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She huffs, slumping in her chair. I know she’s uncomfortable having been in that position for hours. Not to forget her wound still bleeds.

“I hear Chiara shot you. Pretty ironic.”

“Oh, I am well aware of the irony,” she mumbles, avoiding looking at me.

Silence stretches as I stare at her. She appears beaten down. My heart clenches at the sight, and I ball my hands into fists at my side, hating the pesky remnants of my feelings for her. Where would the pleasure be in torturing someone who looks as if they checked out of life a while ago?

“Augustus couldn’t save you this time, huh? I hear he revoked his protection once the Syndicate cornered him.”

“Still jealous?” she asks in that voice dripping with a taunt.

That’s the woman I want to break.

“Why would I be? I took things he never had.”

She squirms in her seat, pinning me with a death glare. “I gave them to you.”

“Mm-hmm,” I say noncommittally as I get in her face.

I slide two fingers under her chin, tipping her face up. At the contact, a current zaps through me. Remaining unaffected will prove challenging. Fuck.

At my touch, a tremor rocks her as it should.

“Why postpone it? I’ll end up dead, anyway.”

“Where would the fun be in that?”

She throws her head back, laughing. “You don’t know what to do with me, do you?”

Gripping her chin, I apply pressure and force her to look me in the eye. “Oh, Luciana, I made sure to get you where you are right now. There was an entire line I had to bypass to ensure it’s me who gets to kill you.”

I see the moment it hits her that I am serious.

She seethes at my confession before she snaps.

“You still love me. I am rooted in your heart, stuck in your mind, flowing in your fucking bloodstream, Enzo. You can’t kill me.”

“We’ll see about that.” The words come out half threat, half desire to prove her wrong.

I move to the cabinet, taking out what I need.

“What are you doing?” she asks, her eyes flitting between the bag I have in my hand and my eyes.

“Sewing you up.”

She gulps, panic coloring her voice. “You have a doctor on call. Don’t make me actually kill you because you butcher my skin.”

“Vain as always,” I grit out, pissed as hell for even mentioning that.

She expels an indignant sound that almost pulls a smile from me. “Vain? It’s called taking care of my body.”

“You should have picked another job,” I say matter-of-factly as I approach her.

“Yeah, becoming a whore. No, thank you.”

Trying to get back control, I cock my head, letting the threat linger. “Hmm, don’t entice me with the possibility.”

She rolls her eyes at me, unimpressed. “Empty threat, Enzo. I doubt you’ll let another man even touch me. Stick that empty threat up your ass.”