Page 143 of Mafia Obsession

“Tonight.” He stands there like a brick wall.

“I don’t understand?” I run through all the reasons he’d need to go live there on short notice.

“This was an agreement, Lourdes,” he says, voice even. “I have fulfilled all that I promised. Your sister is safe and protected. She always will be. Kirill will not get near her. I told him to move on, and it’s time for me to do the same.”

The floor beneath me shifts and my knees threaten to buckle. “Move on?” I whisper, disbelief and grief coiling inside my chest.

“Emotionally,” he deadpans.

“Just like that? We made love this morning.”

He meets my gaze steadily, eyes like iron and unyielding. “That was not love.”

I step closer, desperate. “What about us?”

“There is no us.” His jaw tightens, his hand impatiently brushing a lock of hair from his forehead.

I shake my head, voice trembling. “Don’t say that. You’re stressed. That’s all.”

“I have lived with stress most of my life,” he defends himself against my pain. “I’m being honest. I’ve given you allthat you need, and now I need distance.”

“Distance?” I echo and reach for him. “You mean abandonment. From your feelings. From all the things you don’t want to admit you feel because you think it makes you weak.”

His hand rises as if to hold me back, as if my touch will break him. “My decision is final.”

This wasn’t anagreement. This was one of hisarrangements,and I didn’t even realize it. Now it’s over, and he’s leaving me.

But he’s keeping me as his wife to protect my sister.

I laugh bitterly, traitorous tears breaking through. “Like the decision to make me lose my job, hire me, woo me, kill my husband, and then marry me against my will. This is just another power play. Got it. Go hide from the truth.”

He moves a step closer, the heat and scent of him making me dizzy. “What truth?”

I push him away. “That you love me… Even if it terrifies you. Nothing terrifies the God of War more than peace. And love.”

Ares stays quiet.

“Go. Get your distance. Find a whore to remind yourself you can fuck without emotion. I watched you while you were inside me, while wemade love. That look on your face wasn’t just from pleasure. You love me. But whatever. Go get your distance until you figure it out.” I stalk off to the bedroom without waiting for a response.

I slam the door and look around, hating how much I love this room. It was the first place I’d allowed myself to think of as home since I left for college seven years ago.

I collapse onto the cushioned window seat, sobs wracking my chest. I allowed myself to get lost in a fantasy that Ares would grow to love me. None of that can happen with him intentionally living apart from me.

He made me fall in love with him.Bastard.I wipe the mascara-streaked tears rolling down my face, feeling myself hardening, just as another sob wretches from my lips.

One night. Just one night, I tell myself. I will allow this grief over Ares to consume me for one night.

The God of War is not the only one who can lock down feelings.

Tomorrow, I will shut down mine, eviscerate them, and become Skadi, the Norse ice goddess.

Chapter 59

Ares – One Month Later

The residence at the Aurelian is everything I expected it to be. Large rooms. High ceilings. Fresh paint. Stainless steel. Impeccable.

Cold.