Dirty Obsession (Dirty 1)

I open the door. “What’s up?”

“I have a letter for you, ma’am.”

“Thank you,” I say, taking the letter from him and heading back to my sofa as I stare at the letter that I know is from Heath.

I slowly open the letter while trying to guess what’s inside. Tickets to Hawaii? He’s always talked about wanting to go there for our honeymoon that we never had. A love letter? Something naughty, like maybe a picture of his dick?

But what falls out of the envelope isn’t any of those things. I unfold the legal document and read the attached small note.

To my beautiful Nina,

I love you more than life itself. I will always love you, and I know you will always love me. But that doesn’t mean we are meant to be together forever, just to love each other forever.

You set me free when I needed it the most. I couldn’t see how it was for the best at the time. Now, I do. And, now, it’s my turn to return the favor.

Love forever,

Heath

I glance back to the legal document. Divorce papers. I flip to the last page where Heath signed the document.

A single tear drips down my face and onto the document. He loves me, and I love him, but sometimes, love isn’t enough. Not when I spend all my nights dreaming of another.

37

Arlo

My life is miserable. I live a pathetic existence. But, at least, I have a life. I never thought I would be okay with giving up control to anyone, least of all my brother. But that is where I’ve found myself.

He makes most of the big decisions about the direction of our family while I run the day-to-day business. I handle the meetings and the tactical team. Basically, my life is the same as it was before, but instead of taking orders from Enrico, I take them from Matteo. My life is a little better but only slightly.

Right now, all I want to do is go back to my bedroom, sleep, and try to forget about everything. I’ll have to drink a fifth of whiskey to have any shot of sleeping without dreaming about Nina. But that’s what I’ll have to do tonight. I need a dreamless sleep.

I unlock my door and walk inside. I still immediately. Someone is here.

Enrico?

Clive?

Erick?

Or any number of my enemies. Someone is here to hurt me. I pull my gun out, ready to take out whoever is here. I might not be happy, but I don’t want to die. Not anymore.

I silently search my rooms, looking for the intruder, but I don’t find anyone. My heart beats faster as I go from room to room until I only have my bedroom left. I creep to the door and throw it open with my gun aimed. Then, I see my target standing in the center of the room.

Nina.

I close my eyes and open them again because I’m sure that my mind is playing tricks on me. Someone else is standing in my bedroom. Not Nina.

“Hello,” she says in her sweet voice.

Then, I know she’s real.

I lower my gun. “You can’t be here.”

She nods. “I won’t stay long.”

Please stay, my heart begs.