Page 37 of With this Ring (Mastered #7)

Over her sobs and protests, the nurse wheeled Sasha from the room.

This time, she barely felt the movement.

Her world had suddenly narrowed to the searing pain in her chest that had nothing to do with her injuries.

Hot tears spilled down her cheeks, but she didn’t bother wiping them away.

“I wish I could be the kind of man who deserved you.”

His words echoed through her mind, devastating her all over again. After everything they’d been through—the gunfight, nearly losing him, her sister’s anger—his words and the aching coldness in his tone was what broke her.

As she was pushed through the waiting area, she caught Hawkeye’s sharp intake of breath at her appearance. Damien stepped forward, concern etching his features, but she couldn’t meet his gaze. Couldn’t bear to see the pity there.

“Sasha…” Hawkeye started.

She shook her head sharply, the movement sending fresh pain through her ribs. The physical hurt was nothing compared to the way her heart was shattering.

“Please, keep moving,” she begged the nurse.

The wheels squeaked against the floor as the nurse guided her toward the elevator. The sound seemed to mock her—an echoing, painful reminder that she was being taken away from Gregorio, the one person she needed most.

The man who’d just pushed her away.

The man she loved.

Stupid , she thought bitterly. So stupid to think we could overcome everything standing between us. Stupid to think he cared for me as much as I care for him.

Back in her room, her mother took one look at her face and rushed forward to crouch in front of her wheelchair. “Oh, honey…”

The sympathy in Rosa’s voice unraveled the last threads of Sasha’s control. A sob tore from her throat as she fell forward into her mother’s arms.

Her father was back, and he moved closer, his usual stoicism replaced by fierce concern. “What happened? Is Gregorio…?”

“He’s pushing me away.” The words came out broken. “Says he doesn’t deserve me.”

Her mother’s arms tightened. “That foolish, noble man.”

“He’s trying to protect everyone.” Her father’s voice was gruff with understanding. “Your sister. You.”

“I don’t need protection.” Sasha swiped angrily at her tears. “I need him.”

The simple truth of those words hung in the air between them.

Her mother smoothed back her hair, the gesture achingly gentle. “Then fight for him.”

Sasha blinked up at her in surprise.

“What?” Rosa’s lips curved. “You think I don’t know what it’s like to love a stubborn man?” She cast a meaningful look at Sasha’s father, who shifted from foot to foot. “Sometimes they need sense knocked into their thick skulls.”

“But Adriana…”

“Your sister will survive.” Her mother’s voice was firm. “You know she’s in the middle of wedding preparations. But you…” She cupped Sasha’s face. “I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you look at him. The way you’ve always looked at him.”

“I love him,” Sasha whispered. Saying the words out loud made them more real, more powerful. “I think I always have.”

Her father cleared his throat. “Then don’t let him push you away because he thinks it’s the right thing to do.” He met her gaze steadily. “Sometimes the right thing…” He cleared his throat again. “It isn’t what’s noble. It’s what’s true.”

Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, but this time they weren’t entirely from pain.

Her mother grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and pressed it into Sasha’s hand. “Now, shall we see about getting you out of this hospital? You have a stubborn man to knock some sense into.”

For the first time since Gregorio’s devastating words, Sasha felt hope flutter in her chest. She wasn’t giving up. Not on him. Not on them.

Not ever.

But even as the thought formed, determination sparked through her grief. She hadn’t survived a gunfight, hadn’t faced down Argentum’s killers, hadn’t risked everything just to let Gregorio’s misplaced nobility tear them apart.

Her mother was right.

If he thought she would just accept this, he didn’t know her at all.

* * * *

What the fuck have I done?

The look on her face…

Jesus Christ.

The rhythmic beeping of the monitors mocked him as he stared at the empty doorway where Sasha had disappeared.

Trying to force away the haunting memory of her stricken features, he squeezed his eyes shut, but the image was burned into his memory—her devastation, the tears she couldn’t hide, the way her shoulders had rolled forward as if he’d physically struck her.

Better this way , he told himself, even as every instinct screamed at him to call her back.

He’d rather she hate him now than watch her destroy her relationship with her family. Than see her caught in the crossfire of his dangerous life. Than attend her funeral because someone from his past decided to use her to get to him.

His side burned, the pain medication doing little to dull the agony. But the physical pain was nothing compared to watching her being wheeled away.

Petal.

She’d come to him for protection, and he’d failed her. Nearly gotten her killed. The memory of her throwing herself between him and danger made his chest constrict. The sound of gunfire still ricocheted in his ears, along with the desperate sound of her voice begging him to stay with her.

The monitors shouted their alarm as his heart rate spiked again.

A nurse rushed in. “Mr. Conti, you need to calm down.”

How could he do that when he’d just destroyed the person who mattered the most to him?

From the moment he’d walked away after their exchange in the janitor’s closet, he’d known that he needed to deny his attraction to Sasha.

A relationship between them was an impossibility.

He was her sister’s ex-husband. A man who lived in shadows, who killed without remorse. Who’d never be able to give her the normal life she deserved.

But knowing that didn’t stop him from aching for her. Didn’t erase the memory of her surrender in his arms, the way she trusted him completely, the spark in her eyes when she challenged him. Didn’t stop the debilitating devastation from crashing through him.

The door opened again, and Damien strode in, his expression grim. “Fuck.” He shook his head. “You’re alive.”

“Clearly.”

“They called a code, and…” He dug a hand into his hair. “Scared the shit out me.”

Except for the time Damien had lost his relationship with Catrina, Gregorio had never seen him this unsettled.

“When we saw the way Sasha was crying, we thought something had happened to you.” He balled his hands into a fist. “Goddamn.”

Gregorio closed his eyes, willing his friend to go away.

When he opened them again, Damien was still there, arms folded, a knowing expression in his eyes.

Beyond pissed, Gregorio waited for the incoming interrogation.

“So what the fuck just happened? Before she got in to see you, she was beside herself with joy. From what Hawkeye said, she stayed with the gurney until she was physically stopped. And then she collapsed. She’d have broken her head open if one of Hawkeye’s guys hadn’t caught her.”

His fucking fault for that, too.

He should have been able to protect her better.

“I’m waiting.”

Damien would know if he was lying. They’d been with each other through the hardest parts of their lives. This was no different. “She deserves someone better than me.”

“What about what she wants? What you want?”

He knew what he wanted. Her beneath him, beside him. As his partner. Calling him Sir. On her knees.

Wearing his ring.

“You’re making a mistake,” Damien said softly.

“I’m protecting her.”

“Are you?” Damien moved closer to the bed. “Because from where I’m standing, you’re breaking both of your hearts for no good reason.”

“She’s my ex’s little sister.”

“And?”

He lifted his hand as much as he could before the pain made him drop it again. “Family. My job.”

“And?” Damien persisted.

“Are you fucking listening to me?”

“Have you asked Sasha what she wants? She chose you. She came to you when she was in danger. She saved your damn life, according to Hawkeye. No one knows how she had the physical strength to do what she did.”

Each word was like a knife between his ribs.

“She’s strong as hell.”

He couldn’t argue with that.

“So tell me again how pushing her away is protecting her.”

Gregorio clenched his jaw against the wave of emotion threatening to overwhelm him. “I can’t be what she needs.”

“No?” Damien asked. “Because it seems to me she needs exactly what you are—someone who’ll fight for her, protect her, love her enough to let her make her own choices.”

The impact of Damien’s words hit him like a physical blow.

“Stop being a damn idiot and think about it,” Damien said, moving toward the door. “Before you lose the best thing that’s ever happened to you.” He looked over his shoulder. “Stop sacrificing yourself before there’s nothing left to give.”

The door closed behind him with a soft click, leaving Gregorio alone with the beeping monitors and the crushing weight of his choices.

What the hell have I done?