Page 230 of Ruin Me With Lies

“So…” I reach up and catch her chin, tilt her face toward me.Needingthose pretty eyes on me.“Catch me up.You two patched things up?Or is she still our enemy?”

“Somewhere in between.”A careless shrug.“I guess you could say there are two queens and one crown.I don’t want it.But if she pushes me, I might be forced to take it.”A mischievous glint flickers in her eyes.“Why, you want peace?”

I’m not here for her family drama right now.That shit’s enraging.

“Soraya…” I hook two fingers into the waistband of her shorts and pull her closer.Her breath catches.“Tell me whatyouwant.Because I know whatIwant.I want you.Needyou.Everything’s so fucking dull without you.To find out you’ve beenhere, thisclose, all this time...”

Her lips curl into a mischievous smile.“It’s not my fault you took so long to come home.What kind of king doesn’t know who’s planting roots in his city?”

“Well, you made damn sure it’d be impossible for me to find that out, didn’t you?”

A wicked glimmer dances in her eyes.“Don’t you just love howgoodI am at hiding?”

“No.No, I fucking don’t.It’s been the bane of my existence ever since we met.”I slide a hand around her waist, tracing the sliver of bare skin between her top and her shorts.Every nerve in my body jolts to life at the contact, her closeness, her heat.“Tell me.What do you want?”

Her breath is controlled, but heavy.“Will you do anything I want right now?”

I lean in and brush my lips against her bare shoulder.Fuck, she smells good.There are no adequate words to describe her intoxicating scent, nothing to compare it to.She just smells…like her.Soraya.“Hmm-mhm.”

“Anything?”

I nip at her skin.“Two minutes.Carte blanche.Whatever you ask for in the next two minutes, I’ll agree to.No reneging.No loopholes.”

“Okay…” Her lips twist to the side as she considers.

Take the bait, little queen.Ask for whatIwant.Ask me to marry you.

“Alright,” she says.“I want three things.First: an oath.Swear to me you’ll never leave me again.No matter what.No matter how much sense it makes.Even if someone threatens to kill me unless you leave, swear you’ll let me die by your side, rather than live without you.Swear to me, Stefano.”

Not sure I’m on board with the part about her dying, but a deal’s a deal.“I swear.”

Ask me to marry you.

“Second...”She dips her chin, eyes gleaming.“Kneel for me.”

Oh, that’s easy.No hesitation, I drop to one knee.

Surprise flickers across her face at how quickly I comply, then she giggles.Soft and sweet.The prettiest sound in existence.“Oh my god, you’re such a simp.”

“Am I supposed to feel shame about that?”

“Considering your giant ego?Maybe,” she says, her smile nervous.“I was expecting you to tell me to fuck off.”

A scoff leaves me.“I’d kneel for you a million times over, little queen.Fuck ego.I’ll never be ashamed of loving you.Now, what’s number three?”

For fuck’s sake, ask me to marry you.

“Third...”She traces her fingertips along my jawline.“Ask me…ask me to marry you.”

It takes everything in me not to flash a full-blown, shit-eating grin.Who the hell could ever convince me this woman wasn’tmade for me?That we weren’t meant to crash into each other, tear each other apart, and still fall headfirst?That sheisn’tthe love of my life?

I must’ve gone quiet too long, because she bites her lip, uncertainty flickering in her eyes.Her voice wavers as she adds, “Ask me to marry you so you can keep your first promise.Because I’ve realized Mom was right about our separation, and I don’t want that woman to ever be right about anything involving you ever again.I don’t care if it’s to my own detriment.Ask me to marry you, Stefano.Please.”

I take her hands in mine.“I’ll ask you to marry me, little queen.But I’ll be asking you becauseI’m in love with you.I’ll ask you because life no longer feels right without you.I’ll ask because you own every part of me.I’ll ask because you are the beginning of living for me.I’ll ask because I don’t want to spend another moment without you.”

I press a kiss to her ring finger.“When I ask, don’t say yes because you’re afraid I’ll leave.Don’t say yes just to stick it to JB.Say yes becauseyou love me.Say yes because youwantto be married to me.Because you truly believe I’m the man for you.”

I pause, searching her eyes.Her guard’s still up.But the way she’s worrying her lip...the slight tremble in her hands...it tells me enough.“Can I trust you to say no if your yes won’t be for the right reasons?”