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No, I can’t go to bed. I want to fuck her hard, take her like my fucking slut, and control her pleasure. Then love her like I was destined to do—kiss her breathless, hold her all night long, worship her every day till my last breath.

Slumping in the armchair, I drink from the bottle, not knowing what to fucking do. My thoughts are scattered around, hidden behind a thick fog.

“I don’t know who I am anymore,” she whispers in the dark.

Because of me. It all began with me. It all ends with me.

“You’re a fucking force of nature. That’s what you are. You’ll be fine.”

“No, I won’t,” she whispers. “And you won’t either. For someone who’s coveted me so badly, you’re easily giving me up.”

My jaw clenches. She’s so fucking blind. “No, I am setting you free to choose for yourself the life you want. For the first fucking time ever.”

“Don’t be a fucking hero, Enzo. It doesn’t become you.”

She can simultaneously put a smile on my face and enrage me.

“This is what you want, to be my fucking slut. Do you think this side was not in me from the very beginning?” I snap, losingmy composure. I am trying to do the fucking right thing for her. Resisting her takes an inhuman willpower.

“Then why hide it? I’ve taken you just like you are. So, what the fuck happened? Is this some sick thing…”

“I don’t fucking know.” But I do know. HerI love youbroke the dam once again and all I’ve kept inside burst out.

I sigh, dragging a hand down my face, and take another swig. My gut told me she wouldn’t do it, but I refused to accept it, terrified to let her in even though she never left that place.

My heart is hers. Fuck, I am hers—since the moment I saw her. My loyalty, need, and love for this woman are woven into the fabric of my life.

Getting the confirmation that she only pretended to kill me changed things. This is not how a man treats the woman he loves. I can’t take it back, but I can give her something she never had.

“I think you had this romantic notion about us that would have never functioned, Enzo. We’re killers, we’re ambitious, we want the world… And we do things because we can, without regard for right or wrong. Submitting to you set me free in some ways.”

“Talk time is over.” Fuck, she is set to make herself mine and forget everything else. Say fuck it all and make her my queen.

“Stubborn,” she mumbles and pats my side of the bed. “Come to bed.”

I take the first step in her direction when I waver. Her call is stronger though, and I give in to her wish.

This night has been highly emotional, and when morning comes, she’ll leave and learn about her history and be with her brother.

I will miss the fuck out of her, but most of all, everything we could have had. She says this now, but once she tastes real freedom and power, she won’t need me.

Fuck you, love. But when you love, you want what’s best for the other, not for yourself.

Propped on my side, I smile at the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Like we’re that attuned to the other, she opens those silver eyes at me that feel like bullets shredding my heart. Brushing my knuckles along her delicate cheeks, she palms my hand. Was it fate that brought us together? Most certainly.

“You got your way tonight, but Mika will stop by tomorrow.” The thought alone debilitates me. I doubt I will be able to function without her.

“We’ll do it your way, Enzo. But love me once. Let’s part the right way,” she murmurs.

Love me once. I love her, period. Never stopped. Never will.

It will fuck me up even more, but I don’t care, desperate to preserve the memory of our last time together.

Our eyes lock. There’s no need for words.

I don’t want hurt or remorse to overshadow our last time together. So, I cup her cheek, and she leans into my touch, smiling, but it’s broken.