Page 325 of Alessio

“I do.”

“And me. You want me, too.”

Corrado’s agonized stare landed on her again, causing her heart to clench from the truth she found waiting there. “Don’t you know?”

“I thought I did, but I think that I don’t know anything at all.”

“Yeah,” he muttered, chuckling darkly, “I have a way of doing that to things I care about. Fucking up, I mean.”

“Don’t say that, Corrado.”

It hurt her heart more.

For herself.

For him.

For a man who wasn’t even here.

It all hurt.

“But haven’t I?” he asked, his hand coming up so he could tuck the loose strands of her hair behind her ear with the softest touch. That was all it took, just his skin grazing against hers, and heat shot through her every single one of her nerves, making her air catch hard in her chest, and her heart skip beats all over again. “Haven’t I made this mess?”

God.

This wasn’t fair at all.

He didn’t play fair.

The bigger problem was that she didn’t think Corrado was trying to play games at all.

“I told you once before,” Corrado said, his head drifting lower until his lips nearly touched hers with his next words, “I ruin beautiful things. I won’t be the one who pushes you away, Ginevra, so if you want to save what is left of your heart, you need to be the one to do it for me.”

If heartbreak was a picture, it would be his face.

Handsome.

Devastatingly so, really.

And tortured.

It killed her.

“You have to do it,” he said again, “do you hear me?”

She did.

But …

“I can’t,” Ginevra breathed.

She couldn’t say the words loudly.

Not yet.

They meant she was going to hurt worse. This would have to be enough.

Corrado didn’t move an inch.