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“Absofuckinglutely not.”
“That’s what I thought. So, I ask again, what are you going to do about it?”
“I don’t fucking know,” I repeated, the weight of the world pressing down on my shoulders.
Leo took a long drink, then said in a cautious voice, “I have some ideas for her programming. I think I could fix most of the damage done. Or at least disable her triggers. I believe I can make her not just survive in our world but thrive in it. We could help her be the woman she would have been if fate hadn’t fucked her over.”
Right away, I stood up and growled. “No. I forbid it. You are not screwing around with her head.”
Leo’s voice was calm as he said, “Mark, I wouldn’t hurt her. I think I may know how to help her. How to heal her.”
“No, no way. I do not want you brainwashing Layla.”
He sighed. “It may not matter what you want. Someone else has their eye on Layla now. Someone that would have no problem accepting my help. What Hannah didn’t tell you is Diego has taken a shine to Layla.”
Diego was one of the heirs to the Cordova Empire and a man I considered a good friend. He was also a well-known lady’s man, though he’d slowed down in recent years after the death of his nephew. Taking care of Fernando, his sometimes suicidal twin brother, was like a full time job for Diego lately. To be honest, I didn’t think he was interested in women after the whole shit that went down with his ex-sister-in-law.
Not to say he was gay, but he certainly didn’t have a bevy of beautiful women at his beck and call like he used to. In fact, I’d had more than one conversation with him about finding a good woman to have at his side like Leo had Hannah, and Ramon had Joy. We could all see how much a loving wife changed them for the better. Anyone who went to bed alone at night would feel a twinge of jealousy. Would want that kind of life for himself.
If Diego was truly interested in Layla, he’d go all out to win her over.
Then Layla would end up getting brainwashed anyway and have an even bigger target on her back.
Diego used to have a hot temper and had made a number of powerful enemies that would love to get back at him by hurting the woman he loved most.
Fuck.
If he got together with Layla, all the time I’d sacrificed in staying away from her to keep her safe would be for nothing.
His betrayal stabbed at my gut, but I tried to keep myself under control as I casually asked, “How does he know Layla?”
“Diego spends a lot of time at Ramon’s now that Joy is at home getting ready for their baby’s arrival. I guess she talks with Layla a lot throughout the day and with Diego there he chats with her as well. And he’s heard Layla sing a lullaby to Tiffany. Hard not to fall in love with a woman like that.”
Yeah, that would do it. Layla’s regular speaking voice was like that of a siren, gaining the full attention of any man around her, drawing them closer. Making them crave her presence. But her singing voice didn’t seduce, it demanded attention. If it wasn’t for her agoraphobia, I truly believe she’d be a famous singer by now. Her pure, crystalline voice had a way of seeping into your soul and warming you from the inside out. Dangerous men like myself and Diego, men who bathed in chaos and war on a daily basis, would do anything for the kind of peace her presence could bring in his life.
Especially if Layla sang a lullaby. I’d heard her sing to Leo and Hannah’s daughter more than a few times. Tiffany was a cranky baby when she was a newborn, and after a week of no sleep, her parents were desperate for something to sooth her. Layla and I were gaming late one night, when an exhausted Leo came over with a crying Tiffany. He’d looked rough, and slightly panicky—not a look I was used to seeing on my cold as ice boss. Layla, whose image was on one of the two massive screens I had set up in my living room for gaming, told me to rock Tiffany. A frowning Leo had reluctantly handed her over, and I gave Layla a puzzled look as she smiled on the big screen.
Then she began to sing an old Spanish lullaby to Tiffany. It was one her father used to sing to her, and as the first soft note fell from her full lips, the baby started to quiet. Hell, we were all quiet, and I was barely breathing as her voice spun through me like ribbons of gold. I know it sounds crazy, but there are some people that, when you hear them sing, it just does something to you. Touches your spirt and your heart. Any man who heard her sing would want to own all that beauty for himself.
