Matt pulled up to the club in his brand new Porsche. This car was hot, and he knew it. He loved to drive it around and show off his money. No one messed with him anymore. After six years of working for Antonio, he was well known and well feared around here. The days of him being afraid and watching his back were long gone.

Tonight’s mission was spying on a rival mob. They were going to take them down and eliminate the competition. Antonio had sent his best man—Matt—to do the job. Matt strolled up to the door, nodded at the bouncer, and walked in. He took a seat at a table in the corner where he could see everyone coming and going.

He let his eyes travel over the women, inspecting curves and appreciating beauty. He could stand to get laid tonight. It’d been a few weeks. The ladies that hung around Antonio’s restaurant would screw him whenever he wanted, but he grew sick of them. They liked it when he bought them expensive things, and they were hot and good in bed, but it always felt like something was missing.

It had been six years since he walked away from Maya, but it still hurt when he thought of it. He couldn’t imagine what she must think of him. To take her virginity then never call? Maybe he should have called at least once. To explain somehow why he couldn’t be with her. So that she wouldn’t feel used.

He regretted how the whole thing went down, and that he’d lost her, but this was best. It didn’t take long for Antonio to give up on having her watched and using her as a threat. When he realized that Matt really wasn’t with her, and also that Matt wasn’t going anywhere, he let it go. Matt still drove by her house on occasion, but he hadn’t seen her or her car, and he wasn’t sure if she still lived there or not.

Once Maya was safe and out of the picture, Matt planned to work until his parents died or until he found another way out. When that day had come a few years ago, though, his plans changed. His father had died of his illness and his mother followed not too long after due to loneliness or heartache or some other reason that the doctors couldn’t explain.

When they were gone and Matt had no one else to keep safe, he didn’t have much reason to stay in the mafia. But then, he didn’t have much reason to leave, either. He had moved up in the ranks and was paid so well that leaving and taking a job somewhere else would mean a huge pay cut. He liked his current lifestyle. He had more money than he could spend, and that suited him just fine. He just didn’t have Maya, but he also didn’t have a way to reach her. He had tried her number once, a few years back one night when he was drunk, but it was now someone else’s number.

He thought of her often over the years with deep regret. No one else ever seemed to compare to her. She would forever be the one who got away, and she would plague him forever probably.

A few times, he thought about trying to find her. He could hire a PI if he didn’t find her himself. But Antonio was no less cruel now than he’d ever been. It might still put her in danger if Matt saw her again. Or even worse, he might drag her into this life. It had it perks, but there was a lot of danger involved. And the guys with wives and families were always stressing over them and how they were often used against them. Matt didn’t want that, and he didn’t want Maya to be involved in this.

Matt took a long sip of his Scotch and eyed the room again. He’d seen one guy from the rival mob, going in and out of a door near the bathrooms. He caught a glimpse of a woman with dark hair. She tossed her hair back and his heart stopped. It couldn’t be.

He kept his eyes glued on her. Sure enough, when she got up to go to bathroom, he knew for sure. Maya was there. Like she’d walked right out of his daydreams and into the club in front of him.

Except his daydreams didn’t do her justice. The last six years had been very good to her. She was smoking hot in a tight black dress and red high heels. God, she looked amazing. Once glimpse and he was hard as a rock. He recalled their weekend together, and it made him almost jump out of his seat and go talk to her.

As returned to her table, a man stood and put his arm around her. She was with someone. The rage of jealousy tore through him. He had no right to be jealous, but it didn’t stop the feeling from making his hands clench into fists.

He couldn’t take his gaze off them. If that man did one thing wrong, he’d slam him into the wall and make sure he never walked again.