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TATUM
Icame through the open window and landed inside Clara’s bedroom. It had been easy—way too fucking easy—to get through the paltry security around the parameters of their home. That was a Romanian for you. Grigore had been the exception, which only proved to show he knew how shady he was and that he needed protection. Everyone else was cocky to a fault, thinking they didn’t need souped-up security like the cartels.
I heard movement in the en suite bathroom. Clara. My insides vibrated with nerves and a keen desire, knowing she was so close. Positioning myself by the entryway, I cut off any chance of escape. Leaning my shoulder against the door, I gazed around her bedroom.
There were stuffed animals piled high on her bed, which was a bit alarming. Not something I expected of her. She was soft, but all woman, and I simply couldn’t imagine her in bed cuddling those things. Doing other, naughty things, yes, that I could clearly see.
Other than that, her bedroom was no different from the rest of the house, meaning it was cluttered with more furniture than necessary. Besides her bed, there were rows of waist-high bookshelves, a vanity, a messy desk, a couple of armchairs with adjoining tables, and a small piano. The last one seemed supremely unnecessary in a mansion with a dozen other bedrooms.
But I didn’t have time to contemplate it any further because Clara stepped out of the bathroom at that moment.
She startled, let out a gasp, but recovered quickly.
Fuck, she was gorgeous. It hurt to look at her, but I couldn’t turn away if I tried. My gaze devoured every inch of her.
Her face was clean of makeup, her luxurious hair tucked into a chignon at her nape. She wore one of her killer suits, minus the jacket. Her tight-fitting skirt, black with white piping, stopped midthigh, flashing me with the lace top of her sheer thigh highs. Son of a bitch, I wanted to drop to my knees, sink my teeth in the lace, and tear it down her leg. My gaze flicked back up. Her sheer indigo shirt showed enough cleavage to get my fingers twitching with the urge to rip it open so I could feast on her delicious tits.
Our eyes locked.
Silence reigned.
The electricity zipping between us charged the air.
A band tightened around my chest, leaving me breathless. Dizzy. I ached for her so bad, it took every ounce of control I had not to attack her like an animal.
Anytime I was around Clara, it felt normal to want to touch her, to take her, and our little hiatus viciously amped up my desire to dominate her, to fuck her like she was a rag doll. After what I’d been through, I was seriously unhinged.
Folding her arms over her chest, she glared at me and said, “What are you doing here?”
“I have no clan,” I declared, getting to the root of things without preamble.
“I know,” she retorted quickly. “Although I didn’t find out from you. Thanks for that, by the way.”
The lump in my throat doubled in size. It was hard to speak, but speak I would. She deserved the truth, the whole, unvarnished truth.
Sweaty hands clenched in fists, I swallowed hard and began, “Grigore told Alex my father had conspired with the Bratva to take out a hit on his father. He tried to kill me.” She inhaled sharply. “Nina stopped him at the last moment. I was given an ultimatum. Kill the man who killed his father, and I would live. It was a chance to redeem my name and give my mother and Star a chance to remain within the clan, but it was a death sentence. Luca and Nicu came to my rescue, and Nicu blew the fucker up.”
I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment and then snapped them open again. “I know I failed you, but I—” My throat cinched tight and I couldn’t speak.
I cleared my throat and redirected my speech to the heart of the matter.
“I can’t do it anymore, Clara.”
“Do what?” she whispered, her voice breaking.
“This.” I flicked my fingers between us. “Us not being together. Yeah, my world imploded. Yeah, I’m separated from my mother and sister forever. Yeah, I should be crushed. I am, but I’m also grateful. Grigore told Alex, hoping to destroy me, but it freed me. I accomplished my mission, I’m alive and free and alive. But do you know what I couldn’t stop condemning myself for?”
“What?” she rasped out.
“For ruining us. I was free from this secret that shackled me for over a decade, but it didn’t matter because you were gone.”
Her beautiful eyes were wide with unshed tears. “Why Tatum? Why didn’t you confide in me?”
“I was thinking of you. You think it was easy to break up with you, to say the hurtful lies I said? It fucking killed me inside, but I was convinced I was going to die. If I told you, you would’ve confronted Alex—and he was fucking enraged. Any challenge to his word would’ve blown back on you and your clan. I also thought if I hurt you bad enough, you’d hate me, and you’d be glad I was dead,” I confessed. “That I’d spare you the grief.”
“I could never hate you,” she whispered.
That one phrase made my heart soar with unadulterated hope.
