Chapter 58

BEHIND THE MASK

Liam’s P.O.V.

Diane fell asleep after we made love. She was still hugging my waist while pillowing my left arm. I leaned closer to her and tenderly kissed her forehead—careful not to wake her up.

I tried to fight this one hell of an urge inside me because she deserved respect. But when it came to her, I would always lose myself in the process. My setting of limitation would not even help at all as I would just let my guard down. It would soon lead me to give in into the state of temptation, carnal cravings, and fervent arousal.

God knew how much I loved Diane. I really do… and that was the main reason why I would do anything just to protect her—even if it means protecting her from the truth.

The truth that I knew would separate us.

The truth that would make her stay away from me.

The truth that would make her fall out of love.

Looking at how peaceful Diane’s angelic face was while sleeping beside me, I couldn’t help myself but feel guilty knowing that I used to keep dirty secrets from her. Little did she know that our lives already got intertwined three years ago.

That she was the woman I had been looking for all these years.

The truth made me close my eyes for a brief moment while an imaginary dagger seemed to be piercing my heart. An excruciating pain covered my whole body like a cloak as I gave Diane a rueful glance. I didn’t deserve a second chance.

Despite what we have right now, I couldn’t be fully happy. Everything bothered me while being constantly persecuted by my conscience. Unfortunately, our love was still not enough to erase the stain of guilt I was suffering for damn three years.

Thinking about her falling out of love was the kind of fear that would unman me in the present. I had done something awful in the past, specifically, ruining Diane’s life, and working hard on it right now doesn’t seem to justify it.

But once she knew what I did to her, would she be able to forgive me? Would she get mad at me? Would she choose to stay beside me or walk away from me? How would she react after knowing that the same drop-dead gorgeous woman she wanted me to forget was none other than her?

The guilt, which eventually turned into an ugly scar, sat not only on my chest but also inside my brain. I could not change every single thing that happened. I could make amends in elusive ways, and now, I even had all the time in the world to make up to her, but the confession was still out of the picture. My fears were so strong.

It was too late for me to realize that I already shed a tear in my left eye. It was then followed by a frustrated sigh.

For two days I had been with her, guilt never left me as if it would haunt me forever. I could not undo that one terrifying misdeed, but I wanted to make everything right. Regrets began to eat me, and I didn’t know if I would be able to sleep tonight.

Last year, after meeting up with possible investors of the jewelry business that I planned to create, Steve and I met in the States. Then, I had the opportunity to ask him about the incomparable woman they brought in my condo unit on the eve of my twenty-third birthday.

Our conversation was okay, but I knew deep inside that our friendship was indeed broken. I guessed that my trust in him dropped down from ninety-nine to ten percent. We just remained casual for the sake of our past brotherhood, and I wasn’t even expecting that he would approach me first.

Steve said that he could still remember the woman’s name, and it made my hopes soar up high in finding her. It was a beautiful Dayanara Clariz, but he forgot the university name that was printed on her ID.

By remembering how Steve treated me like a real brother before the incident happened that later on put him behind bars, I chose to believe him. I would hold on to my remaining trust in him.

I didn’t want to give him the benefit of the doubt, and I was hoping that we could somehow regain our friendship. He rendered his apology, and I forgave him. We exchanged numbers so we could reach out to each other for any further things.

While I was still in the States, I contacted my private investigators here in the Philippines to search for any woman whose name was Dayanara Clariz, but all their leads were not good enough for me. I even hired the two of the best and leading detectives in the country, but no one had finally found her.

Their leads were all vague, and those couldn’t make me feel satisfied. As much as possible, I wanted quick and clear results because I could no longer sleep at night. I guessed that I got impatient for the first time. Anticipation was killing me that I would soon find Dayanara, the woman who captured my heart in an instant.

So, months after the successful launch of D’ Jewelry Business that was named after Dayanara, I decided to just come back here in the Philippines to do the job of continuously searching for her. I didn’t return here because of business, but because of her. I certainly wanted to talk to her and apologize to her personally… even if it means that she might put me in jail after three long years.

While I was at Delgz Automobiles last week, particularly at its Service and Repair Shop to choose a brand-new car, I saw my brother entered the night club just in front of the automotive shop. From then, I used to follow him around. Soon enough, I found out that he was a regular customer of that luxurious club.

It was the famous Lucy’s Club that was always the ‘talk of the town’ by those working at Delgz because of its sexy and voluptuous pole dancer. They said that she would always be the ‘cream of the crop’ and no one could replace her in owning the stage because of her tempting curves. I must admit that it quite caught my attention, making me feel curious.

Eventually, I learned that my brother had been stalking a certain Claire for two years already. I didn’t care about her or any other woman Leandro got himself. He could fantasize about whoever he wanted, and whatever makes him sleep at night, I would support him.

Well, he could date whoever he liked. He could always do whatever he wanted in life, but I guessed, not until that night…

That woman on the stage doing pole dancing undoubtedly had the curves. She was sexily hot and drop-dead gorgeous, even though she was not wearing scantily-clad clothes.

She was not showing too much skin aside from her long pair of white legs. That way, I could say that she was still conservative, although her moves were sultrily burning on the stage. I never got too interested in anyone other than the Dayanara from my past, not until I found my eyes stuck on the dancing woman.

She was snaking her body on the pole, and I could find myself worrying about her every time she would encircle her body there. She was on fire, and it wasn’t that long before I realized that I got enveloped with unknown excitement, making my proud member suddenly erect. I didn’t know why she had this strange effect on me.

There was this sudden and enigmatic attraction that was drawing me near her. And her black mask made me interested about her even more!

Wondering what was hidden behind her mask, I was sure that I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight without seeing it. The curiosity would only linger inside my head, and that could surely make me awake until dawn.

But by seeing how my brother, as well as the other men here, laid their eyes while slavering on her, I already knew for a fact that she had a beautiful face underneath that mask. So, was she Claire? Among the elite lawyers and renowned actresses he dated, Leandro had very high standards when it came to women, so I was one hundred percent sure that he would not choose lightly.

When she finished her dance number, loud applause from the people here came after. I got lost while raking my eyes on her, and it was too late for me to realize that I was also clapping my hands for her.

Then, she radiantly smiled, bowed to the audience, and made her way backstage with sexy butt moves, as if she was on a fashion show. My brother immediately followed her like he was so possessive over her.

Concerned about Leandro’s behavior, I did not waste any of my time, so I also followed him and hid myself to where they could not see me. I saw how he talked to her, to the point that he seemed to be harassing her.

After a few minutes, he left in a bad mood. I knew my brother well, and I could tell that he was boiling in rage. I ended up glancing at the pole dancer, and this time I had the chance to see her clearly because Leandro was blocking her spot from my direction earlier.

All of a sudden, she removed her mask… and that brought me into a state of shock!