Heartless Prince by Brook Wilder

Chapter 49

Lucas

 

It took two bottles of whiskey before I admitted to myself that I made a mistake with Leda.

 

Rocco was the one who dragged me out of the bar I had forced him to take me to, muttering the entire time about lovesick fools and Dons that were too stubborn for their own good.

 

Somehow we ended in his apartment on the Lower East Side, a fucking hole in the wall since he spent most of his time watching after me.

 

“Here you go,” he said as he dumped me on the sofa. “Something tells me she doesn’t want you back in your own fucking house tonight.”

 

I rubbed a hand over my face wearily. The liquor dulled my senses to the point where I couldn’t see straight. Normally I wasn’t one to be out of control like this, but fuck, the pain that I had felt lying to Leda hadn’t gone away like it was supposed to.

 

In fact, it had only intensified the longer I was away from her. I had hurt her, hurt her for no fucking reason at all.

 

Well, not no reason. I had hurt her because I couldn’t stand to look at myself in the mirror and know that she had made me fall in love with her.

 

“Fuck,” I growled, leaning back against the sofa.

 

Rocco chuckled as he lowered himself into the leather recliner, clasping his hands loosely between his legs. “So, you figured it out.”

 

I eyed him. “What?”

 

“That you care for her.”

 

“This wasn’t the plan,” I said after a few minutes, closing my eyes so I didn’t have to see the truth slapping me in the face. “She wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was supposed to be a spoiled princess that I could just throw away once I was done with her. This shit is not fair.”

 

“Well,” Rocco decided. “You could just stay away for a few days. I can have the guys take care of her.”

 

“Don’t fucking touch her,” I interrupted, my voice laced with steel. I would rip their heads off if they laid one finger on Leda. She was mine.

 

“Look, I’m just trying to help,” Rocco snorted. “But if you don’t want her gone, then why the hell are you sitting here in my fucking living room, drunk off your ass instead of back home apologizing?”

 

Because I was an asshole and a monster. Because I thought I could destroy her and keep my fucking heart safe from being hurt.

 

Because she had gotten too close for comfort for me. Leda had broken down the walls. Seeing her in my penthouse tonight, being domestic as fuck, had started to make me want other things for my future. Things that didn’t involve the Mafia.

 

Right now, the Mafia could burn in hell for all I cared. Adrian could have it all. All I wanted was Leda.

 

“Get some sleep,” Rocco said gruffly.

 

I cracked open an eye, and saw that he hadn’t moved from his spot in the chair. His gun was visible on his thigh. “What are you going to do?” I asked. “Watch over me while I sleep?”

 

Rocco shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, boss, I am. That’s my job, remember?”

 

Well, hell. Now I felt like shit for that too. At least I was batting a thousand for ruining people’s days.