Be With Me

by Gabrielle Sands

Why did he have to be so impossibly beautiful? The kind of beauty that made you forget—momentarily—how dangerous he was.

“There are plenty of other stylists in this city who could do exactly what you’re asking for.” “I don’t want them. I want you.”

She was a lot more interesting than I'd initially pegged her to be.

“Do you think it’s a burden? Taking care of people?” She tried again to pull away. “Because it’s not. I like doing it.” “Oh yeah?” I inched forward, closing the distance between us. “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.”

“I want to know something.” I dragged my thumb over her bottom lip. “Do these taste like berries?”

The truth was…nothing about her disgusted me. She just stirred up a whirlwind of strange, fucked-up emotions when she proved to me, again and again, that her goodness wasn’t fake.

She held a mirror up to me and in its reflection, I saw all the ways we were different.

Men weren’t born hardened. They were made that way by someone’s heavy hand until nothing soft remained. Who was Romolo’s maker?

“Your fucking scent.” The words rumbled in his chest. “It drives me crazy.”

He was like a drug. Toxic, addictive, bad for me, but at the same time, oh so good.

Mia Morales had infected my black heart with a virus that compelled me to do right by her.

I liked her sweetness, but I liked her fire even more.

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

Actually, I did have a theory. That night, she’d taken care of me, held me, helped me. No woman had ever done that for me before. She’d rewired something fundamental inside me, some critical connection in my brain.

The thought of it—of touching someone who wasn’t her—made my stomach turn. If they didn’t look like her, smell like her, moan like her…I didn’t fucking want them.

I thought I’d satisfied my urge to protect her when I let her go. But it hadn't gone away. It had embedded itself in my bones, a need that wouldn’t fucking quit. And with it, something else had been simmering. Something I’d tried so fucking hard to deny. I couldn’t deny it anymore. I. Wanted. 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.”

For God’s sake. “Excuse his twisted sense of humor, Erik. He doesn’t get out much.” “She’s the only one who knows how to handle me.”

“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.”

I didn’t believe in fairy tales. Let alone one that could happen to me. But maybe, just maybe, I could have her for a little while.

I never thought I’d like being selfish. It went against everything I believed. But maybe I only liked it when I was being selfish with him.

I was fond of Romolo Ferraro.

“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.”

“Jesus, Mia. He looked at you like you were his. I’m surprised no one else noticed.”

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

He wasn’t an easy person to understand. Or to love. But I’d fallen anyway.

“You’re poisonous, Rom. I hope one day it kills you from the inside out.”

“I’m bad for you, baby. So fucking bad.”

“I don’t want to make your life fall apart too. You might not even see it coming, but one day, you’ll wake up in the midst of ruins and ashes. You’ll look around and realize, bone-deep, that you’d made a mistake choosing me. Then, you’ll want to leave.” He paused. “And here’s the thing, Mia.” His tone darkened. “Once you’re mine, I won’t let you. If we cross this line, there’ll be nothing that can save you from me.”

I was breaking. Every emotion clashed at once—hurt, guilt, disbelief—until I couldn’t tell where one ended and another began.

It was easier feeling nothing.

If there was some way to take that pain away, I would have done it in a second.

We were like two magnets reversed—drawn to each other with a force neither of us understood, only to be repelled every time we got too close. And still, we kept trying.

Christ, I walked out on the only woman I ever loved. And if my gut was right, she loved me too.

He’d come for me. He’d found me. This nightmare was over. With him, I was finally safe.

“He’s a criminal,” Morales spat. “He’ll spend the rest of his life behind bars. Is that the kind of life you want?” “I’ll choose him over you any day.”

Monsters. They were fucking monsters to do this to the sweetest goddamn girl in the entire world.

“Berry, I’m hard to kill.” A tearful laugh slipped from her lips. “Please stay that way.” “I plan on it.”

“I wasn’t living before I met you, Mia. I was just existing. Trying to drown the parts of me I couldn’t face. But you—you came in with all your light, and suddenly there was nowhere left to hide. You cracked me open. Made me feel again.”

“I’d tried to run from those feelings. But I’m not running anymore. I fucking love you.”

Doing what felt right to me wasn’t selfish—I saw that now. It just meant honoring my own truth. Listening to my gut. And right now, my gut screamed at me to do everything I could to keep Romolo safe.

“You asked me once who took care of me. I didn’t have an answer back then. I do now.” The gray in his eyes softened and he leaned down, pulling gently on my bottom lip. “Always, Berry.”

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