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Her concern for him over her own well-being grated my nerves, a corrosive blend of jealousy and resentment coursing through my veins. She positioned herself away from me on the bed.
Her gaze shifted downward, and a perplexed frown etched across her features as she realized she was only clad in my sweatshirt. "Did you take my clothes off?" she questioned with anger.
I met her accusatory gaze with an unapologetic grin, my demeanor nonchalant. “It’s nothing I haven't seen before," I retorted. My response seemed to intensify her irritation, and she shot me a glare that could have melted steel.
"What happened? Why am I here?" she demanded, trying to change the topic.
"You fainted at the sight of your beloved Simon, all bloodied up," I replied, not disclosing my unhinged method of bringing her into my space. Her gaze, sharp as knives, bore into me. She crawled over the bed until her face was inches from mine.
"Let's get one thing straight," she began, her voice tight with tension, her finger pointing wildly at me. "I wasn't the one who cheated. I wasn't the one who lied about my work. And I sure as hell am not the one expecting a baby from someone else." She paused, sucking in a ragged breath before continuing. "You hadno right to do what you did. I get to date other people, to move on. So, go be with your soon-to-be family. My life has no room for a mobster and a cheat."
"I told you your sister drugged me. I told you she wanted to separate us. How can you still believe her lies?" I whispered.
"Oh, I don't know," she retorted with sarcasm. "Maybe because you painted yourself as an entrepreneur, only for me to find out you're some underground king. And who opened my eyes? Sweet, loving Elena." The bitterness in her tone was apparent.
I gripped her face with both hands, my thumbs tracing the lines of her cheeks. "Yes, I run a damn mafia. I kept it from you, and I still intend to keep you as far away from it as possible. But the only reason Elena found out is that she was sleeping with one of my men," I confessed, my lips grazing her forehead. When she attempted to pull away, I tightened my grip, not allowing her to escape me.
"Nathan, the guy who took you to that event. Your sister is carrying his baby. She disappeared around the same time you did," I revealed, planting kisses all over her face, trying to show her how much I loved her. "I swear by my love for you that I didn't so much as breathe in her direction. She's a miserable, pathetic woman hell-bent on breaking you. She just wants to hurt you."
Her head shook back and forth, a silent plea for the nightmare to end. The confusion in her eyes cut deep into me. She didn't know what to believe. The tears running down her cheeks were tearing me apart. I desperately wanted her to believe me.
I approached the bedside table, my movements deliberate as I opened a drawer from the nearby cabinet. I pulled out a drug report I'd had done a few days after the incident.
The sedative Elena used was so strong that traces of it were still found in my system even five days after she gave it to me. Handing it over, I watched as her eyes squinted, absorbing the damning details etched across the paper. The room felt tighter as her eyes skimmed the words, and I could sense that she was losing her grip on whatever control she had left.
"Look," I said, urgency laced in my tone, "there was a potent drug coursing through my veins that day. It knocked me out cold.”
Her fingers clutched that piece of paper as if it could erase the ugly truth. I watched as her knuckles turned a sickly shade of white, and her chest heaved. The emotions she'd been bottling up spilled out like a busted dam. Sobs ripped through her, the kind that shakes a person to their core. Each gasp for air wrecked me.
"Even if that was the truth, it doesn't erase that you are a criminal, Adrik," she whimpered, her words hanging in the air like an unspoken sentence. "You know what happened to my parents and what I had to face after their death. How could you get me attached to you?" Her watery laughter echoed, devoid of humor.
"You married me fully aware that you represented everything I hate. You hid yourself from me. If you lied about this, what else have you lied about? When am I going to discover yet another lie?" She got up from the bed and moved away from me, her nostrils flaring in anger.
I knelt in front of her, desperation pushing me to clutch her knees. I didn't care how pathetic it made me look; I was willing to pray to her and worship her if it meant she would forgive me. Kneeling at her feet was nothing compared to the void thatwould consume me without her. "I promise you there is no other lie. I promise you I didn't touch her," I begged.
She scoffed, her doubt etched on her face. "It's not enough. Even if it was true. You and I are too different," she declared, squatting down to meet me at eye level. It was her turn to hold my face, turning my gaze into hers. "You kill innocent people, Adrik. You delve into god knows what. Drugs? Weapons? I can't hurt a fly. I would rather be poor than rich with blood money." She stared into my eyes, her grip on my face tightening. "Please understand, we are not compatible."
"I do not kill innocent people,Milaya. Never have I killed an innocent person. All the people I ended knew the consequences of playing with me and got several warnings beforehand," I asserted.
She flinched, but I pressed on, determined to lay bare the harsh truths between us. "Yes, I sell illegal weapons and drugs. Yes, I have an underground empire. But it will never so much as touch you."
She screeched in disbelief. "You don't kill innocent people? And Simon? You almost mauled him to death because of a simple kiss."
"Simon isn't innocent, Luna," I barked. "Anyone who tries to take my place in your life is not innocent."
"I can't believe you," she yelled before stumbling back, the realization of our twisted reality hitting her like a freight train. "Luna, there is no escaping me. The faster you work on believing me, the better," I snarled.
I saw her dart to the other side of the room, her hand grasping the gun I kept on the bedside table. She pointed it at me while commanding, "Stay back."
But I didn't. I moved towards her, deliberately closing the distance until the gun pressed against my head. "Shoot me, Luna. Death by your hands will be sweet."
"Just leave me alone," she begged..
"Never," I growled, pressing my head deeper into the gun. "Come on. Shoot me, Luna. Do it."
Her fingers clamped down on the gun, but her hold on it was trembling. She traced the trigger with a hesitant finger, the decision heavy in the air. Impossibly tightening her grip, she shut her eyes forcefully, shutting out the world, or perhaps preparing for what came next. Her finger pulled the trigger, and the gunshot ripped through the room.
CHAPTER 11
