Page 151 of Brutal Crown

I’m still here.

And that, in this world, is a revolution.

Their old world tried to break me. But I lived. Death did not come for us tonight.

Life did.

I siton the edge of a bed that isn’t mine—yet feels like it could be. They brought me back to the Romano estate in Dante’s car. If anyone had told me I’d return here not as a prisoner, but as family, I would’ve laughed in their face.

They didn’t take me to my old room. Instead, a private chamber was prepared for my arrival. Candlelight casts a soft glow across the space, the air scented faintly with lavender. A silk canopy drapes over the bed, and a fur throw lies folded neatly at its end. My shoes are gone.

I wiggle my toes and wait.

He knows I’m here, and I’ve been dying to see him again.

My heart lurches in my chest when the door opens.

Francesco.

He doesn’t say a word. He just marches toward me in long strides. I jump down from the bed, a sob breaking through my lips as I run to him.

Our bodies collide in the center of the room. He grabs my face in his hands and slams his lips against mine, kissing me like he’s been dying to do it for a thousand years.

I gasp against his mouth, tears pouring down my eyes before I can stop them. My hands tangle in his jacket, pulling him closer, desperate to feel every inch of him.

He growls, pulling my lips between his teeth. I tighten my arms around his neck, holding him closer than ever.

“You’re here,” he growls against my lips, and I moan as his hands find my breasts through the material of my dress. “You’re here.”

“I’m here,” I gasp as he kneads my breast in his hands, kissing me harder and rougher.

I run my hands over his body, savoring him like it’s my first time.

The taste of his tongue, hot and sweet. The press of our bodies pressed together. The feel of his rough stubble beneath my fingers. Our combined warmth spreads through the fabric between us. His smell—musky and familiar and intoxicating—makes my head spin and my heart pound so hard it hurts.

I’ve dreamed about this moment for days, and now he is finally here.

His mouth moves lower, down to my neck, while his hands pull down the strap of my dress. It falls from my shoulders easily, and he pulls away just long enough to let me step out of it. I’m left in my matching panties and bra. His eyes darken as he takes me in, before his lips find mine again.

We move forward again, into each other, hips grinding together in perfect symphony as his hands find my ass, kneading roughly. I moan into his mouth again, pressing myself against him, and his hands slip back up to bury into my hair.

“I need you,” he groans, lifting me by my waist. “God, I need you.”

I wrap my legs around him as he walks toward the bed.

He sets me down gently before crawling over my frame. His mouth finds mine once more. I claw at his shoulders, his neck, the collar of his shirt, and his back.

He gets my silent message and pulls away to tug his shirt over his head. I pull my lower lip between my teeth, watching him through hazy eyes as he undoes the buckle of his pants. My eyes are fixed on his face, memorizing every detail. He has changedsince I last saw him. There are dark circles under his eyes, his hair is slightly longer, and he looks tired but somehow more beautiful than I remember.

I let my eyes take in his rippling muscles, and I notice a few healing bruises on his torso.

“What happened?” I murmur, brushing a fading bruise with my thumb. I don’t think I’m imagining the way his chest twitches under my touch or how his lips part involuntarily as he stares down at me.

“It’s nothing,” he says huskily.

I pant, and my eyes water with a need I can’t explain. Without thinking, I lean up and press a kiss to each of them, kissing them one after another, wishing my kisses could make them disappear.

“Lia,” he grunts, sliding his fingers through my hair as I pull one of his nipples into my mouth.