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“Don’t waste your time. She’s already taken.” “By whom?” “Me,” I growled.
My mother had always said I was a fixer, that I needed something broken so I could see if I was capable of mending it—injured animals, sick people, broken-down cars. Her. She’d said it would get me in trouble one day. Because people couldn’t be fixed, and one day I’d find someone so broken, he’d break me before I could mend him. Was that what had drawn me to Fabiano from that very first second? Had I sensed that something about him was broken and I needed to fix it?
“Sometimes we have to let go of our family if we want to amount to anything in life.”
“Temere me, perché sono l’occhio e la spada,” Fabiano said in what sounded to me like flawless Italian. He caressed the words with his tongue, almost as if he was their lover. A shiver raced down my back. How would it feel if he whispered words of passion into my ear in that same voice? “What…” I cleared my throat, hoping he couldn’t tell how his closeness and voice affected me. “What does it mean?” “Fear me because I’m the eye and the blade.”
I could tell she didn’t have much experience kissing. Fuck. That knowledge was the last straw. I had to have her. Every little inch of her. Every goosebump. Every freckle. Every fucking shy smile. All for myself.
“And I wanted you for myself.” Was he embarrassed of being seen with me? The poor little waitress and the big deal mobster. I rubbed my arms, the cold night air catching up with me. Fabiano pressed up behind me and stroked my arms through the thin fabric of my dress. Always close, always touching. His spicy aftershave engulfed me like his arms did. “What do you want from me?” I whispered. “Everything.”
Love is what makes us human, what makes life worth living. Love is unconditional.”
“If you don’t fight for what you want, you won’t get it. People like us don’t get their wishes handed to them on a platter.”
“I will fight your battles for you now, Leona. I told you I’d protect you.”
Leaning her cheek against my chest, she whispered, “Please don’t hurt me. I don’t think I can handle it.” I paused with my foot on the first step,
“Beautiful things are always taken from you.” That was what my mother used to say. I hadn’t wanted to believe her, even though this thing between Fabiano and me seemed too good to be true—especially in a city ruled by someone like Remo Falcone. And now her warning was true.
I’m sorry. The idea of you leaving me is the worst torture I can imagine. Be the woman Aria gave me that bracelet for. Stay, even if I’m not worth it.
Tonight, everything had changed. I had made a choice, and I had chosen Leona. Over the Camorra. Over Remo.
“I betrayed for you, I killed for you,” I said roughly, pulling out of her slowly until only my tip remained inside her. “I’ll bleed and I’ll die for you.”
“Love only gets you killed. That’s what my father used to say. I suppose he got one thing right.”
“Leona must be safe. She must be mine. I want her at my side. I want to spend my life with her.”
Weakness was something I couldn’t afford, not if I wanted to stay on Remo’s good side. But love wasn’t a choice. It was like fucking torture. Something that happened to you and you were unable to stop it. It was the only form of torture I was unable to endure.
