Page 58 of My Ghost

Sheer terror floods me, and I let out a strangled, panicked sob.

His grip tightens around my throat, not enough to cut the air off, but enough to remind me how easily he could crush it if he wanted to.

“Let me go, Matteo!”My voice trembles with fear, but it only makes something in his gaze burn hotter, darker.

“You’re not leaving me, little ghost,” he says, his tone low and final.“Not unless I say so.Do you understand me?You don’t get to walk out, not from me, not ever.”

“You’re insane!”I shout in despair, shoving against his chest.“You don’t own me!”

His laugh is humorless and filled with something almost unhinged as it slithers down my neck like a living thing.“Don’t I?I’ve been watching you, every second of every day.Do you know what it’s like to be this close to losing my mind because of you?You smile, and it’s like you’re mocking me.You walk past me, and I want to pin you to the wall solely to make you look at me.You’ve been driving me out of my goddamn mind, Erin.And you know it.”

I am frozen on the spot, my chest heaving.

“Matteo—” I start, but he cuts me off.

“You think I can just let you go?”he hisses, his breath hot against my ear.“I can’t sleep, I can’t focus.You’ve infected every part of me, and I’m done pretending I can hold back.I don’t even know what I’ll do if you keep pushing me.You’re driving me to insanity.”

I try to turn my face away, but his hand is on my jaw now, turning it back toward him, forcing me to see the darkness in his eyes.It’s not just anger, it’s hunger, possession…and unfettered madness.

“You’re never leaving me,” he murmurs, his voice a low and rough whisper.“Not while I still breathe.”

With that, he drags me down the hallway, unyielding as I struggle against his grip.I thrash and push against him, but he doesn’t let go.We crash into the bedroom, his grasp still on me.He shoves me gently but firmly toward the bed.I take a step back, ready to run, but before I can make a move, he is on me.

“Matteo!Stop!You can’t just—”

“Can’t I?”His voice cracks with a mix of rage and determination.“You think I care about lines anymore?About rules?You’re mine, Erin.And if I have to keep you here to make you see that, I will.”

He fists the fabric of my dress, yanking me closer.I hear the faint tear of fabric.

“I— Matteo, let go!”I push at his shoulders, but he is relentless and the strength in him both terrifies and unnerves me.

Then, with one hard pull from his hand, the dress rips at the seam, making me fall backward on the bed.

Chapter Thirty-One

Matteo

I stormed out of the penthouse to breathe, to claw back some semblance of control before I did something I couldn’t take back.Again.Because that bridge, I already crossed it yesterday.But no more.She deserves to be pursued gently, romantically and tenderly like the queen she is.And even if it’ll kill me, gentle and slow is what she’ll get.I’ll get her flowers and jewels if that’s what she wants.I’ll burn the world if it’ll make her gorgeous eyes light up.I’ll fucking crawl over glowing embers if that’ll make herseeme.The only thing I can’t give her is her freedom.

For half an hour, I prowled the building, stalking down the twenty flights of stairs to the lobby and pacing the marble floors like a caged animal, shoving the rage back down my throat.Reminding myself I wasn’t just a blood-soaked enforcer anymore.I was supposed to be better now.For her.

And Ihadfucking calmed down, goddamnit.

But the second I walked back in and felt the cold steel kiss my throat, every thread of control snapped at once.The sight of my Ghost standing there, holding that knife to my throat, tore something open inside me.The monster.The part of me that bleeds and kills for the Mafia, that smiles while breaking men’s bones, that has violence running through its veins like second nature.That part of me roared awake and there was no stopping it.

She wanted to leave me?Over my fucking dead body.

I laughed like a lunatic because the moment that blade touched me, I felt alive.It was like she had given me permission to become what I really am.And I saw her fear, her eyes widening when she realized I wasn’t afraid, that I’d never be afraid of her.

By the time I shove her into the bedroom, I’m beyond any sane thought.Beyond any reason.All I can think is that she tried to escape, that she’d rather face me with a knife than stay.And that’s something I can’t allow, but I’ll make her understand.She doesn’t understand that she’s already ruined me, burned me alive from the inside out.She owns me in ways my mind can’t comprehend.

My breath comes out harsh and ragged, the anger twisting into something hotter, darker, as I look at her sprawled form on the bed.The wild terror and defiance in her eyes makes my blood boil and my pulse race.She doesn’t get it, she may struggle and resist me, but the fight only makes something savage rise in me.Her resistance only makes me worse, only makes me need her more.

My body follows hers on the bed, caging her in, my knees digging into the mattress on either side of her hips.She thrashes, her nails scraping at my arms, but I catch her wrists and pin them above her head while my other hand wraps around her throat, reveling in the beat of her pulse thrumming against my palm.My breath comes out in hot, ragged pants against her lips.

She doesn’t know what she does to me.She doesn’t know how close I am to losing everything—my mind, my control, my soul.

Her eyes burn into mine, furious, terrified, and defiant all at once, and I swear I’m drowning in them.It’s not only anger that claws at me, it’s need, raw and brutal.