OFF-LIMITS

35.

Chapter thirty five | Layla
"Can you tell me about her now?" I ask and Adrian pauses, "you sure?" He asks and I nod, I've been discharged from the hospital for five days now, and we planned that we're going to ride the motorcycle next week cause my body was still healing, so this week is totally empty.

"She's the one behind the accident." He says and my mouth falls open, no, there's no way she is, "I'll explain, calm down." He says and puts a hand on mine, softly caressing it, "she was working with the Italians, they usually plant spies between us, but I never suspected anyone who was among us, which was stupid, she worked with one of my guards, his name was marcel, they'd usually get information about where we're heading or shit, and the moment they decided to strike was that one, they meant either me or Damien to get shot, the bullet shot Ezekiel." He says and his eyes carefully meet mine.

I tighten my hands around his and smile sadly, but then a thought appears in my mind, "but...why would they shoot us when Melissa was inside the car with us?" I ask curiously, my brows furrowed, "well yes, it seemed weird at first, but she said it was to totally get the suspect off her,"  he says and my stomach drops, so she confessed everything.

"How did you find out?" I ask again, my fingers fidgeting, "the fucker thought he was smart and met her at a place that I already planted a camera in, it was one of my father's—never mind." He says and I sigh, knowing he won't give me any more information about this, I raise my hands and caress his hair softly, he sucks in a breath and his dark eyes pierce mine.

"She was masked there, but the only thing that was visible was her bag, it was fucking pink, and she was stupid enough to come with it that night." He says, raising his brows, I laugh a little before it vanishes away, "when was that?" I find myself asking, "about two weeks ago or even more." He says and I nod swallowing the knot forming in my throat.

He gives me another look and I know he's about to say something else, "remember months ago when you woke up from the middle of the night, saying that there was a masked man in your room, we never opened that conversation again, I thought it was just a nightmare because when I checked my cameras no one was there, but apparently they turned it off, it was marcel who was fucking watching you and sending everything to Melissa."

"Why would she do that?" I ask, his eyes darken even further and I suck in a breath, "she's Italian, they're born that way, we may have never hurt her, but she doesn't give a fuck, she wanted revenge on what my father did to them years ago, and she thought that would work by planting herself in our lives, and she obviously found out that it was easier to do it with Damien, also, turns out she made up a whole story, remember Layla? Her mother and shit, we sympathized with her, so we never needed proof, we never even asked Damien about it, she played all of us, and she was winning." He says, his jaw clenches as if he's gritting his teeth, I run a hand across his jaw and plant a kiss there.

I want to ask what happened to her after they found out, but I don't, not wanting to know the answer "I hate this, how many enemies do you have?" I ask instead and his eyes soften, "they're a lot Layla, and as long as we keep running from the Russians, our enemies will use us against them, I'm sorry darling, but I promise you, no one is going to touch a hair on your head while I'm with you." He whispers and I nod, smiling softly at him.

"How did it feel like?" I ask curiously and he looks caught off guard, "how did what feel like?" He asks, his brows furrowed, as he brushes away a strand of my hair, "when I wasn't around." I mutter and a pained expression passes over his face before it goes away, "it felt suffocating, I was losing my goddamn mind." He says and I close my eyes for a moment before I stand on my toes and kiss him.

"I'm here now, I love you." I say, smiling softly when I see the way his face transforms, a grin spreading over it and his eyes shine with a spark, "Fuck, I'll never get tired of you saying it, i love you more, Layla." He whispers and pulls me against him, I sigh and drown in his scent, and it's the first time I felt like this in a long while, he feels like home,
My home.

✿ ✿ ✿

"Hey!" I exclaim excitedly as I stride in, Nash and Octavia are already waiting for us, Adrian and I walk inside, Ezekiel follows us and raises a brow when he sees the smile plastered on my face.

"What are you smiling at?" He asks raising a brow, "nothing." I say teasingly, still grinning like an idiot, he rolls his eyes, "happy birthday!" I say excitedly when I see my brother, he raises his brows playfully but I see a small smile forming on his face.

Let's say that Nash isn't a fan of birthdays, "oh come on!" I say before hugging him, "what did you get me?" He asks teasingly and I internally smile, Nash has been dying to get a puppy all his life, but for some reason he never did, so I decided to do it for him.

"Presents later, now, where's your cake?" I ask and raise a questioning brow, "somewhere." He says and turns to Octavia who grins at me, before mouthing something, "it's chocolate flavored." he's gonna kill her, since the moment they met, they both have been having this game where both of them try to convince the other that the flavor they like is better.

It's stupid yet adorable at the same time, Nash will act mad later but secretly, he'll be proud of the fact that she caught him off guard, I feel a hand around my waist as Adrian pulls me closer, I smile and lean down on him, my head resting on his shoulder, he caresses my hair, and I smile.

Octavia grins when she notices us, "oh god! I've been waiting for this for years, Finally." She says excitedly and I laugh, Adrian looks down at me, his eyes twinkling as he stares at me, "I've been waiting too." He says softly, and I grin, my heart beating rapidly in my chest.

"Come on! Let's blow the candles." Octavia says and Nash pulls her to him, his hand around her waist as she takes the cover of the cake, he closes his eyes for a moment, "you're kidding." He says, his face blank and he looks genuinely taken aback, "it's your favorite isn't it?" She asks playfully and he scrunches his nose, "of course." He says and she laughs.

"Don't worry I have a vanilla one stacked inside." She says and he breathes out in relief, both me and Adrian laugh, Ezekiel looks amused, "alright, I need to see the presents, I have a feeling that I'm going to be surprised too." He says flat-out.

"Okay okay," I murmur and grab the huge box, it's open from the sides, so I think it's obvious what's inside, but he doesn't notice either way, he slowly opens it, and his jaw falls open when he takes in what's inside, the dog is adorable I almost got it for myself, but I don't think I'm responsible enough for that.

"Jesus, oh my god Layla." He whispers as he slowly gets the dog on his hip, it's so small in his arms, Octavia grins so wide as she pets his head, "I hope you know that I'm going to take him." Octavia mutters as she plants a kiss on Nash's shoulder.

He just continues grinning, and that itself makes my chest warm, he has always been the one who makes sure that I'm okay and happy, I'm trying to return the favor now.

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