Page 71 of Monsters Wear Crowns (Crowned Monsters Duet #1)

I carried Adela through the storm, my arms locked around her as I rushed down the stairwell. She was too still . Her weight in my arms felt all wrong–too heavy, too limp.

“Stay with me,” I muttered, my voice raw. “Please, baby . ” The warmth of her blood seeped through my shirt, sticky and thick, running between my fingers as I pressed against her wound. But it wouldn’t stop. It just kept coming .

Another heartbreaking sound left her lips. Weak. Barely there. Her head lolled against my chest. Panic knifed through me.

I wouldn’t let her die.

By the time I reached the bottom of the building, headlights cut through the rain. The black SUV skidded to a stop, tires screeching against wet pavement. Kieran threw the door open, his face going pale the second he saw us.

“ Fuck– ” He yanked off his jacket, pressing it against her wound as I climbed in, cradling her against me.

“Drive,” I snapped. “To the safe house. Call Mendez. Now. ”

Kieran didn’t ask questions. The vehicle tore away from the curb, weaving recklessly through the city.

I looked down at her face, noticing her skin was turning too pale. Her breathing, too shallow. I gritted my teeth and pressed my fingers to her cheek. “Adela,” my voice cracked, my control slipping. “Please, baby, open your eyes. ”

Nothing .

A sharp, crushing pressure clamped down on my chest. All the power I’d built, the fear I commanded, the empire I’d created– none of it mattered . Not if she didn’t survive this.

I bent my head, pressing my lips to her forehead. “ I love you. ” The words slipped out, raw and unguarded.

Her fingers twitched.

My heart stopped .

A whisper, so faint I almost didn’t catch it. “…Nightmare.”

A breath of laughter broke from my throat–half-sob, half-prayer.

I buried my face in her damp hair, arms locking around her like I could hold her to this earth.

She was on death’s fucking doorstep but still had the energy for our inside joke.

“Yeah, baby,” I murmured against her temple. “I’m your fucking nightmare.”

And I wasn’t letting her go.

***

ADELA

Everything hurt . A dull, throbbing ache spread through my body, pulling me back from the darkness. My head felt heavy, my limbs sluggish. I was moving–no, I was being carried .

Rafe .

I could feel him. The warmth of his body, the strength of his arms wrapped around me. The rhythmic pounding of his heart against my cheek. I forced my eyes open, but the world was a blur of motion and rain.

His voice cut through my confusion, sharp with desperation. “ Stay with me. Please, baby. ”

I tried to speak, but my lips wouldn’t move.

Everything felt slow , like I was sinking into a deep and endless abyss.

The next time I surfaced, I was in a car, pressed against him.

There were hands on me–Kieran’s, trying to stop the bleeding.

I could hear the urgency in their voices, but I was floating just beyond reach. Then I heard it.

“ I love you. ”

I almost sobbed. I didn’t know if I imagined it. If my brain, deprived of blood and oxygen, was playing some cruel trick on me. But then I felt him–his lips against my forehead, his grip tightening as if willing me to stay. I fought against the weight pulling me under. But…

***

I woke to the sound of rain tapping softly against glass. I wasn’t dead. Thank fuck.

The realization came slowly. The pain was still there, but distant , dulled by whatever drugs were coursing through my veins. Those lovely drugs. I blinked up at the ceiling, recognizing the dim glow of the Orchard House bedroom. Someone moved at my side. I turned my head, and there he was.

Rafe sat in the chair beside the bed, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together, staring at me. He looked wrecked . Dark circles carved beneath his eyes, his jaw locked so tight it looked painful.

“You’re awake.” His voice was rough, like he hadn’t used it in hours.

“Unfortunately,” I rasped.

Relief flashed across his face. He reached for me, his fingers hesitantly brushing my cheek. Like he was afraid he’d hurt me just by his touch. “You scared the shit out of me,” he muttered.

I swallowed. “You scare the shit out of me all the time. ”

A small, humorless laugh left him. “Fair.”

For a moment, we just stared at each other. Then I asked the question that had been lingering in the back of my mind since that rooftop. “What happens now?”

Rafe’s expression darkened. “Moreau’s gone. His empire will inevitably collapse. There’ll be fallout, but I’ll handle it.”

“That’s not what I meant. ”

He exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through his hair like he was trying to pull the storm out of his skull. “You want me to say I’ll walk away? That I’ll leave you the fuck alone?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

He leaned in, forearms braced against the mattress, his face so close I could feel the heat of his breath. His voice dropped, low and rough. “That’s not gonna happen, little doe. I can’t unlove you. I can’t pretend you didn’t crawl under my skin and brand yourself into every fucking part of me.”

He paused, jaw tight, his eyes burning with something fierce.

“You stayed with me. After everything I did. After I broke something sacred in you.” His hand curled into the sheets like he was holding himself back.

“And still, you gave me your heart like it wasn’t the most dangerous thing I could ever touch.

You made me feel human. You gave me something to lose. ”

His voice cracked just slightly, and he let out a shaky breath. “That’s why I’ll do the work. I’ll face my demons. I’ll fucking drag them to therapy if I have to. Because I don’t want to be a monster in your eyes anymore.”

My jaw dropped. A startled, incredulous laugh bubbled out of me. “You? Therapy?”

He smiled, that dimple appearing on his cheek. “I love you, Adela. Of course, I will.”

My throat tightened. Part of me wanted him to walk away from me for good. But the other part...it couldn’t see a life without him. I’d never be free of him. I didn’t want to be.

Rafe had carved himself into my soul. And monsters didn’t let go of what they claimed. I reached up, curled my fingers in the collar of his shirt, and pulled him down until his forehead rested against mine.

“I know,” I whispered, melting under his icy gaze. “I love you, too.”

His hands came up, framing my face. “I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. ”

I shut my eyes, butterflies wracking my chest at those words. “I’m glad for that.”

Outside, the rain kept falling. The city still belonged to us.

And when he kissed me, I felt like I truly had survived the clutches of death and was saved.

Not by an angel, but by the devil. Because loving him wouldn’t be all sunshine and rainbows.

I knew that. There would be enemies and trouble at many turns in life.

He was one of the most prolific criminals in New York City.

And he was mine.

***

The city spread before us, bathed in gold, rising as the sun melted into the horizon. The rooftop cocktail lounge was quiet at this hour, private. It was just us and the sky, a perfect ending to the war we had survived.

I took a sip of my drink, the crisp burn of whiskey warming my throat.

Rafe sat beside me, his jacket draped over the back of his chair, his black shirt sleeves rolled up, the top two buttons undone.

He looked like sin and sovereignty, power lounging on a throne of leather and steel.

I grinned to myself, standing to walk over to our ledge.

We had made good memories here. Our first real meeting.

The night we tangled in danger, when I let him get just close enough to ruin me.

It was fitting that we had returned now that we had finally won.

He joined me, leaning his elbows on the stone.

“This is where you stole my soul,” I said quietly, a soft breeze blowing my hair back.

He smiled, glancing down over the drop where he laid me out. “This is where you stole mine.”

I couldn’t help but nudge closer, nestling under an arm.

He lifted his glass, studying the amber liquid before smirking. “Since Moreau is gone, I’ve absorbed several of his clients.”

I arched a brow. “So the empire expands? ”

He hummed, swirling his drink. “A necessary evolution. But I prefer the term union .” His gaze flicked to mine. “Your empire. Mine. No lines drawn between us.”

There was a time when I would have scoffed at that. I had built Sinclair Solutions from where my father left off and clawed my way to the top without help, without anyone to lean on. But now, with Rafe sitting beside me, the thought of ruling together didn’t feel like losing myself.

It felt inevitable.

A slow smile spread across my lips. “A union.”

His smirk deepened. “A formidable one.”

I leaned back, drinking him in, my Rafe–the Dark Monster I had feared, fought, and, in the end, chosen. He looked relaxed, but I knew the steel beneath his composure, the darkness that lurked just beneath his devotion to me. I had fallen in love with every part of him.

He reached for my hand, threading his fingers through mine. The sun’s last light turned his eyes into molten gold. “I’ve never committed to a woman before you,” he said, voice rough, sincere. “I’ve never loved a woman before you.”

I swallowed, my pulse skipping.

He lifted my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles, then lowered it to the inside of my wrist. His voice softened, dropping into something close to a prayer. “But you…” His lips hovered over my palm. “You’re everything . I love you more than I ever thought myself capable.”

I felt my heart ache .

And then he was shifting, leaning in, his mouth brushing against mine in slow, teasing strokes. “Marry me,” he murmured between kisses.

I inhaled sharply, pulling back just enough to look into his eyes, searching for hesitation, for doubt. There was none. Just certainty. Possession. Love. A smile broke free, warmth curling through me like a flame. “I’ll happily be Adela Sinclair-Vaughan . ”

Rafe laughed, genuine and victorious, before capturing my mouth in a deep, claiming kiss. I melted into him, into the taste of whiskey and devotion, the promise of forever written in the way he held me.

When we finally pulled apart, I traced my fingers along his jaw, tilting my head. “I’m grateful you were the winning monster in the end.”

He grinned, dark and wicked. “And the crown looks particularly good on me, doesn’t it?”

I let out a soft, amused hum. “It does.”

He exhaled, pressing his forehead against mine. “I look forward to ruling the city with my queen.”

I smiled against his lips. “As you should be.”

The city belonged to us. And together, we would reign. Even if it were through money coated in violence and blood.