OFF-LIMITS

15.

Chapter fifteen | Layla
"Layla!" Octavia greets me, a grin spreading on her face the moment I step out of the car, "I missed you." I say when she pulls back, a sad expression flashes over her face then it goes away, "me too Layla, I heard what happened, but I wasn't able to visit  because lots of shit was happening." She says, her voice ending in a whisper.

"What? What was happening, Octavia, are you okay?" I ask, concern itching through my veins, she nods and smiles again, but it doesn't reach her eyes, "you can tell me if something's wrong I mean." I say giving her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder, "I know, it's just-" she starts but she doesn't get to finish her sentence.

"Layla." Nash's voice hits my ears, as he walks towards me, hugging me then pulling Octavia by his side, his hand on her waist, as he plants a soft kiss on her temple, she smiles weakly at him, and I'm sure as hell that something is wrong, "what's wrong, Nash?" I ask softly, caressing my brother's back, he smiles at me, "nothing you need to worry about." He says.

I hear a car parking behind us and I turn, my heart beating wildly in my chest, when I see Damien exiting the car, but what causes the pain that spreads through my veins is the sight of the woman beside him, a hand comes around my waist, and I turn around seeing, Adrian looking down at me with his brows furrowed, "I'm here." He says and I nod not trusting myself to speak.

We step into the restaurant, everyone taking their usual seats, and later on Victoria and Nikolai join us, their cute baby clutching Nikolai's hand like he's holding on for dear life, Damien caresses his girlfriend's arm, or whoever she is, smiling at her before turning his attention to me, a smirk pulling at his lips.

"There's a fucking question I need to ask first." Nash's voice interrupts my thoughts, turning my eyes on him, his expression seems furious, like he's mad at someone, he slowly points at Damien, "no offense to you Adrian but who invited this cockroach over here?" He asks raising a brow as Damien chokes on his drink, his eyes turning into slits, "I don't need an invitation, I'm your sister's boyfriend." He says and my blood boils with rage.

"Ex." I suddenly say surprising myself, Damien's face turns my way, just as I feel Adrian's smirk beside me, however, I don't look at him, "excuse me, baby?" He says so calmly it makes me want to fucking slap him, "you're here with another woman." Octavia joins, her mouth twisted in disgust.

"So?" He asks raising a brow, Nash glares at him, "get the fuck out before I cut you to pieces and feed them to Nikolai's dogs." He deadpans, Damien's eyes widen at the threat, it won't happen obviously, but my brother never loses his temper, so when he does, you know it's pretty bad, and Damien takes the hint.

I swallow the knot in my throat, not liking the direction of this conversation, I knew it would revolve around this, Damien stands up, looking at all of us, his eyes landing on mine as he winks, disgust spreads through my veins the longer I stare at him, I'm beginning to think that every day I spent trying to be the perfect woman for him was a waste of time, just like Damien himself.

Victoria releases a breath when he and his girlfriend disappear, "he's a prick." She mutters under her breath, "prick!" Her child—Ronan squeals, already learning a new word, "that's right buddy." Nash says smiling at the kid before his worried eyes find mine, "okay Layla, since we're done with his presence, where have you been staying? Because dearest uncle says you weren't home the last two days, which means after you and that fucker broke up, thank god—you stayed somewhere, so—we just need some explanation—should I worry?" He asks and Octavia laughs a little, his eyes brighten as he pulls her closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder.

I clear my throat ready to answer his question but I'm interrupted, "she was with me." Adrian says, placing a cigarette on his lips as he grabs the lighter, Nash raises a brow and Octavia grimaces, Adrian gives her a look that says don't worry I won't ruin it, I think Octavia is the only person Adrian has ever been—sociable with, back then I mean, they have some sort of a strong bond and it's honestly beautiful watching them grow closer again since they haven't been talking that much when she got married.

"She was with you? Why?" Nash asks, shooting daggers in his direction, however, Adrian doesn't seem bothered at all, "because she needed a place to stay." He says as a matter of fact blowing a puff, Nash's expression stays the same, "just that?" Nikolai joins, his sharp words surprising me, "just that." Adrian replies and they sure as fuck don't look convinced.

"It was really just that, I didn't want to make a big deal out of it and stay with uncle since all of you would know before I got the chance to talk with Damien." I join, lies and lies and more lies, Nash relaxes a little, and just as Adrian places a hand on my thigh, Fire licks its way through my veins, and I burn hotter, I feel the heat creeping up my throat as I take a quick glance at him, and he doesn't seem bothered, doesn't even spare me a look, just continues puffing on his cancer stick.

"So okay—I'm not getting into your private life just so you know but—where are you going to stay now, you're gonna come back home right? With uncle I mean." Nash says and I swallow hard, then I slowly nod, "yeah I'll go back today, just need to grab my things from their house." I mutter and he nods, Adrian's hand tightens on my thigh as tingles spread all over my skin, he finally looks at me, his eyes so dark I think I'll drown in them, his brows dip together before his attention shifts away from me, and finally, they start talking about something else, I release a relieved breath, grateful for the change of topic.

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"So?" Adrian asks, "so what? Can you just drive me home?" I say and he just continues staring at me, I groan, "why is that so hard? Just drive! Say anything, I can take a cab instead of you staying like this all day." I say, tired of all of the shit they kept saying at that gathering, it sucked, or maybe it was about seeing how easily Damien replaced me.

He doesn't reply to me, just turns his head away, I grab the handle of the door ready to get out but he snaps the locker shut, "can you say anything??" I ask frustration clear in my voice, "stop freaking out for a second and let me talk." He says, he finally says, I let out a deep breath running a hand through my hair, "I'm sorry." I hurry to say when I realize how mad that sounded.

"You don't have to apologize." He says, his expression softening, I sigh and drop my head in my hands, "say whatever is on your mind Layla, going back home or not isn't what's making you mad." He says, and he's right, I just feel like I'm going to explode, "didn't you see him?" I ask, tears welling in my eyes as I turn away, but I feel two fingers on my chin as he pulls me back, his eyes landing on mine, his jaw clenches but he doesn't sound mad when he speaks.

However, he sounds the calmest he's ever been tonight, "I saw." He says, My eyes closed, and I sniffed back my unshed tears. I did as my therapist had trained me to do—count backward from ten and breathe. So, I did, my eyes snapped open the moment I felt his hand caressing my cheek softly, I let out a breath, feeling hot all of sudden, "what do you want to do, darling? tell me." He says and I swallow hard, contemplating whether I should tell him or not, "I want to make him regret this." I say and a smile spreads on his face, it's not that huge but it lightens something inside of me, "that's my girl." He says, and the fire inside me burns like lava, liquid hot and fiery spreading all over my skin.

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