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“Aimon, what’s happening?”
“It’s the cake. I thought it tasted different. It has spices. Uh, aphrodisiac stuff, but…stronger. My grandfather used to hand it out at parties like candy. They called it love cake. It was all the rage back then. That was probably before they made some of the ingredients illegal. Anyway, Mrs. Emmy made it once when I was younger for my grandfather and a woman he was dating. I snuck in and stole a piece. It was quite the night. Hell, a few days? Two? It fucking lingered.”
“Oh.” Fayette’s eyes widened as she fell back to the bed. “Love cake doesn’t sound so bad.”
“It would if you weren’t already on it. You’re already affected. We both are.”
I jerked at the cuffs with all my strength, hating that I didn’t feel as pissed as I should. The cake did that. It soothed. Aroused. It made sane people overlook things they shouldn’t.
“There’s something I’m forgetting.” Fayette pulled at the top of her robe, opening it wider as her fingertips traced over her skin. “Time, yes. I’m running out of time. There has to be something else.”
Seeing her that exposed had me continually twisting my hand in the cuff until my wrist burned. The pain kept me focused. It didn’t allow me to drift into fantasies or…beg. My eyes glanced back over. Fay had her lids closed, rubbing even lower underneath the material.
“Stop that, Fay, drink some water. Get up and move around. You need to—”
“You’re right. My mom.”
“No. Think of something else. Can you do any tricks?”
Her head once again lifted. She looked at me just as bewildered as I felt.
“I’m not a dog, Aimon. Why would I know any tricks?”
“I don’t know. Can you dance?”
“You want me to dance for you?” Her thigh slid free of the robe as she went to move closer.
“No. Not for me. Shit.”
Fay sat up the rest of the way, inching closer, and ignoring my warning. She kept her attention on my face. Just having her focused so intently made me hard. Her nearness was even worse. I wanted to move in. To kiss those lips she kept sliding her tongue across.
“I don’t want to rape you. I really, really don’t want to. You do understand why I need this to happen, right?”
“I understand. But understand this.” My teeth ground as I once again pulled against the cuffs. “I don’t want you to touch me. I don’t want to have sex with you. I will not, will not,” I emphasized, “be giving you or my grandfather a child.”
“So, my mom dies alone then? That’s what you want?”
“That’s not fair.”
Fayette’s head dropped sending dark hair swinging forward. “Two impossible decisions with two devastating repercussions. How did this happen?”
“We both know how. My grandfather’s greed. Take his name, for instance. Master Carmelo. Master Aimon. Who makes people call them that? He says our titles are from what he built. The darkness he rose from. He rose alright…and became it. Asshole. I want out of here.”
“So do I.”
Fay lifted her head, but the tears weren’t what affected me. Determination was set in her eyes, and something about it lit a fire inside of me so scorching hot that I felt nothing else. Had this been any other night, in any other circumstance, I may have initiated and taken it slow to make sure she wasn’t like the others. I would have overthought it because I was so used to my grandfather saying every woman was out for my money.
Not with this cake. It was the opposite. I wanted Fayette on her back so I could imprint this night into her memories forever. She’d never forget it, just like I wanted her to never forget me. Whether she viewed it as good or bad, it didn’t matter. I just needed to take up some sort of residence in this woman’s brain. I didn’t understand it. Maybe it was the cake manipulating my emotions. Maybe I felt sorry for her for the choice she was forced to make. Regardless, this was my life too, and I couldn’t be a father. Not if it was bringing a child into the Carmelo legacy. The kid would never live a normal life. I’d be forced to make them cold, like my grandfather had made me. People in our world weren’t nice. You couldn’t live a regular life. Friends, family, foe—they were all enemies. They took whatever opportunity they could to influence or control you. I didn’t want that, and I sure as hell didn’t want to bring a child into it either. My grandfather would have a field day with his stories of mobsters and dirty money. He’d wrap his greedy little hands around what was mine and the child would never be the same.
“Is it getting hot in here? I’m so hot.”
It was, but I wasn’t about to admit it.
“What do you do, Fayette? For work, I mean.”
A loud sigh had her lips slightly twisting.
“I had a great job up until a few months back. I was a business consultant. And a damn good one too. I had goals. Such huge goals.”
