I observe as she hesitates before raising her hand and brushing her fingertips over my bearded cheek.
“It made sense to me.”
I give a slight nod of understanding before losing eye contact and lowering my head.
“You're not pissed, are you?”
My brows furrow in perplexity before I glance at her and shake my head once.
“Fuck no.”
I place my palms on the small of her waist, lifting her effortlessly before lowering her onto the post and she gazes down at me. As I bridge the small gap, I squeeze through her thighs, and she throws her arms over my shoulders as I cloak mine around the middle of her back, drawing her closer to me.me.
“Listen to me, Charley. All of this has made me realize a lot of things, the most important of which is how much I adore you. Your strength. Your beauty. Your bravery. Everything about you fascinates me every fucking day, but what I want most of all is for you to conquer your darkness. If I have to grovel on my hands and fucking knees on a leash for the rest of my days in exchange for your forgiveness, I will.”
She absorbs my serious words, peering into my dark eyes, before I proceed.
“I understand you've always looked at me differently than Chaos. He has always given you something that I clearly lacked, but I will prove to you in time that I can give it all to you if you let me.”
Her weeping eyes close before she turns away.
“Reign, I—”
“If you choose Chaos, I am going to stand by you both and give you all my blessings. You have enough pressure on your shoulders; do what you believe is right.”
Her eyes jump to mine in a split second, her brows furrowing and her head tilting to the side.
"What?"
I swallow before standing straighter, causing her hands to slide down to my tatted neck.
"I just want to see you both happy; what I want can go in the trash."
Her eyes ease before she raises her chin, pointing to my heart with her finger.
"What is it you want, Reign? In here."
I draw a long breath, sliding my palms down the curves of her small body until I am gently grasping her hips while maintaining eye contact before I respond honestly.
"You, Charley. I want every broken piece of you. Just tell me how I can become a better man; tell me what you need from me so I can glue all the pieces back together that I damaged. I want to replace every fucked-up memory you have with something so strong that it takes away everything you have been through and nothing else matters. I want to cherish every part of you, as you truly deserve. I want you as my queen.”
I reach up and carefully brush her long, dark locks over her shoulder, bringing my lips near hers.
“When I first laid eyes on you, a tiny, fragile little thing that I could crush effortlessly, I never thought that you would wield so much fucking power over me. You, the only woman capable of reducing me to my fucking knees for the first time in my entire life.”
I continue, shaking my head as her green eyes fill up and a tear streaks down her cheek.
"Emotions have always been foreign territory to me—an action I’ve mastered in the art of detachment because it has always been a necessity for my role as a rising mafia leader. But for you, Char, I would rewrite every rule, bend every fucking boundary and be exactly who you need me to be.”
I cup her face, swiping my thumbs over her flushed cheeks, removing all the wetness of her tears as I continue with sincerity.
“Everything I am saying, I mean with every part of me. It hurt knowing that you think you can’t come to me for anything. I would never fucking reject you or make you feel uncomfortable.”
She sniffles, resting her brow against mine with her eyes closed and she wraps her small palms around my wrists before whispering.
“It wasn’t like that, Reign. I know I can come to you, it’s just...
She cuts off by inhaling deeply and not continuing what she was going to say.
