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“No,” she spits. “But I wasn’t exactly thinking straight after finding out the club I worked in has burned to the ground along with the man who hired me in it.

” Jordyn’s eyes flash with renewed rage when I don’t say anything.

“It was you, wasn’t it. You burned it down like you said you would.

All because I didn’t listen to you, and now Rocco is dead. ”

I offer a slow shrug, my tone flat. “Faulty gas line. That’s what the news said, didn’t it?” She stares at me, breathing hard, like she’s trying to make sense of the man standing in front of her. The man who kissed her like she was oxygen and now speaks like he’s nothing but smoke.

“A gas leak,” she repeats, voice flat. “That’s what we’re going with?”

I shrug, cool and detached. “Seems plausible. Happens all the time.”

Jordyn shakes her head and takes a step back, her eyes still on mine.

“You really did it,” she whispers, more to herself than to me. “You actually burned it down. With Rocco still inside.”

My silence is its own answer.

Her expression fractures. “Jesus…”

I say nothing. Because denial now would insult her intelligence.

“You said you would... but I didn’t think—” She breaks off, lips parting, as if the air’s been knocked from her lungs. “I thought you were bluffing. I thought you were angry, and—” She shakes her head like she’s trying to wake herself up. Like something’s clicking into place.

“Who are you?” she breathes. “What kind of man says something like that and then actually goes through with it?”

My jaw flexes when I press my molars together. “Exactly the kind of man I told you I was,” I assert flatly.

Her throat moves as she swallows hard.

“You’re not even sorry, are you?” she asks. “You don’t even care.”

“I care,” I say quietly. “Just not about him.”

“You had me blacklisted, too, didn’t you?

” Jordyn questions, blue eyes narrowing.

“I’ve spent the last two days applying for jobs, but no one will hire me despite there being vacancies.

They’re all interested, until they hear my name and just like that—” she clicks her fingers.

“all of a sudden, I’m inexperienced or the position is filled.

No one will hire me. Not a bar, not a restaurant, not even a fucking gelato stand , Ares. ”

I don’t answer because we both know the truth that hangs heavy between us. I did it. All it took was one whisper from me, and she’s blacklisted. Anyone stupid enough to give her a shot gets buried next to the last guy who crossed me.

Her chest rises and falls rapidly as she steps closer, anger radiating off her in palpable waves.

Her eyes blaze with a fire that matches the storm in her voice.

She lets out a bitter, disbelieving laugh that echoes through the room.

“Unbelievable. You really did it. You’ve ensured that no one will hire me.

” My silence remains unbroken, a wall she can't penetrate.

“Why?” she demands, her voice quivering now, the cracks of emotion evident. “Because I didn’t follow your rules? Because you wanted to show me the power of Ares Russo?”

I move closer, until the heat of her fury is nearly tangible, like standing too close to a roaring fire. “I did it to keep you safe,” I murmur, the words falling like stones between us.

She shoves me in the chest, not with force, but enough to make her point clear.

“Bullshit. You did it because, as always, you wanted to be the one in control, and I didn’t give it to you.

I didn’t listen and took it away from you, and that pissed you off, because God forbid anyone disobey a Russo, right? ”

Her words cut deeper than I expected. Slicing straight through my defences. Because she’s not entirely wrong.

“I warned you, Jordyn. Countless times, I showed you what my world looks like,” I grind out, trying to maintain my composure. “And as you said, you chose not to listen and walked into it anyway.”

“I had to,” she fires back, her voice steely with conviction. “Because you’ve made damn sure I can’t exist outside of it.”

The silence that follows is deafening, a void filled with unspoken words and unresolved tension.

And for the first time since she stormed in, I have no retort, no justification.

“What is it you want from me, Ares?” she questions, her tone a mix of desperation and defiance. “You refuse to let me get close to you. Then you kiss me, shut down, and push me away. And when I do as you tell me to and try to move on, you make it impossible for me to do so.”

Every fibre of my being screams to pull her close, to kiss her until neither of us can breathe, but I swallow the urge, locking it away.

“You told me to live my little fantasy without you in it.” Her words tumble out, soft but jagged, slicing through the silence. “So, I’m doing just that, but once again, you made sure that I couldn’t.”

“You don’t even care what that means for me, do you?” she snaps. “I can’t work. I can’t earn to save and get the hell out of here. You’ve backed me into a corner like I’m one of your... assets .”

I arch a brow, slow and controlled. “If you were one of my assets, bambina, You wouldn’t need a job. You’d already have a car, a condo of your own, and a new last name by now.”

That throws her.

But only for a second.

She recovers fast and steps closer, too fucking close.

“I already told you, Bestia, I’m not built for a kept life,” she murmurs, her chest brushing mine.

That word.

Bestia. Beast.

Even though it’s not the first time she’s called me that, it still lands like a blow I don’t see coming.

She says it softly, but it’s not tenderness, it’s a reminder. A name spoken like a curse and a truth all at once.

Her breath is warm against my jaw. I can feel every syllable echoing down to my bones.

“I don’t just want to be someone’s possession,” she breathes. “Something fragile that’s tucked away, polished, protected, admired from afar, but never touched.” Her hand lifts again, soft fingers skimming over the buttons of my shirt, slow and deliberate.

“I want…” she breathes, her lips graze my chin, just a whisper of skin, but it roars through me like wildfire. Her other hand drifts down, knuckles brushing the hem of my belt.

I catch her wrist before she can go lower, and I don’t let go.

Her head tilts up, lips parted just enough for my gaze to drop to them without meaning to. I clench my jaw and force it back up.

“Jordyn.” Her name rasps out of me, rougher than I intend. I catch her jaw in my hand, tilting her face up to mine, holding her there like I’m trying to remember the feel of her before I lose control completely.

“You don’t know what you want, bambina,” I murmur, voice low and deliberate. My thumb drags over her bottom lip, slow and possessive.

“And as much as I’d love to pin you against that wall and teach you what it really means to play with fire…” I lean in, just enough for her breath to catch, “…you’re not ready for the kind of heat I’d bring.”

I pause, let the weight of it settle in the air between us. “Do you understand?”

She doesn’t blink. Doesn’t back down. Instead, her eyes lock on mine, and then her lips part. She leans in, slow as sin, and presses a soft kiss to the pad of my thumb, and she licks it. Her tongue drags along the curve, warm and wet, and then she sucks it into her mouth like a goddamn promise.

Fuck . My entire body goes still. Heat flares under my skin, sharp and sudden, and I feel it, everywhere .

She releases me with a breathy pop, eyes gleaming with challenge.

“I’m not afraid of playing with fire, bestia ,” she whispers. “You’ll learn that soon enough.”

Something splits open in my chest.

I curl my fingers around her throat, not tight, not rough, but firm . I can hear her gasp, her pulse flutters against my palm like a live wire. Without a word, I walk her backwards.

Step by step, until her spine hits the wall with a soft thud.

I lean in close, mouth brushing her ear, my breath a warning.

“I’m not built for games, bambina,” I murmur, voice dark and steady. “You keep pushing me... and you’ll learn that real fast.”

Jordyn’s breath hitches, but she doesn’t move, and neither do I. Because if I so much as breathe wrong, I’m going to lose every ounce of control I have left.

“And if you ever storm into a place with my name on it again like you own the fucking right… I won’t be so lenient next time. Capisce?”

When I draw back, I expect to see some form of fear in her eyes, but do you know what I find staring back at me? Defiance .

Fucking Christ. This girl is going to be the death of me.