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"More sure than I've ever been about anything in my life," I assure him.

"Your entire life will change," he warns.

"It already has."

He scrutinizes me, and I force a small chuckle. "If you're trying to talk me out of this because you don't want to m?—"

"Fuck!" He pulls me into his chest, his lips hot and demanding on mine. "There is nothing in this world I want more than you, Scarlet. You're mine. You have been mine since I first saw that fucking video."

"I'm yours," I repeat, pushing thoughts ofthe videoand what he saw out of my mind.

"Mine!" His voice is filled with pride, and his expression reminds me of what I imagined those old conquerors looked like when they entered a captured city. It's fucking hot! My blood bubbles inside my veins with excitement. This is it.

"Let me make a call, and I can have an officiate in my office in a few hours," Antonio says.

"An officiate?" Is he going to make me sign a contract?

"To get us married." He states matter-of-factly. "A necessity. A proper proposal will come later."

"After you're sure I’ll say yes?" I tease, despite the hundreds of ants crawling up and down my stomach, doing the Macarena.

He grins, "I usually don't propose anything unless I'm sure of the answer."

"Hmm," I purse my lips.

He turns serious again, "Well?"

"I'm prepared to do what I must to stay with you," I say.

He raises an eyebrow at me. "What you must?"

I nod. "I'll do anything for our relationship."

"That's my line," he smirks.

"True." I agree.

He closes his eyes for a moment. "I have no idea how you weaseled your way into my life, my heart, this quickly."

"You thinkweaseledis romantic?" Honestly, I'm a bit stung.

"But here you are. Like a barb in my heart. Impossible to pull out without tearing my heart to pieces."

"A barb?" I cringe. This is really stinging now.

He sighs. "I mean, it's complicated. You're like quicksand under my feet; the more I fight, the deeper I sink in."

"Quicksand?" If this is his idea of being romantic…

Suddenly, he laughs and gets up from his chair to pull me up from mine and into his arms. "Scarlet, I don’t know how the hell this happened so fast, but I don’t question it—I don’t fucking care. You are mine: my every thought, my every breath. When you’re not around, all I can think about is getting you back. And when you are with me, I can’t focus on anything but you.

"You hit me like a lightning strike—fast, hard, and without warning. I never stood a chance. One second, I was fine—hellbent on revenge, locked in a life that made sense. And then there you were. And nothing else fucking mattered anymore.

"I've never fallen like this. Never let myself. I didn’t even think I could. But you? You’re in my veins, Scarlet. You’ve taken over my head, my every move, my every goddamn heartbeat.

"You mean more to me than reason. More than rules. More than life itself. And if anyone ever tried to take you from me—if anyone so much as thought about hurting you—I’d burn the world to the fucking ground and smile while it turned to ash."

My heart nearly drops in my chest. I think it actually stops beating for a moment, and when it picks back up, it's like a drummer on speed at the end of one of those old Rock Ballads. Tears rise in my eyes because his words… coming from him… Iknow they're true. He is the type of man who would burn the entire world down for me.