Page 47 of Thorns of Silence

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Was it possible to be scared and mad at the same time? I wanted nothing more than to end this, right here and now, and yet he made it abundantly clear he wouldn’t let me go until he got an answer.

And wasn’t that rich, the fact thatIhad to givehiman explanation. He owed it to me, along with a fucking apology. I cried myself to sleep formonthsafter giving birth. He had no idea how hard it was to keep a smile on my face day in and day out, pretending to be thrilled I was back to normal and out of the hospital, when all I thought about was my baby. The baby I never even got to hold.

But my pride was stronger than my anger.

“Why are you always hanging around me?” I asked instead.

His gaze dropped to my lips and a flash of something sinful in them made my heartbeat trip over itself.

“You make my heart beat faster. That’s why,” he answered. The sweetest words spoken with the most indifferent expression on his face. “And my dick wants you. Literally.”

Frustration chafed, grating my skin raw. At myself. At him. Seeing him cut my wounds open all over again, my heart bleeding at his feet, stung more than anything.

My hands clenched, the pain of my knuckles more bearable than the one I felt inside my chest. I’d been drowning in my pain for years, and he wasright here.

“Stop stalking me.”

He smiled lazily. “No.” My brows creased in confusion. He was giving me whiplash. “You only talk to me when I stalk you.”

I scoffed. “That should tell you something.”

“Yes, it does. I’ll wait as long as you need to come to terms with us, but you’ll be mine, Phoenix Romero.” His cruelty severed my oxygen as silence washed over me, warning me. Those were the words he’d given me before, except now, they didn’t make my heart flutter in excitement. They filled me with bitterness. “Mark my words. You. Will. Be. Mine.”

Dante Leone was like a drug. He could feel good, but he was all wrong for me. I would train my heart to resist him. To stop craving him with every breath and every thought.

I lost my hearing when I was a little girl, but I heard the drumming of my own pain as clear as day, tearing me to pieces all over again.

The deafening silence weighed me down. I was drowning in it as much as I was stained with the blood of my bleeding heart, pooling around me like invisible ink.

This storm of feelings and my desire for him made me weak. Vulnerable. Stupid.

So I ensured that my pride prevailed.Never again.He’dneverhurt me again, because I wouldn’t allow it.

“I’ll never be yours. I hate you.”

I turned on my heel and left him. Just like he had abandonedustwo years ago.

NINETEEN

PHOENIX

Sun bounded off the ripples of blue water, the white deck so bright even with sunglasses on that I had to shield my eyes.

I lay next to Athena on the lounge chair beside the small in-deck pool while Raven and Isla enjoyed its cool waters. I tried to focus on Athena’s latest book. It was a modern retelling of the story of Venus and Eros, and the book was so hot I should be melting right on the spot. But I couldn’t focus on my book when all I could feel was Dante’s presence and his eyes on me.

More specifically, his eyes on the white string bikini I was wearing. The dang thing barely concealed my lady parts, but I made sure to use my cover-up whenever I was out of the water.

With Amon and Reina in their own little world, Dante had kept to himself for most of the morning. Until now. His aviator glasses hid most of his face, and his golden skin made my mouth water—as did his white swim trunks that left little to the imagination. Like this, he could pass as either the quintessential billionaire playboy or the highly trained mobster. Take your pick.

He moved confidently and with a grace that would put a panther to shame. I could spot his abs for miles underneath his T-shirt, and my cheeks burned remembering how I’d touched them. I shook my head.

Damn. Him. Damn his perfect body.

It was too much. I pretended to be engrossed in the book, but the truth was that I had yet to read a single page. I shifted on my deck chair, feeling a rush of heat all over that had nothing to do with the sun.

He greeted me, but I pretended not to see him. Damn devil then went out of his way to wave a large hand in front of my face, smiling wildly. God, I wanted to snap at him. I wanted to push him off the yacht and let him… well, not drown per se… but definitely struggle a bit.