Diavolo

vii

PRESLEY

        "Are you eating right?" My mother's voice filled my ear so loudly I had to reach the volume button and turn that shit down. "You know I worry about you, baby."

        "Yes, mother." I sighed loudly, making it an habit to show my mother how unhappy and irritated I was currently.

        I hated these phone calls because she always wanted to adopt this loving mother act and we both knew her real personality.

        She didn't give a fuck about me ever since my father died and if anything, her worry was a form of guilt. How could you abandon a child after the death of her father?

        "I'm fine." I told her as I walked through my apartment building, and immediately made a beeline for the elevator. It was a stressful day and even without the bipolar behavior of Desmond Grant, the appearance of Silvio twisted everything.

        He always had a habit of showing up at the most inconvenient times and turning my world upside down.

        After he openly rejected my handshake for unknown reasons, I had a minute to sit down and think about why the hell I allowed myself to tolerate his bullshit.

        The man was a two-faced sword. Tread lightly or not, then you were gifted with a sharp cut.

        I was supposed to spend the night with Jax at an expensive restaurant he'd sent me the location of earlier today but I wasn't feeling much for going anywhere.

        I'd texted him if it was okay if we rescheduled and after he approved, I was on my way to bed with a pounding migraine and nothing in my stomach but lunch.

        Finley texted me earlier if she could come over and run it by Octavius but I hadn't gotten a chance to respond. I wasn't surprised when I found her waiting by my front door with a six-foot four grumpy tattooed man standing beside her like her bodyguard.

        My mother kept droning on and on about my recent attitude on the phone and also how I needed to take care of myself but I wasn't listening.

        There were dozens of men moving in and out of the next door penthouse, and I wondered if someone was moving in. The space had been empty since I moved in but a part of me feared it was the person who always haunted my safety.

        I pushed those thoughts into the back of my mind and explained to my mother I would call her back, and told her to give my regards to my sister Lotus.

        I approached the couple with a soft smile, almost laughing when Octavius turned to me with a brooding expression, his dark amber eyes narrowing slightly but I knew this was his way of saying hi.

        The man wasn't much for words, and he had a natural ability to scare people off because of his height and tattoos. A natural bad boy look but whenever he was around Finley, the man was like softened butter.

        He looked at me in a way that every woman deserved to be gazed at. Like the whole world would crumble if something happened to her.

        "Pres!" Her face shone with a look of adoration and happiness but before she could move, Octavius wrapped a tatted hand around her waist. Keeping her locked beside him. She frowned, the dimple in her cheek disappearing and looked at him with a scowl.