Novel Palace
91
Dominic
Present day …
There’s a good reason why people tell the good girls to stay away from the bad boys. The guys who are trouble. It’s the same reason why the angel isn’t meant to be with the devil. The angel is always too good for him, even when she tries to see the good in him. The devil is filled with too much darkness to see the light.
That’s me and her.
Me: Dominic D’Agostino. Devil, darkness.
Her: Candace Ricci. The angel… my light.
She was nearly mine.
Almost then never…
I watch her walking around in her kitchen, completely oblivious to me. Her long honey blonde hair in that fishtail braid bounces as she moves from the cupboard to the counter with a plate. She’s beautiful with the kind of beauty that gets stuck in your head. Her willowy body with curves in all the right places is the kind that would have a man on his knees begging to touch her. She wouldn’t know though.
She’s the girl next door type who’s beautiful and doesn’t know it.
Contrary to what she’s always thought, she’s never far from my thoughts. Not even when I have a million things on my mind.
In the two years I’ve been away, she’s never been far from my heart either.
My plane touched down at LAX less than an hour ago and I came straight here.
Like a stalker, I’ve been standing on the roof of the apartment building opposite hers, watching her with a pair of binoculars. Thankfully, I’m enveloped by the thick darkness of night so no one can see me.
I’m far away from her, so far away. Yet that rose-infused scent that’s always lingering in her hair is right here with me. Her silky, smooth skin still sparks the nerve endings on my fingertips, and the taste of her still burns my lips enticing my hunger for things I shouldn’t want, but still crave.
As I look at her now, I remember finally having my taste of her perfect body that night we spent together.
That night is etched in my mind on replay, the same as the night I ruined everything and lost her.
Candace Ricci…
I don’t have a single childhood memory that doesn’t include her face.
Those chase memories of innocence were, however, exactly that. Chaste. My problems began as we grew older and I started to want her.
But she was the good girl who was forbidden to me. The one woman, who unknown to many, I promised not to touch.
Two years ago, I broke the promise, and selfishly took my chance to be with her. Then I fucked up and showed her exactly what kind of monster I was when my fucking mistakes left her fighting for her life.
Guilt sweeps through me as I remember how I left her attached to tubes and machines in a hospital bed, barely alive because of me.
Barely alive because of the bullet I put in her chest.
Me… that’s what I did to her. It was an accident. I know it was. But it doesn’t change the guilt I feel or the fact that I will always, always blame myself.
Accident or not, Candace nearly died. That’s the fact.
The bullet missed her heart by a mere three millimeters.
Millimeters made the difference between life and death of a woman who deserves everything good in this world.
Shame and guilt over what I did to her were what gave me the push to leave. Along with the reason it happened.
Drugs….
I was a drug addict.
Me…
I still can’t believe it.
I can play the badass mobster, or the Einstein of the D’Agostino pack with his double honors degree from M. I. T. Underneath it all though, I’m me and I hate not being in control. When the shit started to hit the fan, I took a path that nearly destroyed me, and her too.
I’ve been clean now for ten months straight and my addiction is behind me. But cleaning up wasn’t the only thing I had to worry about.
When a person turns to drugs, that part is just a coping mechanism for what’s really bothering them. What was bothering me was life.
Now it’s back to screw with me and I have to deal with it or more people I love could die.
I’m back, but I’m only here because the time has come where I’m needed.
When I left, I know my family had to trust I was alive, and I’d be back when I was ready to come home. That last part is what I’m struggling with because I’m not ready. I’m not ready to be home or be the Dominic D’Agostino they’re all used to.
I pull in a breath as the gravity of the situation hits me.
Danger’s on the horizon again.
Danger regarding the Syndicate.
As Candace checks the wide framed UPVC casement windows, making sure they’re locked, and she’s safe, I’m reminded that I’m one of the monsters who should stay away from her.
I should stick to the darkness and leave her out of my world.
Wicked lies and broken promises are the things that define us. Both are a sign we were never meant to be.
Thirteen years ago, darkness took her parents away from her and she hasn’t been the same since. They were killed in front of her in the most gruesome way. Fear is just the beginning of what cursed her after. A symptom of what happened. Or rather, what was going on.NôvelDrama.Org owns this text.
I want better than darkness for her.
As Candace places an assortment of cookies on the plate and walks out of the kitchen with her phone at her ear, I lower my binoculars and leave too.
Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day.
I’ll see my brothers then, and I’ll see her too.
I don’t know what their reaction will be like.
Candace would have every right to hate me.
Staying away is the best thing I could do for her.
The only problem with that is, I still love her.