Be With Me

by Gabrielle Sands

“I want you to kiss me. And not just some fucking peck. I want you to kiss me and mean it.”

She blew out a breath. “Thanks.” Then she glanced at me, her gaze dipping to my mouth. “Why are you smiling?” I sighed. “It happens when I look at you. Can’t explain it. Maybe you have a theory?”

We didn’t speak for the rest of the evening. But I spent the entire goddamn night watching her.

“Well, then,” Erik said lightly, “I’ll just have to see you unmasked some other time. Could I get your number?” “Not if you value your ability to breathe without a respirator.” A shiver tumbled down my spine at that familiar deep voice. There was no mistaking it.

“Fifty carats look good on you,” he murmured. My eyes widened. Fifty carats? Fifty?! He was certifiable.

“What do you really want?” I asked. A beat passed. “You.”

“Lucky you,” he said. “You don't want to know the things I’ve done to try to forget you for even a minute these past few weeks. None of them worked. You haven’t left my mind for longer than a breath.” My pulse trembled. “I can’t fucking sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see you so vividly that I can practically taste you.” Romolo leaned in, brushing his lips against my temple. “I don’t know what the fuck you’ve done to me, Berry, but I need to get you out of my system. And I think you need to get me out of yours too.”

“Simple. You. Me. A sturdy bed with a headboard, and a box of condoms. Remember how you said I hadn’t earned you moaning my name? Let me fucking earn it.”

“Fucking finally,” he muttered, teeth grazing my bottom lip before sucking it into his mouth. “I’ve been burning for you, Berry. Feels like a fucking disease.”

“Ahh!” I dug the backs of my heels into him and arched off the bed. I was right there, right on the edge. “Oh God. Ohhh Jesus.” “Wrong name.” His breath was hot against my aching pussy. “Be a good girl and play by the rules.”

“You’re nuts.” “Comes with the territory.” “What territory?” He leaned down, pressing his lips to my ear. “The territory you waded into when you slept with a gangster.”

“One of you. Come here and help my girl.”

This wasn’t just sex. She knew it. I knew it. But neither of us said a goddamn word.

He was one of the most dangerous men in this city, but somehow, he had become my safest place.

The only comfort was knowing I’d never let my father touch a hair on her head. I didn’t care what it took. If I had to play her personal bodyguard, so be it. He. Would. Not. Hurt. Her.

My grip tightened around the glass in my hand. “I’m not seeing her anymore.” “No?” “But no one’s going to fucking touch her unless they want a gun shoved down their throat.”

“She’s mine. Off-limits. Forever.”

“You can think whatever you want about me, but if you so much as touch a hair on Mia’s head, I’ll rip you apart with my bare hands and feed you to the fucking dogs.”

That’s my fucking girl.

“Before, I only knew how to destroy. But now? I’ll learn how to build. If you’ll let me, I’ll build a life with you. One where you will feel safe, loved, and so fucking cherished that you will never doubt that you belong by my side. Not for a single second.”

“I love you like I’ve never loved anything in my goddamn life. It’s terrifying. It’s relentless. You’ve gotten under my skin and into my soul, and you didn’t even try. Somewhere along the way, I stopped being mine and became yours.”

Mia was my peace in the chaos. My compass. My fucking redemption. And every single part of me belonged to her.