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I slide into the car, glancing over as Alessio gets into the driver’s seat. He looks tired, too.

I offered Clover to stay at Alessio’s tonight so he didn’t have to head home so soon, but he opted to crash at Alessandro Sr. and Stella’s instead, claiming he can’t pass up her lasagna. So, we agreed to have lunch tomorrow before he heads back to Vancouver.

Out of nowhere, a small chuckle escapes me.

“What’s so funny?” Alessioasks, starting the car.

“Who would’ve thought a criminal and a detective would become besties?” And the laugh bubbles over before I can stop it.

“They said since they’re both retired, neither is breaking any rules,” Alessio adds, letting out a small chuckle of his own.

The second the car starts moving, my heart starts to race and not from the speed, but from the thoughts spiraling in my head. I can’t stop replaying everything.

“Do you ever shut up in that head of yours?” Alessio suddenly asks, breaking through my panic.

I shoot him a sideways glance, half-heartedly rolling my eyes. “Nope, it’s a never-ending party of severe overthinking.”

“You said yourself that Tito has kids all over. What if one of them comes after me?” I murmur, my voice quieter than I meant it to be.

He reaches over, gripping my hand and threading his fingers through mine.“I will never let anybody lay a single fucking finger on you.” And I know he means it.

I turn to him, tears pooling in my eyes, faster than I can blink them away. The shame of how I treated him the past few days hits me hard, or maybe I’m just emotionally wrecked from the complete mindfuck I just went through.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, feeling like such an asshole. Now it makes sense why Alessio pushed me away. He thought I was an informant. And honestly, if I were him, I probably would’ve kicked me out too. Yeah, I was digging into things, looking for answers, but only about my mom. I wasn’t working with the cops or reporting back to anyone.

He glances at me before focusing back on the road. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Liv. You were scared.”

“Scared? More like stupid.” I huff, frustrated with myself. “I thought you were the bad guy throwing me away.”

“I’m not a good guy either,” he says, looking at me again. “But I care about you. More than you realize.”

My heart does something weird, like it doesn’t know whether to break or race. The doubt still lingers, though. “You can’t still want to marry me. Not after all this.”

“Liv,” he replies, pulling into a strip mall parking lot. “You were mine the first day we met. You just didn’t know it yet.”

I hate that part of me turns to mush around him, but I try to keep my cool. “You don’t own me,” I whisper, though the words sound weak, even to me.

His eyes darken, and a slight smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. “Don’t lie to yourself,Sirena,” he murmurs, putting the car in park, turning toward me. His thumb traces my lower lip slowly. “You can deny it all you want, but deep down, you know exactly what this is.” He leans closer, his breath warm against my cheek. “You’re mine, Liv. Whether you admit it or not.”

I force myself to glare, even though my pulse is running wild. “I’m not some possession you can control,” I snap, yanking my chin out of his grip. “You don’t get to decide who I belong to.”

Alessio’s jaw clenches, and for a split second, I think he might back off. Instead, he moves in closer, pulling me toward him like he can’t help himself.

“No, Liv. I don’t decide that.” His eyes are locked on mine, and he’s so close it makes it hard to breathe, but I want to drink him up at the same time. “You already decided that when you came after me.”

My breath catches, but I refuse to break eye contact until he moves in closer. His lips ghost over my ear, his breath hot against my skin, sending a traitorous shiver down my spine. I know he feels it, the growl that leaves his throat tells me as much.

“And you know damn well I’m not letting you go.”

I swallow hard. “You know I’m looking for a reason to run.” Feeling the need to be an open book tonight. “I don’t know if I can be a part of this life.”

Alessio’s knuckles brush up my neck, sending sparks through me. “I know,” he says, and for the first time, his voice isn’t teasing or cocky, it’s raw and honest. “But I’m not asking you to be a part of it. I just want you to be with me.”

I don’t know what to say to that. Because for the first time in my life, I don’t know if I want to run. Something in his eyes tells me he’s not just saying it to reassure me. He means it.

Every. Damn. Word.

“But what will the other Dons think if they find out my mom worked as an informant?” I ask, because we both know that’s a huge fucking problem in the mafia.