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That woke me up from the sexual fog. I was feeling too hot and bothered, and I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.

“You shouldn’t have done that!” I yelled.

He started laughing, an incredulous look on his face. “Baby, I was just giving you a massage.”

“You knew that would happen,” I panted.

“Does that mean you can’t resist me?”

“What the hell do you want from me, Sandro?” Suddenly I was feeling ashamed. Mad at myself, mad at him. “Do you want me to become obsessed with you again? Because remember what happened the last time? My brother got shot!”

The humor fled from his face. “You need to stop blaming yourself for that.”

“So, should I blame you?”

He opened his mouth to say something, but the timer on the baked chicken cut him off. He started to rise, but I growled, “I’ve got this.”

I couldn’t believe what had just happened. How could I be so weak and pathetic? Didn’t Renz almost dying teach me enough? Self-recrimination ate at me. As I lifted the sizzling chicken from the depths of the hot oven, I mentally reinforced my barriers.

I refused to be a part of this crime family.

I was too disgusted with myself to have an appetite. I dropped the tray on the counter. Sandro’s gaze scorched my face, and when I turned to look at him, there was a question reflected in his eyes.

“I’m going to do what is required of me to meet Raffa’s demands. My goal is to get back tomyfamily. Do what you must and make Tommy the boss.” I buried every part of me that had loved this man since I was five and pushed words out of my mouth I thought I could never say to Sandro. “If you have to fake your death so I can be free of you, of this marriage, then do it.”

I stared at the food I had prepared all day. “I’m not hungry. Feed your men.”

Sandro

“If you have to fake your death so I can be free of you, of this marriage, then do it.”

I had taken shrapnel to the chest, but it didn’t compare to the stinging pain of Bianca’s words. My mixed signals had pushed her too far. I wanted to keep her, but I didn’t know how without forcing her into a life she never wanted.

Marriage to a made man.

Still, we were running out of time, and I needed us to be on the same page. Bianca was adaptable. My fear of losing her had me playing with her heart. It was unfair to her.

I couldn’t leave our conversation where we left it, so I brought her a tray of food. Food she prepared for me and my men. I also included a blueberry soda.

I stopped in front of her door and knocked. “Baby?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I’m coming in,” I said in a firm voice.

“Fine. It’s unlocked anyway.”

When I opened the door, she was already sitting up in bed with arms crossed over her chest. Defiance was evident in every line of her body, even her eyes. “I’m not apologizing for what I said.”

I laid the tray beside her. She went for the soda and sipped with a straw.

“I wasn’t expecting you to.”

“This situation is fucked up.”

“I know.”

“I’m just…for a moment, being so close to you, I was curious about what we could have been,” she rushed out.