Guilt

DIABLO

I messed up. ~Damn it!~

Lauren dropped by the penthouse unexpectedly a few hours ago. Luis, sensing the tension, quietly slipped out, leaving us alone.

I never intended to cheat on Emma. She’s incredible, everything I could ever want in a woman, both in and out of the bedroom. Plus, she’s shaping up to be a formidable business partner.

But Lauren, she’s relentless. She kept touching me, kissing me, trying to seduce me. Eventually, I gave in and let her go down on me—and that’s when everything went to hell.

Emma called. I’m furious at Lauren for picking up, but even more so at Emma for not answering when I called back. When I tried again, her phone was off.

I’m livid. I don’t even know why. Maybe it’s because of Lauren, or my own weakness, or the fact that Emma found out Lauren was with me. ~This is a mess.~

At least I know the contract is signed, so Emma will be back. I just don’t know what to expect when she does. All I can do now is make sure Lauren stays away from me.

One slip-up should be easy enough to explain to Emma. I’ll just have to bury myself in work for the next eight weeks.

Easier said than done.

Even as Lauren was going down on me, I was picturing Emma. When I came, I shouted Emma’s name. Lauren was not happy.

Probably why she answered my phone when she saw Emma was calling. Luis told me Emma had called him too, asking who I was with. But Luis, being Luis, gave her the bare minimum.

Damn Lauren. How am I going to fix this mess?

EMMA

I feel like a zombie, my body aching in places I didn’t even know existed. My eight weeks of training ended today.

I’m lucky if I’ve managed to get twenty to thirty minutes of sleep each night.

The instructors took turns waking me up every night with a new task or lesson. They seemed to enjoy pushing me to my limits, but I know it was for my own good.

I even became friends with a few of them, but some just kept pushing me relentlessly. I’m grateful for that because without their persistence, I might have quit a long time ago.

They pushed me to my limits every single day. I’m sleep-deprived, my body aches. All I want is a hot bath and a week of sleep.

But the training was worth it. Now all I need to do is practice, practice, and practice some more.

I know Dean has been keeping an eye on me because I overheard a few instructors giving him weekly progress reports.

I refused to let thoughts of Diablo and Lauren distract me or affect my motivation. I’ll deal with them when I get back to New York.

For now, I’m just looking forward to seeing Dean again and meeting Levi tomorrow. We have work to do.

His first task will be to go to New York and fill me in on the situation between Lauren and Diablo. His second task is to observe how the businesses are being run without any oversight.

No one will know who Levi is, which will make for a great disguise for the time being. Deep down, I miss Diablo terribly, but I’m still angry with him.

I shut down my heart completely while I trained. No matter what I did over the past eight weeks, I couldn’t stop thinking about his last words—that he only saw me as his possession and a business partner.

That, combined with Lauren answering his phone, fueled my determination to achieve my goals. Maybe I should be grateful, but I’m not.

My heart is still shattered. Diablo is a real jerk and Lauren a total slut. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when I get my revenge.

One way or another, she will pay. Luckily for me, the naive virgin I was a few weeks ago is long gone. I made sure of that.

The last bit of her that remained when I left Diablo’s penthouse that day is well and truly gone.

I’m excited to spend some time with Dean. I think our friendship needs it.