Lahat ng Kabanata ng LAID BARE: A Dark Mafia Romance/Organized Crime Thriller: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

I had to tell her what she wanted to fucking hear. As much as it fucking pained me to do so…“I don’t know what to say, Raven…” I murmured. “Of course I’ll take you back. I can’t believe I’m going to be a father.” I trailed off, my skin burning. “I’m going to make myself a better person. I’m going to stop lashing out at you and control my temper.”Raven’s eyes continued to well with tears as I spoke to her, but I knew this was the right way to manipulate her. She needed the reassurance, and at the end of the day…We were bound by a baby now. She knew she had no fucking choice.“You don’t need the stress,” I went on. “I’m sorry, babe. I love you, and I don’t mean to hurt you.”“It’s going to take me a while to forgive you, but I could never stop loving you, Lazarus,” Raven admitted shakily. “I know we’ve not been on the best terms lately, but you’re my world. You mean everything to me. I feel empty without you. I don’t want to be without you for another day. I hope we can work things ou

“Well, duh, it says OPEN at the front of the store, brainiac,” Lucy joked. “What can we get you?”He laughed in response before narrowing his eyes. “How about this beautiful girl with the brown hair?” He winked, and looked me up and down with a predatory regard, and I couldn’t help but feel my insides twist with disgust. I folded my arms uneasily, uncomfortable with his comment.“Sorry, I’m taken,” I snapped flatly.“Taken?” Lucy remarked. “She’s engaged!”Casper rolled his eyes, appearing unbothered by this revelation. “Being taken never stopped anyone from having a bit of fun, did it?”“Excuse me, sir, but if you’re not going to buy anything, I suggest you leave right now,” I snapped matter-of-factly, doing my best to put him in his place.He folded his arms huffily, his face falling, an angry expression written all over him.“Whatever, you’re not that pretty anyway,” he shot back.CASPERYou’re going to regret curving me, bitch, I thought, seething. Lazarus’s bitch.29lazarusI w

31ravenI couldn’t believe my eyes. It really was him. The man Lazarus didn’t have a clue was texting me.The man who made me feel flushed and flustered.I hadn’t spoken to him since Lazarus had checked my phone that day.Deep down I was relieved, and felt happiness it wasn’t a complete stranger. It gave me comfort knowing I was going to be taught by a familiar face.Lazarus left the room, and me and the man were alone. I learnt that his name was Damon.I could finally put a name to the face.“So you’re the chick Lazarus is engaged to,” he murmured. “No wonder you never texted me back!”“Yeah…Lazarus was kinda mad. You’re lucky you never told me your name,” I mumbled.If only he knew what mad meant…“Well, I’m glad I didn’t carry on speaking to you,” Damon replied, furrowing his eyebrows. “Lazarus is one of my closest friends, I wouldn’t want to cross him.”I scratched my arm awkwardly, because what he’d just said stung me, and hurt me more than it should have. I swallowed a lump tha

The kiss was full of passion and desire. Like he’d wanted to do it for a long time. I tried so hard to pull back, but I couldn’t.This was Damon, one of the hottest men I’d seen. The man who just had to look at me, and my skin would set on fire. The man who made me lose all sense of self-control, who made my insides twist into knots whenever his eyes burned into mine.The man who made me feel what Lazarus used to make me feel before he started hitting me.I enjoyed Damon’s embrace. It felt nice and comforting.I didn’t know that something could feel so wrong but so right at the same time.Damon kissed me with urgency, like I was the oxygen he needed to breathe. He slipped his tongue inside my mouth, his tongue playing with mine in a fury. Butterflies were fluttering against my chest, and his hand reached the small of my back to pull me even closer, closing the gap between us.He traced small circles on my bare skin, causing me to quiver against him as I moaned uncontrollably against h

“But then he came to my workplace and saw a man trying to flirt with me. He was so mad, he thought I was cheating on him. He keeps getting the wrong idea about me. There’s no trust. When I came home, he beat me again…” I trailed off, breaking into fresh sobs. Allowing my walls to break down. Allowing Damon to listen to every. Single. Word. To hear my cries. To hear my cries for help.I needed fixing.I couldn’t keep going like this…“I’m so sorry,” Damon breathed. “I’m so fucking sorry you had to go through that.”“He said I had to pay for breaking his heart,” I whispered. “He initiating me into the mafia life…that’s why I’m here. I don’t know if I love him anymore. He breaks my heart again and again. I just stayed with him all of this time and did my best to see the good in him because I knew I had no life to go back to. If it weren’t for him, I would still be working at the strip club…”“Just because he did you a favour, it doesn’t give him the right to be so possessive and abusive