Page 25

Unspoken Goodbyes & Deafening Regrets.

PRESENT

H is grey eyes are filled with chaos and passion as he stares down at me. His lips move as if he wants to say something but he can’t. He holds himself back from me and I hate it.

“Just say it,” I whisper, gripping onto his arm. “Tell me.”

“I can’t.” He looks away, avoiding the pain he knows we’re both going to endure.

“Then show me.”

Without another word, he spins me around, pressing me against the glass as he leans into my ear, his hands wandering down to my hips.

“I can’t say it because you don’t believe it,” he says into my ear, his warm breath fanning onto my neck as I part my legs and push my hips back into him. “But I’m going to show you that we belong with each other, Principessa .”

Slipping his fingers beneath the material of my panties, he loops them and tugs, the cloth falling to the floor. As he snakes his hand around me and reaches my clit, he presses himself against me, his cock rubbing against my back, making me feverish for his touch.

“I—”

“Don’t talk,” he commands, slipping a finger inside me. “I want your body to do the talking.”

I do as he asks, parting my legs a little more to give him access. He slides another finger in, eliciting a moan from me, my breath fogging up the glass. I don’t want him to stop touching me, knowing that my body only comes alive with his touch.

If I’m sick, I don’t ever want to get better. I want to stay like this until the end of time…Until the world stops turning and the fire inside the sun dies because that’s what it’ll take for me to stop loving him.

“Does he make you feel like this?” he asks, slipping his fingers out and coating my pussy in my arousal.

I stay quiet, wishing the throbbing between my legs would ease up just enough for me to hear my thoughts, but it doesn’t.

“When you look at him, I want you to think of me.” He presses the tip of his cock inside me as I hold my breath. “I want you to feel every inch of me inside you, imprinted in your mind like a song you sing on repeat, over and over again.”

He pushes in further, stretching me as I back up into him, pressing myself onto him, needy and desperate. He threads his arm through my elbows and pulls back, gripping my upper arm as he fills me up completely.

“I don’t ever want you to forget this feeling. Your nipples hard, pressed up against the glass,” he groans. “Holding your breath as you wait for me to fuck you because you know no one else can give you what you want but me.”

I take in a breath, finally breaking the spell as he thrusts into me hard, pushing my cheek into the glass.

“You will never belong to anyone else.”

Thrust .

“Because Falcon’s Keep is ours, Principessa. ”

Thrust.

“I’ll never let him have you.”

I moan as he takes me against the glass. Gliding his hand up my stomach, his calloused fingers are rough and hard as he grasps my breast.

“I won’t say those three words you’re waiting for…” The head of his cock rubs against the one place that makes me see the galaxy. “Not until you’re ready to hear them.”

I can feel the pressure building up inside me as he slips his hand between my legs, pressing two fingers against my clit, and I buck against it, the sensation becoming too strong. My body rides the wave as he fills me up with his cum.

We stand here panting, with his cock still inside me as I lean back into his embrace. Tonight may not be the first night where I’ve wondered if there was something wrong with me, but it is the first one where I know I’m in the arms of someone who would die for me.

The paper weighs heavy in my hand as I stare at the crumpled edges of the yellow envelope, the creases a stark reminder of what’s going to become of Falcon’s Keep if I sign the agreement. I don’t know what else to do. I’m cornered and caught like a deer in headlights. There’s only one way everyone I love gets out alive and it’s if I play my part, keeping everyone safe from the monster by becoming his wife.

It’s ironic, the deal my father made to keep Falcon’s Keep afloat even after his death. By burdening his children just like he was when he was alive.

Wouldn’t he want a better life for us?

Wouldn’t he want us to be free of this life?

My grip tightens on the envelope as I stomp out of my room and head to Dante’s office. It’s been the same ever since the revelry. He shuts himself in there day in and day out, smoking, probably hoping his lungs will collapse.

I don’t bother knocking as I enter, slapping the documents on his desk. His gaze remains on the oak, not having the balls to face me.

“Is it done?” he asks, taking another drag of his cigar.

“Did you know he had Nino and Santi?”

He remains still, and then his eyes burn through mine, confirming everything I already knew.

“And you said nothing ,” I whisper as my heart shatters at the betrayal and lies from my own blood.

I trust my brothers with my life, as I have done the entire time I’ve been alive…like my father told me to, but now, that trust is buried beneath the deception.

“It was the only way to save Falcon’s Keep.”

“To save the island, or to save the Della Torre name?” I scoff, shaking my head at his excuse.

“Nera—”

“Don’t.”

“I can fix this…” He tries to placate me, but I know better now than to trust what comes out of his mouth. “Marry him, and I’ll share my plan with you.”

“I can’t trust you, Dante.”

Visible hurt flashes in his eyes and he looks away, his jaw clenching rapidly. A beat passes before he speaks again. “When Papà told me about the plan, I was against it.”

I purse my lips, unsure if I want to hear what he has to say.

“I told him to undo it…I begged him to dig us out of the hole he dug.” He leans against his desk with his elbows, placing his head in his hands, and his voice shakes. “I never wanted this fate for you, Nera.”

Tears begin to form, but I fight them back as I swallow the lump in my throat.

“If there was something else I could do, I promise you I would have done it in a heartbeat.” When he looks up at me, there are unshed tears in his eyes as he silently pleads for me to believe him. “I have no choice,” he whispers, his voice barely audible, the words laced with a quiet desperation. “If we remain here under their control, we will never get to live a proper life. If we have him backing our move to the mainland, we can put this island behind us.” His chin trembles and a single tear breaks free, trailing down his cheek as the image of my big brother—so tall, so strong—shatters before my eyes, crumbling into something unrecognizable.

The silence is piercing as the skin on his hands blanches from his grip. I pace around the desk and place my hand on his.

“No more lies.”

He stands and wraps his arms around me, the crushing hug a desperate plea to keep me close and maybe an unspoken goodbye.

“No more lies,” he echoes my words, a promise I hope he keeps because if we are to make it out alive, we need to be able to trust each other.

I lean against the desk as he wipes a tear from his cheek, fidgeting with his rings as he contemplates what to say next.

“Did Rafael know?” I ask, my heart almost skipping a beat at the anticipation of his answer.

His brows furrow, wondering what this has to do with him. “No.”

I nod, relieved as I take out the stack of papers from the envelope and hand them to Dante.

“His terms.”

He flicks through the pages until he comes to the section of terms clearly listed in bullet form, and the remorse in his eyes is replaced with rage. I flinch as he swipes the top of his desk clean, the items clattering onto the floor.

He points to the papers now in a bunch. “This is not what I agreed to.”

“It’s done. He wants the wedding in a week, and I’ve already signed it.”

“Fuck,” he breathes in disbelief.

I feel numb as I gather the papers off the floor, the words on the pages blurring as tears fill my vision. Handing them to Dante, I walk out without another word.