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My chest aches like she reached in and crushed it with her bare hands.

I step forward, but she doesn’t move. She doesn’t even flinch.

We’re close now. So close I could feel her breath against my lips.

I reach out and cup her cheek, my thumb brushing over her soft skin.

“If you truly believe I could ever hurt you,bella, then you never knew me at all.” My voice is low, edged with a calm I don’t feel.

I’m not angry at her—but fury coils in my chest like a lit fuse.

Fury at the world that made her doubt me.

Fury at myself for being the kind of man she could believe would destroy the one thing he’d die to protect.

She opens her mouth, but I don’t let her speak.

“You want the truth?” I lean in, so close our breaths meet like a promise between us. “I would burn kingdoms to the ground for you. Destroy every man, every vow, every rule I’ve ever lived by, but I would never hurt you. Not even if you broke me in half.”

Her lips part. Her eyes soften, but the fear doesn’t vanish.

“I terrify you?” I whisper. “Because you know exactly what I’m capable of. And if I’m capable of all that... imagine what I’d do to protect you.”

She doesn’t reply, but she doesn’t move away either. The anger in her expression is gone, all that’s left is confusion and hurt. I know there’s nothing I can do. This is her cross to bear, she has to make a decision on her own.

“I’ll leave,” I tell her, and her eyes widen in surprise. “Take all the time you need. Think about things. About us. And when you’re ready, come home.”

She searches my eyes before nodding slowly. I run my thumb over her lips.

“We’ve had a good thing going over the past couple of days,mi vida. Don’t ruin us.”

And then I let go, turning around to walk away. But of course, there’s this nagging feeling in my gut, this fear that I should do more. Which is probably why I stop and exhale a breath before turning around to look at her.

“I had no reason to kill your father, Cassie,” I add, needing to get that across to her. “His blood isn’t on my hands.”

“Then who did it?” she asks desperately.

“I don’t know. But I’ll find out,” I promise her, pausing before saying my next words. “We can’t keep doing this, sweetheart. I’ve never claimed to be anything other than this; it’s all I know. But your safety, your happiness, means a lot to me.”

Her eyes soften. “I know,” she says, barely above a whisper. “I know that. It’s just…”

The rest trails off, caught somewhere between fear and hope.

I step closer. So close the pink gloss on her lips brushes against mine. It’s barely a touch, but it sets my blood on fire. I have to ground myself, breathe through the hunger clawing at my control, because all I want is to consume her. To claim every inch of her body.

To bury myself deep inside of her. “You come before the business. Before the blood. Before the fucking crown,bella. See you in a few days, alright,” I say, giving her a pass, some space to think.

This time I walk away for good, without a clue whether or not I got to her.

Once I step outside the apartment building, all the fury I’d been holding back hits me at once. Luca stands carefully to theside of the car, watching me as I try to get my emotions under control. I look up, anger slashing through me like a whip.

“I’m going to kill Miguel Solis.”

Luca makes a small discontented noise, “I’m not sure that would serve you well, boss. He’s still her uncle.”

“He told her about my mother. That I killed her,” I inform him. “How the fuck does he even know about that? I know they always assumed I did it, but he seems to know more than I expected.”

I kept it under wraps, even within the Cosa Nostra, and Miguel Solis is not a part of the Cosa Nostra.