its lakes and vineyards. And Treviso is just stunning. Has this old charm to it with the cobbled lanes and canals. Enough about me, though, what have you been up to since we last got together?”
My gaze flits to the man standing post at the far corner of this empty room. Simon’s stare catches mine and he glances away.
“Other than being under constant surveillance?” I nod to the beautiful bodyguard. “I don’t do much with everyone treating me like a child who can’t be left alone.”
Gwyneth tilts her head to the side. “And if you had your freedom, what would you do with it?”
I exhale and ponder her question. “I don’t know. Maybe walk into town on my own. Eat a meal by myself. Go out dancing with my best friend without feeling like I’m the freak who has eyes on her at all times.”
"But that's the life you chose, June. For as long as you live, there will never not be someone looking in your direction. Whether they are friend or foe is dependent on the day."
I sip my water and focus on the droplets that roll down the side of the glass. “I’m being selfish, I understand.”
Gwyneth shakes her head and holds out her hand. “No, you have every right to be. But things are different now, and I’m not entirely sure if you were aware of those stakes when you sealed your fate.”
“I…” I push around the seafood with my fork. “I think I could deal with that, really, but…”
“Listen,” she continues where I left off. “I’m going to be honest with you, June. I didn’t think you had it in you. I had my doubts about what you were capable of. But seeing you take initiative and attempt to settle the score on your own accord… I didn’t know whether you were plain foolish or brilliant. Those men lost their minds, all four of them. And I’ve never witnessed them care about anyone other than themselves or what kind of advantage they could get. They would have willingly given up everything they had to see you have one more day.”
Here I was, risking my life for them to have everything, when they would have given it all up for me.
“Can I tell you a little secret?” Gwyneth leans into the table and lowers her voice. “Just between us girls.”
I nod. “Of course.”
“Up until that very moment, when Simon conceded, he had a strong chance of winning.”
My heart pounds in my chest. “What?”
She smirks and grabs her wine glass. “I didn’t figure you knew.”
“I was told otherwise.”
“I don’t know what the outcome of that day would have been had you not intervened, but I do know this for sure—you’re the one who solidified Dominic’s win.”
I helped him win his fucking war and he repays me by shutting me out?
How is that fair?
“The…what shall I call them? Adjustments. The adjustments that they’re experiencing right now are only the beginning of a much bigger storm that is coming. Times are changing and pressure is approaching from each direction. It’s part of the reason I made the decision to leave when I did. I’m getting too old to handle such situations, and after losing Franklin, it made me realize how much of my life it had consumed. He wasn’t always a ruthless man, my Franklin, but his ambition and greed got the best of him and turned him into the monster he was when he died. Dominic didn’t just take over the entire enterprise, he inherited all of its enemies and liabilities, all of its demons, too. There is no escaping for him. Dark days are looming ahead.”
She says it all with conviction, like there is no avoiding this predestined outcome. That Dominic no longer has a say in the matter except to accept that he will succumb to the darkness that is waiting for him.
How can I sit back and let that happen?
But how can I do anything when he refuses to let me in?
