Be With Me

by Gabrielle Sands

To all the girls who gave too much and asked for too little—no wonder you prefer the villain who tells you to be selfish while he burns the world to keep you.

“If I’d known you were the enemy, I would have enjoyed having you beneath me even more.”

“I don’t want them. I want you.”

“Tell me…who takes care of you?”

While she wasn’t looking, I swiped her lip gloss off her desk and shoved it into my pocket. Why? Fuck if I knew. Probably because I was losing my goddamn mind.

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

It wasn’t meant suggestively, but an image of us under steaming water together flashed through my mind before I could stop it. Heat bloomed across my face. When I caught his pensive gaze in the mirror, I wondered if his mind had gone in a similar direction.

He shook his head, his expression unreadable. A few beats passed before his gaze slid back to me. “You’re staring, Mia. See something you like?” I was staring. I did like what I saw.

don’t trust him either,” I admitted. “But I didn’t want him to get into an accident on the road.” “That’s what airbags are for,” Zo said unhelpfully. She looped an arm around my shoulder. “I have to ask… What’s with the robe?”

Then warmth. So much warmth. His heat blanketed my back, seeping through my clothes, caressing my flesh.

This was us crossing another line. I knew it. He knew it.

Mia Morales had infected my black heart with a virus that compelled me to do right by her. Fuck knows if I’d ever recover.

Dressed like this, he wasn’t just a man. He was Mars, the god of war.

"Stop staring at her fucking ass," I muttered. "Wasn’t. But now I am."

She blew out a breath. “Thanks.” Then she glanced at me, her gaze dipping to my mouth. “Why are you smiling?”

“It happens when I look at you. Can’t explain it. Maybe you have a theory?”

But I spent the entire goddamn night watching her.

“Not if you value your ability to breathe without a respirator.”

“She’s the only one who knows how to handle me.” Romolo’s tone was infuriatingly smug. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, your presence is no longer required. Leave.”

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

“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.”

I moaned at the filth coming out of his mouth. I’d never been with a guy who talked like that, and I'd never expected how it would turn me on.

“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.”

“For some reason, I always thought Dad would be shot,” Cos said, his voice rough. “And that he’d manage to kill whoever got him.” “I think that’s how we all hope to go. No one wants to be killed by a faceless killer.” “Or by a fucking plant.”