Loving The Devil I Knew

It had been three weeks since I walked in on Damian Moretti with a gun in his hand and blood on his shirt. Three weeks since I found out the man I loved, the man I shared a bed with, the man I thought I knew, was a Mafia boss. Three weeks, and my hands still shook when I heard his name. So when my best friend Chloe linked her arm with mine and said, "Just give him a chance," I wanted to scream. "What is your problem?" I snapped as we walked into the coffee shop. "I already told you I'm not interested in Daniel and I don't want to be." Chloe sighed like I was being difficult. "Ava please, just give him a chance. He isn't like you know who." That name. That man. My chest tightened. "Chloe, I told you not to bring him up again. You know I hate talking about him," I whispered. Three weeks ago I ran out of his penthouse barefoot, in his shirt, with nothing but my purse. I didn't look back. I told myself if I ran far enough, I would have forgotten the way he looked at me that night — cold, dangerous, and that dead look in his eyes. Like he wasn't human. Like he would kill anyone who walked through that door. But when he saw it was me by the door he was both terrified and confused. His eyes softened for just one second. I swear they did and then he tried to call out my name "Ava", trying to move closer to me and calm me down. But I was too scared, too scared to hear anything, too scared to even breathe. Then I shouted "no don't come closer", I was confused, couldn't think straight and so many questions kept on flooding through my mind like, why was he holding a gun, and who was the man he just shot. But I couldn't get those answers, I was so frightened to even think straight so I did the only thing that came to mind, RUN. So I took my purse and ran out of his house. Never looking back. Chloe stopped walking and held both my hands. Her face softened. "Ava, you know I'm your best friend and you know I won't do anything to hurt you. Just trust me, please." I looked at her pleading eyes and sighed. She was right. She was the only one who stayed after the whole Damian disaster. She saw me cry for a week straight. "Okay fine! I'll go out with the amazing Daniel only because you begged," I said. We both burst out laughing as we entered the coffee shop and went straight to the ordering table. The smell of coffee hit me. I needed it. "What can I get for you ladies?" the barista asked. "Two iced caramel lattes, extra whipped cream," Chloe said before I could speak. We took our drinks and sat at our usual corner booth. The one near the window where we would normally sit and gossip about my perfect life with Damian. Now it just felt empty. Chloe pulled out her phone and slid it across the table to me. "This....This is Daniel Sterling, my cousin." I looked down. Dark hair, thick and full, the kind you want to run your hands through. His eyes were as blue as the sky, round but sharp at the corners. He had a chiseled jawline, freshly shaved so clean you could see the strong line of it, he also had a pointed straight nose and lips that were pink and looked soft, clean white shirt. Sharp suit. No tattoos. No cold, dangerous look in his eyes. No gun holster under his jacket. He looked... powerful, but safe. "He's cute," I admitted. "He's more than cute. He's the next CEO of Sterling Corp," Chloe said. "His father is retiring in a year and Daniel is set to inherit the entire company. It's one of the biggest firms in New York. They are sponsoring the Rose Gala on Saturday, that's how powerful they are." I pushed the phone back. "He's rich, ambitious, and obsessed with you. Ever since he saw you at my birthday party he hasn't stopped asking me about you. He wants to build his empire, Ava, and he wants you in it. No blood, no mafia, no lies. Just clean, real power." That was what I wanted. Wasn't it? Clean. It was powerful. Everyone in New York knew them. But I also knew... everyone knew that no matter how powerful, no company could come close to Moretti Enterprises. Damian's family had generations of power. His empire was on a different level entirely. Way bigger. Way darker. "And what did you tell him about me?" I asked. "That you are my best friend who deserves a good man. And he wants to take you out. Just a simple dinner. Tuesday night. Just to get to know you." I hesitated. A simple dinner sounded... okay. Safe. "Just dinner?" I asked. "Just dinner," Chloe promised. "No pressure. And I already told him you said yes." "Chloe!" She laughed. "What? You said yes to the amazing Daniel!" Before I could scold her, her phone buzzed again. She looked at the screen and her smile faded a little. "What?" I asked. "Daniel just texted, he said... he managed to get two invitations for the Annual Rose Gala on Saturday. He wants you to be his plus-one for his first night as future CEO." I frowned. "Isn't that impossible? I heard the guest list is supposed to be private. It's only for influential people — socialites, diplomats, CEOs and well-known people across the country." Chloe nodded. "Exactly. That's why it's a big deal that he got them, even as the heir. But Ava... someone just leaked the private list on Twitter." My stomach dropped. "And?" She slowly turned her phone to me. On the leaked list, near the very top, in bold letters: *Moretti Enterprises - Damian Moretti +1* My blood ran cold. "Oh my God," Chloe whispered. "I forgot to tell you. Daniel... he can't stand the Morettis. He says their empire is dirty money and his company will be the one to overtake them one day. He really, really dislikes Damian." The latte slipped in my hand. Saturday just became a nightmare. I stared at that name on the screen, my heart pounding so loud I couldn't hear the coffee shop anymore. Damian Moretti +1. Plus one. He was bringing someone. After three weeks of silence, after I ran, he was moving on. He was bringing another woman to the biggest gala of the year. That should have made me feel relieved. It didn't. It felt like someone had punched me in the chest. "He'll be there," I whispered. "In the same ballroom." Chloe grabbed my hand. "Ava, you don't have to go—" My phone buzzed on the table. Private number. My hands started shaking. One new message. No name. I didn't need one. I knew that number by heart, even though I deleted it three weeks ago, but couldn't bring myself to block it. *Message: You look pretty in that red dress of yours.* I froze. I was wearing a cherry red dress today. Slowly, very slowly, I looked up and out the coffee shop window. Across the street. Same spot as yesterday. Same spot as the day before. A man in a grey suit. Laptop closed. Black coffee going cold. He wasn't looking at his laptop. He was looking right at me. And behind him, parked at the curb, a black car I knew too well. The windows tinted so dark you couldn't see inside. But I knew who was inside. Watching. He had been watching me for three weeks. He never let me go. The man in the grey suit lifted his phone to his ear, said something, then stood up and walked away. ---