Chapter 98

Layla

The knock on my bedroom door startled me from the book I’d been daydreaming over. Why was romance always so much easier in novels? Any fights they had were always petty and over in a few chapters.

I sighed, closed the book. “Come in!”

Vanessa’s dark hair appeared around the side of the door. Her pale face appeared a moment later. “Hey, Lay. There’s someone here to see you.”

“Oh?” My brows furrowed. “Who? Nobody visits me here.”

“Don’t know, but damn.” Her mouth curled into a wide, mischievous grin. “He’s fine. Maybe you could introduce us?”

I couldn’t help but smile despite the sudden sense of foreboding in my chest. “It’s gotta be Ethan. Come on. He’s nice.”

Nice, but there was no way in hell he should’ve been visiting me here. Nothing good could come of this.

Better to get it over with.

I tossed the book onto the bed and took the lead out the door. The pit of dread grew inside my chest as we walked down the long halls and out onto the grounds.

Ethan Smith waited for me in the garden, already perched on a bench, looking even more uncomfortable than I felt. The setting sun cast a golden glow over the grounds, but I couldn’t appreciate the beauty around the sudden anxiety clenching my muscles tight.

His being here could mean nothing good at all. There was a time when I would have been overjoyed to see the man I’d once called a close friend in a dark time. But after all this business with Aldo, with the Rossettis … No, this was bad news all over.

“Ethan.” I called out before he could turn, and he instantly sprang to his feet.

“Layla.” His hand extended, but I offered him an open-armed embrace instead. He awkwardly stepped into the circle of my hug, before just as quickly stepping back. “Nice to see you.”

“This is my friend, Vanessa.” I curled my arm around her shoulders to pull her close, then nudged her forward to shake hands. “She’s been helping out with Eli.”

“Nice to meet you.” His eyes sparkled as he took her hand, and she smiled and looked down at her feet.

“What brings you by, Ethan?” I asked as the two separated.

“I need to talk to you,” Ethan said, his voice low and urgent. “It’s important.”

I sighed. No, this was nothing good, of that much I was certain. I tilted my head towards Vanessa. “Give us a minute? Or ten?”

“Loud and clear.” She saluted and hurried back towards the house.

So I had no choice but to take a seat on the bench, Ethan beside me. “Well, you’ve got my attention. Talk.”

“I know you love Aldo,” Ethan began, his gaze locking onto mine. “I know he’s Eli’s father. And I know he has money and you think together you can build this beautiful life … but you can’t. You really can’t do that while you’re tied to him.”

My fingers clenched tight together. “I’m not ‘tied’ to him. He’s my husband. I chose him.”

I chose him over you, I didn’t say.

Ethan ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident in every movement. “Layla … how much do you know about Michael Rossetti?”

My heart thundered against my ribcage. If Rossetti’s name was part of this conversation, maybe this was even worse than I’d imagined. “Not enough. Not as much as you, I’m guessing.”

“Right.” Ethan sighed. “I have my suspicions about his motives. But what he’s doing … Layla, he’s unearthing evidence tying Aldo to high-profile crimes.”

The words echoed through my head.

“He’s leading the police right to your husband in a trail of irrefutable evidence.” Ethan’s voice went quiet. “And what do you think will happen to you and Eli when Aldo’s inevitably found guilty of all these crimes? Of the innumerable crimes of an entire Mafia family?”

I could barely breathe around the sudden panic in my chest. I had no words, nothing I could say, nothing I could add to this conversation.

My hands shook.

“It’s real evidence, Layla. I could put him away for a long, long time. Right now. I haven’t done anything yet—look. If I don’t do this, someone else certainly will, and it’s all gonna come crashing down. You get that, right?”

No. No I didn’t. None of this made any damn sense. I couldn’t breathe, let alone speak.

“I can help you, Layla,” Ethan said, and it sounded like his voice was coming from the end of a very long tunnel. “Before you and Eli get caught in the middle of this shitstorm, I can help you. Protect you. Both of you.”

My jaw snapped shut so forcefully, I realized I must have been staring at him with my mouth hanging open. “You want me to abandon my husband? To tear my family apart?”

“I want you to be safe!” Ethan’s voice rose, then softened as he shifted slightly closer on the bench. “I care about you. I always have. And I care about Eli. You know that.”

Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them away. “You don’t understand, Ethan. Aldo isn’t the monster you think he is. He’s trying to change, to protect us. You’re on the same side, can’t you see that?”

Ethan’s jaw tightened. “People like Aldo don’t change. The violence, the bloodshed—it will follow him, no matter how much he tries to shield you from it. And when it does, Eli will be the one who suffers.”

I shook my head. No, he couldn’t see the truth of the matter. The real Aldo. The grey areas between all the black and white. It was like Carlo and I had told Aldo that night in the den.

Ethan would never see Aldo as anything more than a monster.

“I can’t leave him,” I said, my voice like ice—hard and cold and strong. “I won’t. We’ve fought too hard to build a life together. Aldo may have made mistakes in his past, but he’s working to change all that. And I won’t let you take that away.”

“Please, Layla! Listen to reason!” Ethan’s eyes grew round with earnesty. “For Eli. He deserves a future free from this world.”

Tears slipped down my cheeks in long, cool tracks. “You’re wrong. Eli’s future is with his father. And I won’t let you come between us.”

“Layla …” Ethan’s shoulders sagged in defeat. “Please …”

“No,” I interrupted, keeping my voice firm. “That’s final. And if you can’t see that, I’m afraid I can’t let you anywhere near my family anymore.”

“Layla.” Ethan’s voice was a ragged gasp of surprise or maybe sadness, but I only shook my head.

“I’m serious. If you can’t look past the black and white of the law to the human beings between the lines, then I can’t let you be a part of my life.”

He stood, stared down at me. But I refused to get to my feet, to give him the satisfaction of seeing him to the door. This was his choice—to stay or to walk himself out of my life forever.

We stayed like that too long, each of us staring down the other. Like each of us was waiting for something to shatter this fragile moment. Or maybe the weight of our choices was crushing us both.

We were losing each other. Forever.

At long last, he turned, and he walked away. Leaving me alone in the garden without another word.

My heart broke, watching him walk away.