Deal • REWRITE • BOOK 1

21; Now or Never

A selfish, idiotic bastard who didn't know how to prioritise his fücking feelings for the woman he wanted over his own.

I was truly and utterly fücked.

"Lucien, I can't read your brain."

"Are you still fücking here?" I snapped as I looked at Alex dead on, my irritability spiking to an ultimate high as we both challenged glares. "I didn't ask for you to be here, get the fück out."

Alex has the audacity to smile at my words, his lips parting to laugh lightly at me as he shook his head and leaned back into his chair with an exasperated sigh.

"See what feelings do to your head," he raised his eyebrow mockingly as he puffed out another laugh when I scowled. "They fück with your thoughts and you lose track of what you're doing. This is why I don't bother with woman after I've fücked them."

"You say that, and maybe, just maybe, they don't bother with you because you're an irritating human being who doesn't know how to keep his nose out of everyone's motherfücking business."

He shrugged.

"Alex, I swear to fücking God if you don't get the-"

"Relax," he rolled his eyes, his response leaving my chest to bloom with new found anger at the same time he got up and moved towards the glass decanter of scotch that I had stored at the side. "You don't have to talk to me about your problems with Aria if you don't want to."

"It's not a problem," I bit out, the half lie tasting bad in my mouth as I watched him pour a drink for himself before he half-filled another glass. He balanced the second between his fingers as he strode back towards me, the calmness that he carried leaving me to squint as he clinked his glass against mine before speaking.

"Here's to a stress free life."

I easily swallowed half of the alcohol in my glass within a split second of cursing Alex for his ironic choice of words, the liquid permeating the length of my throat with a warmth that followed through to my stomach and numbed my body for a fuzzy moment.

It distracted me from the matter at hand as I finished the rest of my drink in another easy swallow, the sudden sound of my glass setting harshly against my desk leaving Alex to breathe out a humoured breath as he looked at me.

"Not a problem, huh?"

"I will fill your mouth with bullets if you don't shut the fück up," I muttered, feeling greedy for another drink when I kept wondering what the fück Aria was hiding from me.

"Wow, Aria really needs to loosen the stick she shoved-"

Despite being an idiot, Alex was able to miss the sudden throw of my glass against his head by ducking swiftly. The impact of it instead shattered against the wall behind him, the sound of crystals scattering echoing in the room as the glass fell to the floor in sharp shards that gleamed in the light.

"Keep her name out of your fücking mouth before I staple it shut," I told him, seriousness lacing my tone despite the sarcastic smile I sent him as he glared at me.

It did nothing to appease him which only goaded the metaphorical devil on my shoulder, the sound of Alex grumbling curse words becoming a distant thought when my personal phone chimed from the inside of my slacks pocket.

With a tired sigh I slipped it out and unlocked it before reading the message that was sent from Aaron, his words leaving my eyes to narrow as I pressed my lips together.

From: Aaron Carter (received 3:48am)

Giovanni wants to speak with you.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I read over the words a second time and then began typing, my quick response creating a bubbling sound to confirm the message had sent as I locked my phone and then stood up.