Page 4 of Die for You

Falling in love with Bria wasn’t on my bingo card, but here we are.

It was a slow burn because, regardless of what Valentina did, it always felt like a betrayal to open my heart to anyone but her. But as time progressed and she tried killing me any chance she got, it got a little easier to let her go.

Now, I cling to the memories, and perhaps a part of me is a hopeless romantic living in a fantasy world where we can coexist, where we both change and can be together.

But reality soon takes over when Valentina attempts to stab me in the shoulder with the knife.

I quickly block her, slapping the blade from her hand. “Really?” I mock, getting into a fighting stance just as she does. “Anyone would think you weren’t even trying.”

She smirks, circling me, eyes never leaving mine. “For old times’ sake, I guess. Call me nostalgic.”

And this is why I can’t let her go.

The chemistry between us hasn’t subsided with time. If anything, it’s only grown. But you can’t base a relationship on the fact that someone gives you butterflies. That we’re trying to kill one another every chance we get seems to erase the warm and fuzzies.

I need to remember she’s the enemy here, and not my overpowering need to grab her by the throat and pin her to the wall.

And that’s not an issue as she retrieves a throwing star from her sleeve and tosses it at my head. It embeds into the wall behind me.

She missed on purpose, which piques my interest. Then I realize she is here not because of Gianna, but for something else. This has nothing to do with our fight for power and control, but rather…something that affects us both.

But the question is, what is it?

What is so important to her that she would risk coming back to America? And why does she save me when she could have killed me ten times over? She wants me alive for a reason.

What reason is that?

“What have you done,tesoro mio? What have you done?”

Valentina’s demeanor changes when she realizes I now see she is guarding a secret, and her purpose for coming here is to divulge what that secret is.

But she got cold feet at the last moment.

Before I can ask anything further, she tasers me.

Dropping to the floor, I don’t fight the electrical current passing through me because I fucking deserve it. I lowered my guard, which is always a dangerous thing when Valentina is involved.

She stands over me, watching me seize.

“Kill…me.” I manage to press past the pain. “Because once I find out the truth…Iwill…kill you.”

Her face pales, and her mask finally slips.

It seems Valentina and I are now at war for another reason, and whatever the reason, it’s enough for her to risk it all by coming here.

“You have to catch me first.” Those are her parting words as she amps up the voltage on the Taser and disappears from my life…again.

FIVE YEARS AGO

I’m alone in this beautiful Sicilian farmhouse, surrounded by hectares of land which are prosperous with olive trees. The views are nothing but a serene green landscape of rolling hills and lush vegetation.

I don’t know who my neighbors are because there are none as far as the eye can see. I’m isolated and secluded. I finally feel at home.

I’ve been here a week.

I’ve slept like the dead for six of those days.

My body and mind were beyond fatigued. Every time I woke, I remembered where I was and why I was here. My soul slipped into self-preservation mode and retreated into the darkness, where I could forget.