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I nod, and he relaxes a little, although his shoulders are still pulled tight with tension.

“You know this can’t last, Angel. Your dad, Nico… this—me—is not what they want for you.”

“Fuck them,” she barks, surging to her feet and standing on the top step so she’s looking down on me. “That’s bullshit and you know it. I don’t give a fuck what they want for me. I’m done with letting them control my life.”

“Cal,” I sigh, pushing to stand.

“No, don’t do that. Don’t just give up because you think it’s going to be hard. Will they be happy? No, probably not, and there’s every chance Nico will break at least one bone in your body but—”

“Pfft, he can try,” I snort.

“Really? You gonna pull the ‘I’m the scarier soldier’ bullshit right now?”

I hold my hands up in surrender and take a step forward.

“Calli, you can’t really think that we can go home and just continue like we have been here.” It breaks my heart to say it, but it’s true.

Evan and Cassandra, and Nico, will never accept this. They want a good, safe, solid Greek boy for their princess, and I’m none of those things. I’m a liability, the one who’s never quite good enough, the one who’ll end up dead and leave her alone. And plus, why would they ever want my DNA? I’m not good enough to even work for them right now, let alone help provide them some heirs.

“Well, no, but we can figure something out.”

Darkness begins to seep through my veins, all the insecurities that I’ve battled with all my life threatening to drag me under.

“I’m not good enough for you,” I whisper, the words tearing my heart to shreds.

“Bullshit. You’re everything.”

“She’s got a point, man. The only reason she’s safe right now is because of you,” Alex says, defending me.

“It won’t make a difference. They won’t accept me. This,” I say, gesturing between the two of us, “has an expiration date. I’ve known that all along. That’s why I had every intention of never acting on how I felt for you. But I was weak. I caved. So now I just need to take everything I can get before you’re stolen from me.”

“No,” she cries. “Tell him,” she demands, her eyes finding Alex’s over my shoulder. “Tell him he’s talking shit.”

“I… uh…” I imagine him rubbing the back of his neck as he tries to come up with something to pacify her. He knows I’m right. He knows they won’t accept us being together. “I think that maybe we should all calm down. None of this matters right now. While Calli is at risk, the only thing we need to be focusing on is keeping her safe.”

“He’s right,” I breathe, hoping it’s enough to calm her down.

I step toward her, half expecting her to back away from me, but to my surprise, she does the opposite and collapses into my body, her arms locking around my waist as she holds me like there’s a risk I might just disappear.

Movement to my right catches my eye, and I look up, finding Alex watching me. He smiles sadly, understanding and sympathy etched into every feature.

A violent shiver rips through Calli’s body and I hold her tighter, letting her steal my warmth.

“We should go inside,” Alex encourages, gathering up our bottles and heading into the house, leaving us alone.

“Come on, Angel. You’re freezing,” I say into her hair as I gently push her forward.

We make it halfway to the doors when her hands slide up my chest, stopping me from going any farther.

She tilts her head up, her tear-filled eyes capturing mine. The emotion, the sadness within them makes a lump climb up my throat.

“You’re more than worth it, Nikolas. I’d give anything to keep this, keep you.”

“Fuck,” I breathe. Unable to find any other words to come back with, I dip my head and capture her lips in an all-consuming kiss.

We’re still lip-locked as we stumble into the living room.

“Ugh, I need to get laid,” Alex complains as I drop onto the other end of the sofa with Calli in my lap.