Damien
12 hours before…
“Damien, come on, bro. Just chill out.” My friend Jax said, pouring me another shot of vodka. I take the shot and motion for him to pour another. “You married Ezra--fucking--Quintero man.” He said, watching me pace back and forth in his kitchen.
“Jax, listen to me, I’ve gone off my fucking rails with this girl. I can’t get tangled up with her. She’s the daughter of the man who killed my parents for fucksake. I married the daughter of the man who wrecked my goddamn life. The only reason she’s still around is because she serves a fucking purpose. She’s my only shot at pulling the plug on Hugo.” I tell him, knocking back another shot.
“Is she in love with you?”
I shrug. “I don’t know if it’s that deep, but she’s got feelings. I know that much.” I groan and slam my hands down on the kitchen island. “I shouldn’t have slept with her. I should have been professional and walked the fuck away, but I didn’t, and now she’s confused and wants a fucking relationship. Fuck! What am I going to do?”
Jax raps his hand on my shoulder supportively. “Well, buddy, you need to show her who Damien Wolfe is.” I look over at him, scowling.
“What are you saying? Ezra isn’t just some girl I can fuck and drop out after. We’re married, Jax!” I snap, annoyed, and continue pacing.
Jax openly checks out a blonde girl in a very tight skirt that walks past us. “Damien, you got two options here, dude. You either keep her sweet and take what you need from her, then you discard her, or you show her who you really are. Unleash the beast on her or go home with a hickey or some shit. You need to hurt her enough that she fucking hates you or scare her off so that she goes running and doesn’t look back.”
I can’t unleash the beast…not on her.
I recall how fired up Ezra got when I suggested I fuck another girl. If I go home with a love bite on my neck, she will assume I’ve spent the past three days, balls deep in another girl. “That might work. It will hurt her, but it’s for her own good.” I look around and find a girl. “Come here.” A redhead sashays toward me. “I need you to give me a nice red love bite. Can you do that?”
“Sure, but why stop at a love bite when I can give you so much more, baby.” She grins and reaches out to touch me, but I grab her arms and pin them to her sides.
“A love bite will suffice,” I growl, and she looks at me put out before she leans up, and I wince. My first instinct was to shove her away; however, I bit the inside of my cheek while she licked, bit down hard before sucking my neck, leaving a nice red mark behind. I push her off me, and she groans in displeasure.
“That will do.” I dismiss her, and she saunters off. Jax grins and shakes his head at me, looking every bit amused. “What?”
“You fucking idiot. You’re falling for her, aren’t you?” I blanch and pick up the shot from the counter and toss it back. “That’s why you’re spinning out and want to scare her off because you’ve also got feelings.”
“Jax shut the fuck up. I don’t have feelings. Period.” I tell him gravely, and he smiles, pouring me another shot.
“Damien, if that were true, you would have picked out your girl for the night, and she would have been gagging on your dick right about now. And yet…I’ve not seen you even glance at another girl.” He holds out the shot glass to me. “But hey, I get it, man, if I had Ezra Quintero waiting for me at home, I would—”
“Finish that fucking sentence, and you’ll be eating your teeth for breakfast,” I warn him, and he chuckles, holding up his hands in mock surrender.
“Spoken like a man in love.” He shakes his head and grinning wolfishly. “You’re well and truly fucked, my friend…”
I lean against the wall and watch Ezra sitting on the floor by the pool, her legs submerged in the water, completely oblivious to everything around her. She’s taken her fourth shot of tequila, and I’m just itching to walk over there and take the bottle off her before she gets completely bombed. I can’t, though, because this is what I wanted. I needed her to hate me, and I need to keep my distance…I fucking need to. Everything she said to me before– she wasn’t wrong. I don’t know how to love, I’ve not felt loved in a very, very long time, and I’m fine with that. This is why I need to flip that switch and go back to my factory settings and not give a fuck.
If only it were that straightforward, though.
I stood there and observed her down one shot after another. Despite my best effort not to give a shit, I couldn’t take it anymore. I walk over to her; she looks up at me and rolls her eyes. “Oh, look, if it isn’t my darling husband, the apple of my eye.” She drawls sardonically and chuckles drunkenly. “Or should I say, my promiscuous husband?” I lean over and pick up the bottle beside her, and she scowls at me. “Hey, I’m drinking that.”
“I think you’ve had enough,” I tell her, and she gives me a lopsided grin and lays back on the ground.
“You know what…” She claims, lifting her arm to point at me with her index finger. “You…are right…Mr. Wolfe. I have had enough…of you.” She giggles. I put the bottle down on the table and perch down beside her, “I’ve had enough of your stupid handsome face.” She slurs, poking my cheek. “I’ve had enough of your sinfully soft lips.” She sighs deeply, her playful mood seconds ago gone, the pads of her fingers brush against my lips. “And your ice-cold steel-like eyes that make me shiver from the inside out.” She whispers, “But most of all, I’ve had enough of loving you when all you do is hurt me in return.” I stare into those sorrowful blue eyes, and my mind goes completely blank. I feel my heart tremor at her confession.
Fuck. Don’t say that to me, Ezra. Please, don’t say that. I don’t deserve it...I don’t deserve you or your love.
“Ezra—”
Ezra leans up on her forearms and looks at me shaking her head. “I know, spare me the— I never promised you a fairytale speech.” She licks her bottom lip and snickers bitterly, looking ahead. “It’s not your fault. I’m mad at myself,” She laughs, closing her eyes and letting her head roll back with a groan. “I mean, I’m the idiot that allowed herself to fall for her captor…the man that kept me hostage for over a week and threatened to kill me. How pathetic is that?”
I frown and watch her closely. It’s becoming more and more evident each day that I’m starting to care about this girl, more than I’d like to admit. I’ve never had a fucking conscience; I can’t afford to in my line of work. I need to get out of here; the sooner I get what I need, the quicker we can be done with one another.
“Ezra, you don’t love me. A lot has happened between us in the last month. We crossed boundaries, which has complicated things between us— and no, it’s not just your fault. I’m also to blame. I should have fought the temptation and not slept with you.” I sigh, and she lifts her head up, opens her eyes, and looks at me. “You love the idea of me, this fantasy version of me that you have built up in your head, but that’s not me, sweetheart, and it never will be. You can’t love me, Ezra, because you don’t know me.” I tell her firmly and stand up. “Come on. You need to sleep.”
Ezra shakes her head slowly and smiles. “Do I have a choice? No. If I say no, you’ll only pick me up and take me anyway, right?” She taps her nose, winks, and points at me. “See, I do know you.” She pouts and looks at the pool before she scrambles up to her feet staggering, I catch her arm before she falls over. She pulls her arm away and scowls at me. “I’m fine. I’m good.” She grins mischievously and takes a couple of steps back. “I’m done listening to you. I’m not tired. I don’t want to sleep…” She tugs her top off and tosses it to the side, “I want to have fun.” She bites her bottom lip and unbuttons her shorts, sliding them down her legs. She stood there in a matching red bra and lace thong.