Page 160 of Only for Him

“Oh, but you did,” I say, advancing on her trembling form. Wanting so badly to grab her, force her to be still until her only movements are in response to mine, writhing with the pleasure only I can give her. “You begged for it.”

“You turned me into this.” Each word lands like a fist. Heat flares up my spine and I know she’s goading me. “You made me a murderer.”

“You’ve only ever done what needed to be done,” I say, voice rising with hers. “What youwantedto do. You always had a way out. If you remember, you very nearly used it.”

She laughs. It’s ugly, jagged. “You’re poison, Roman. I will never forgive you for this. Never.”

The words slice clean through me.I’mpoison? She’s the one whose been slowly fucking killing me. Not my body, but my whole fucking self and the man I’ve always known myself to be.

“Forgive?” I snarl. “The only person who needs forgiving isyou.And I’ve already done that. You should be grateful I gave you the chance to finish it yourself, and you should be grateful that I stepped in when you couldn’t.”

I force my voice to steady. I should have expected this. She’s in shock. It’s understandable. She couldn’t have known who was waiting for her.

“Wasn’t this all for Serena?” I say, patient for her guilt to subside and reason to take over. “Didn’t you make her promises? I thought you’d keep those, even when you clearly couldn’t keep your promises to me.”

She’s crying now, silent tears, but her chin doesn’t drop. I can’t fucking stand her tears.

This isn’t what’s supposed to be happening right now.

She’s supposed to finally fucking see what I can do for her.

What Iwilldo for her.

Everything and anything. More than anyone else could.

“You think this makes you innocent?” I say. “You’ve been with me every step. You can’t draw the line here. It’s too late. You’re in this as deep as I am.”

She stares at me, eyes hollow. “You think that’s comforting? That we’re the same?”

“I think you needed this.” I move closer. “I think you needed someone to break you open, so you can finally see what you are.”

“No. No.” She shakes her head, desperate. “You don’t get to make me your accomplice and then tell me it’s who I was all along. I’m still Detective Cantiano.” Her voice cracks. “I’m not you.”

I smile, tight. “You’re right about that, little viper. You aren’t me. You’re better. Smarter. More ruthless, no matter how much you want to pretend otherwise.”

I reach for her, but she backs against the wall, palms up. “Don’t. Don’t you dare touchme.”

She won’t let me touch her because she knows, as soon as I do, she’ll remember. This attraction between us was never physical. It’s always been our souls licking up against each other and braided too tightly to unwind.

And fuck it. At this point, if she doesn’t see that, it doesn’t even matter.

I’m going to keep her, whether she likes it or not.

Because she’s fucking mine. I let her in, and she doesn’t get to leave now.

I’ll chain her to my side if I need to. I’ll hold her down until she can’t fight her way out.

She pulls her phone from her pocket, brandishes it like a cross. “I could call it in right now. You murdered a cop.”

“He raped and murdered your sister. He murdered you a hundred times over with each day he stayed alive.”

“Yes,” she says, thumb hovering over the screen. “But I’m not the person you’ve imagined me to be, just so you can feel less alone.I’m not going to bury every part of myself just to survive a world that never wanted me.”

The pain is sharp, immediate. I close the distance quickly.

“You’ll do what I tell you, because you know what happens if you don’t.” My hand finds her wrist. “You’re mine. You have always been mine.”

I’m close enough to smell her clean scent. She smells like she’s been gone too long already.