Page 20 of Read This Before the Villain falls in Love with You

I close the last bit of distance until we're sharing air. The rage coming off her is hot and clean and better than fear. Better than anything I've felt in months. Her pulse jumps at the base of her throat. I can see it.

I lean down until my lips brush the side of her ear. "If I give you a gun, Nora, you'll try to shoot me with it. And then I'd have to take it away from you. When bullets fly, you do what I say."

"You love giving orders, don't you?" She tilts her chin up, chin steady as she meets my eyes. "You think you own everything in sight."

I step forward until our clothes brush. "I run this estate. Every stone, every gun, and everyone inside it."

"You don't run me," she snaps, her eyes flashing green fire.

"You're standing on my terrace with dead men at your feet. That makes you mine to protect."

Her eyes drop to my mouth for a second before snapping back up. "Throw me onto the ground again without warning, and I'll kick you so hard you won't walk for a week."

"Try it and see what happens," I say quietly.

"Of course. A mob boss with expensive suits and an ego problem." She glares at me, but she doesn't back away an inch.

I step in close and drag the side of my thumb along her cheekbone, wiping the dark streak of blood onto my skin. Nora stiffens, her breath hitching, but she holds her ground. My grip shifts under her jaw, fingers tightening to keep her eyes locked dead on mine.

"You're shaking," I murmur, feeling the tremor under her jawline.

"It's just adrenaline. Don't flatter yourself," she whispers back, refusing to look away.

"I don't need to flatter myself." My thumb presses hard against her bottom lip until her mouth parts. "I just killed three men in front of you, and all you want to do is pick a fight with me."

"I don't run from fights," she whispers, her voice husky. "And your hand is still on my face."

"I know it is," I say, pressing closer until her back touches the stone pillar.

She lifts her chin, daring me. "Did you ask for permission this time?"

I pin her wrist to the pillar above her head. "No."

Her pupils dilate, dark and sharp. I crowd her back until her shoulder blades hit the carved stone column. My palm catches her right wrist, pinning it flat against the cold marble beside her ear. Her other hand twists into the front of my shirt, knuckles whitening as she grips the cloth, caught between shoving me back and pulling me down.

"This is the part where you let me go," she whispers, her chest rising fast against mine.

"Is that what you want?" I murmur against the warm skin of her cheek.

I tilt my head down until my mouth stops a fraction of an inch from hers. Close enough to feel the quick heat of her breath, but not touching. Her pulse jumps wild under my fingers on the stone.

"Tell me to let go," I murmur against her lips. "Say it."

She doesn't pull back. Her trapped wrist twists against my grip, tendons pulling tight under my thumb, but her hips shift forward into mine. Her chest rises and falls against my lapel, each ragged breath scraping stone and wool together. When I tilt my jaw a fraction lower without closing the gap, her chin tilts up with me, tracking the space where my mouth should be. She braces hard against the pillar, knuckles locking in my shirt, fighting my hold while her throat exposes itself to the scrape of my stubble.

"You're an absolute jerk." She breathes the words, pressing her weight back into mine instead of pulling free.

I whisper against her jawline, brushing her skin without letting my lips touch hers. "I know."

I drag my lips along her jawline down to the soft hollow below her ear, stopping just short of her skin. Her free hand clutches my shirt until the fabric groans. A broken breath escapes her throat. I pin her harder against the pillar, letting her chase a contact I refuse to give.

"Luca..." she gasps, her fingers knotting tight into my shirt.

Boots slam onto the terrace again. Adrian's voice cuts across the dark, clipped and urgent. "Boss. East wall. We need you."

I freeze with my mouth a whisper from hers. Nora's eyes are half-lidded, furious and wanting in equal measure. I release her wrist slowly, deliberately, letting my fingers trail down her arm as I step back.

The space between us feels colder than it should.