‘Oh.’
‘Oh? Is that all you can say?’ Layla jumped off the couch and glared down at him. ‘Look. If you’re talking about laying things on the line, then here it is. Flat out. I’ve been in love with you for ever. Like always. So don’t dance around me, don’t give me excuses. Don’t tell me what an old man you are, or that you’re in a dangerous line of work, because I don’t give a fuck about any of that.’
Alberto was silent. Abruptly, he stood up. Grabbed her arm, pulled her in tight against him. Layla’s eyes opened wide. She was suddenly painfully aware of their closeness, of his strength. That people were in awe of him; that he was the godfather. Golden, beautiful, powerful and deadly Alberto. She was in awe of him too. She always had been. Maybe that was the problem.
‘You know what?’ said Alberto, close enough for his breath to tickle her cheek.
Layla gulped. ‘What?’
‘You talk too much. You always have. But you want to go on chewing this over, fine. Only let’s take it somewhere more comfortable.’
Layla felt her heartbeat pick up. She was staring into his eyes.
‘Like… where?’ she asked.
‘Two bedrooms. One through there, one through there.’ He indicated two doors. ‘Pick one.’
‘Wait a minute. So you’ve skipped the date and now you’re going straight on to the seduction?’
Alberto gave a smile. ‘Time’s a little tight.’
‘What is it? What’s going on?’ Now he was frightening her.
Alberto bent and picked her up in his arms. Layla let out a small shriek of surprise.
‘No more talk,’ he said. ‘Which one?’
‘That one,’ said Layla, throwing caution to the four winds.
‘There’s something you forgot to tell me,’ said Alberto.
‘I thought you said no more talking?’ sighed Layla.
It was nearly an hour later. She didn’t want to talk or even think. This was… heaven. She was lying naked in a four-poster bed in a sumptuous suite, and Alberto was here beside her. What else could anyone possibly need?
Precious.
Her heart seemed to contract and her stomach turned over.
Oh God. Precious was dead. It was as if the earth had shifted under Layla’s feet. Her friend, the one real friend she had, was dead, and now… Alberto had seduced her. She thought of Precious, beautiful, laughing, generous and bright. If she could see Layla, lying here with him, she’d be cheering. And maybe, somehow, she could. Who knew?
Layla felt her eyes fill with tears, but she blinked them back. She turned, cuddled in close against his chest, feeling his warmth, his strength.
‘It would have helped to know you were a virgin,’ he said.
‘Oh.’ Her eyes flickered open and she stared at him. ‘That.’