Page 367 of Don’t Say Mafia

Not even a little.

I kissed him deeper, hungrier, like I could pour everything I felt into his mouth instead of saying it out loud. His hands slid up my back, one tangling in my hair, the other pressing between my shoulder blades and holding me so tight I could barely breathe.

When he finally pulled back, just enough to rest his forehead against mine, his breath came in strangled bursts. “I love you,” he whispered hoarsely. “I love you so fucking much.”

I swallowed hard, tears spilling down my cheeks. “I love you, too,” I breathed. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

He exhaled like the words had punched the air out of him, and then he kissed me again, slower this time, softer, trying to memorize the shape of my mouth.

And in that moment, with blood still wet on his skin and the smell of smoke and death thick around us—I understood something with terrifying clarity.

I was never leaving him.

Not now. Not later. Not ever.

Not even if loving him ruined me.

Despite who he was, despite everything, I loved him.

I guess I’d have to settle with being the cautionary tale I’d always feared after all.

CHAPTER 41

JAGGER

If she thought we were going to go somewhere and have a sit-down chat about everything . . . she had another thing coming.

There was only one thought in my head as we made our way out of the building—we were getting married.

Today. Right now. Exactly as we were.

The warm night air hit my face as we stepped outside, joining the heat still burning through my veins. Gravel crunched under our boots as we crossed the lot toward the line of black SUVs waiting under the security lights.

I didn’t slow down.

Eden was still in my arms. Her body felt small against mine, light in a way that made something vicious twist inside my chest. Her blouse hung in torn pieces around her shoulders, the fabric split down the front where it had been cut it open. Every time I looked at it, my vision darkened.

Mine.

Someone had tried to take what was mine.

My arms tightened around her without thinking.

She hadn’t said a word since she’d told me she loved me, and her fingers were still curled weakly in the front of my shirt, gripping the blood-soaked fabric. Her breathing was shallow and uneven, and every once in a while, I could feel a tremor pass through her body.

Too close.

Everything had been too fucking close.

I opened the back door of the nearest SUV and climbed inside, pulling her with me. The moment I sat down, I dragged her fully into my lap, one arm wrapping around her waist while the other came up to cradle the back of her head against my shoulder.

Maddox slid behind the wheel, and Lawson climbed into the passenger seat beside him. For a few seconds, the only sound in the SUV was the engine rumbling to life.

I looked down at Eden. Her eyes were open but distant, like she was still half stuck in that room. “We’re getting married,” I announced.

The words dropped into the silence like a bomb. Maddox’s head snapped toward the rearview mirror, and Lawson slowly turned around in his seat.

“You’re what?” Maddox said flatly.