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“What was that?”
“I—love him,” she says through coughs.
He starts to laugh maniacally, utterly out of control, and just before I can close the space between us he rears back and punches her in the face three times. I run toward him with my knife, not even thinking, and sink it into the space between his ribs—right on his side, then pull it out. He will fucking die before he ever hurts her again.
“Don’t fucking touch her again.” I grit out as I throw him on the ground. “Or I’ll kill you, Leonardo.”
His white long-sleeved shirt begins to soak with blood, a lot of it, and Camilla screams. She looks between us, her brows furrowed in either confusion or concern—I hope it’s not the latter—and then her hands come to his wound to pressure on it. My chest caves in at the sight. She’s saving him.
“What are you doing, Camilla?”
“You can’t just kill him!”
My eyes tear up. “Don’t you want to be together?”
Leonardo laughs even through the pain. “She will never be yours, Pavlov. I will own her until the day I die, and that day is not today.” Then he stares at her. “Tell him, Cam.” The nickname is revolting. “Tell him you’re done! Or, so help me God, I will make sure he fucking dies for stabbing me. I will tell our fathers and they will retaliate. I swear, I’ll do it.”
Camilla begins to sob, ugly sounds ripping from her chest, and she looks up at me with a tremble in her lower lip. “I’m sorry,” she tells me. “We’re done, Nik. It will never be us. It canneverbe us.”
“Stop, Camilla.” I clutch at my chest, the pain of her words bringing me to my knees as I crawl toward her. “Please, princess, don’t do this.”
“We are done, Nikolai,” she growls, hurting me further. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”
“Why do you care what he says? I can handle it!” I grab her face forcefully and she tries to push me away, getting blood all over my shirt from her hands. “He’s no one to you.”
“I won’t let you die.” She lifts her chin, and I know in my heart we’re done. Because she’s stubborn, and she won’t relent. “So we’re done.”
“But I love you.” My lip wobbles, and I have to breathe in to get it under control. My tears, though? Those won’t stop, and when I look at Leonardo, clutching his wound, he has a smile on his face. “Please.”
Camilla pulls out her phone and calls 911, giving them details while I try to process what the fuck just happened. If I would’ve just turned around at the sight of him, if I wouldn’t have stabbed him, if I’d let him hurt her, she wouldn’t be leaving me. How fucked is that? I couldn’t have done any of that if I wanted to. And she knows that. Which is why it’s so easy for her to make this decision. I made it easy for him to manipulate her, and now I hate myself for it. If only I’d been able to control myself, none of this would be happening, but I have no self-control when it comes to Leonardo Colombo. Only hate.
“Goodbye, baby,” she whispers. “Now get out of here before the ambulance gets here.”
I grab the back of her head and give her a kiss on the cheek, then let out a scream that scares her. It’s more of a cross between a growl and a howl, a sound full of the pain I’m feeling—the heartbreak. I’m in love with this girl, and she wants to leave me like I’m nothing. I can handle the backlash, the war if needed. Even if it pisses my father off, he wouldn’t allow the disrespect. He would retaliate. I can’t believe she’s doing this. We were supposed to be forever.
She’s everything to me.
Weareeverything.
Camilla is wearing a stunning green slip dress with black high heels. Her dark, brown hair is curled down her back, and her makeup is light today. She is absolutely breathtaking. My chest is tight as I forget how to breathe, and she gives me a knowing smirk. The little minx knows exactly what she’s doing to me.
We walk through the spacious room, her gazing at beautiful photographs and me gazing at her. I brought her to this photography auction since she asked me to take her to do something I love before going to her Swan Lake recital soon. She got the part she wanted, themainpart, and things are just atinybit tense between her and Annie. Camilla has been hiding out because of it, not seeing her friends over it. Oh, well. It just means I’ve had her to myself more than usual, and I’m okay with that.
“Do you like it?” I ask her, showing her a landscape of the beach, which is mine.
Camilla gasps when she sees my name at the bottom. “Nik?” she breathes. “I didn’t know your pictures would be here!”
“How about this one?”
I direct her to a portrait of her in a black outfit, tutu and all, dancing at the audition. It’s in black and white, which I deemed fitting for the part she’s playing. Looking back at her, she’s entranced, her mouth wide open with a tearful expression.
“Is this from my audition?” she asks, running her fingers over the picture. “Wow, Nik. This is incredible.”
I huff, but I don’t know if it’s in agreement or not. All I know is that she’s magnificent, so the portrait must be as well. “Thank you, princess.”
We look around for a while longer, lingering more on my portraits at Camilla’s insistence, and eventually return to the car. I help her in, closing the door behind her, then go around to my side.
It’s been a long time since my heart felt so full, since I could be this vulnerable with another person. Honestly, it’s never even happened before with anyone other than her. It’s scary the way I love her, like she’s the last drop of blood pumping from my heart and I can’t survive without her.
