Page 111

“Why tell me now?”Icroak.

He’s done with you.That’s why. Our story is over. We’re not getting a second chance, but I want him to have the guts to look me in the eye while shattering my heart into a million pieces that cut so deep the wounds will never heal.

“Augustus and my father came up with the plan. For my father to take over, yours had to die, but instead of your father being in the car, your mother and you were. When Augustusrealized his mistake, he spared your life. I guess he intended to use you as leverage but then he turned you into his assassin. He’s a sick fucker who will pay for that. I vow to you.”

Augustus, you have no fucking idea what you unleashed. I will torture you until I will rip out your heart and stomp it with my heel.

But that’s not my biggest issue right now. A whooshing sound slices through the air. Looking up, I see his bloody fingers curl around something. The blade clacks to the floor and at his feet lies the chip that most likely was linked to my collar.

Tonight wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were supposed to fight and then fuck. I would be high on endorphins and still believe that one day we’ll be good.

He stalks to me and brushes the hair from my shoulder. I know what he wants to do. I am so weak and broken down that I can’t even fight him.

“Don’t…” My unfinished plea is chock-full of other silent words like “keep me,” “love me,” and “don’t let me go.”

Knowing him, guilt over what happened to me because of his father wins over his feelings, becoming the stronger motivator to make things right. But nothing in my life is right without him. He’s my only compass.

With a delicate key, he unlocks it. A click follows. The collar drops, and I grab it before it falls, holding onto it with a vise grip.

“You’re free, Julia.”

“Julia?”

“That’s your name,” he says softly, surely sensing I am on the verge of a mental breakdown.

“My name is Luciana, not Julia. Stop calling me that,” I shout. “Free, huh? How can I be free when I am yours? I don’t want to be fucking free.” I hold my head, shaking it as if to clear my thoughts. “Why are you doing this to me, to us? Why are you so cruel? I love you, damn it.” I stand up and pummel my fists into his hard chest. He doesn’t move, letting me shout and hit him until I tire.

This should have been his punishment from the beginning, setting me free when all I’ve ever wanted was to be his.

With the snap of a finger, I lost it all—my identity, my love, my future—but gained one last goal: revenge.

I turn around, not being able to look at her and stand my ground, wanting to erase the image of her silver eyes that brim with tears, showing me her vulnerability as if I am not miserable enough.

This woman could stab me in the back, rip my heart out, chew my soul up and spit the pieces at my feet, and I would still love her––even in splinters. Bleeding. Shattered. Dead.

I refuse to keep her captive a moment longer. She’s not a woman you can tame. She’s a woman you love and stand by her side as she conquers the world.

“I never thought you—” Her voice trembles. She inhales deeply, and I swallow, fully aware her next words will annihilate me. “You’re a damn coward. Fucking look at me.”

I can’t, keeping my eyes fixed on the window. She pushes herself off the sofa and darts to me, pulling me back by my elbow.

She gets in my face, fisting her hand in my shirt and dragging me to her eye level. “I am flowing through your damn veins, Enzo. I am so deep inside of you that you could never cut me out because I’m rooted in your damn marrow. So why the fuck are you doing this?”

“I’ve exacted my revenge. I am done.” I say the words, going for a detached tone, but just under the surface, agony ripples.

Her eyes widen, and she shakes her head at me. “Lies. I don’t believe you.”

“I believed your words once. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

She slaps the collar to my chest. “I don’t care what happened between us… I just…”

“You just what, Luciana?”

She takes a step back, stumbling, but the moment I reach my arm out to steady her, she thrusts her palm out to stop me.

Our chests heave with labored breaths, and she lifts her eyes. “Fine, then. I guess you made your decision. Miserable we’ll be. We both have experience with that.”

“You’ll have your family,” I insist. For her.