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ChapterTwenty-Six
I was fucked the moment Nina walked into the café, her deep brown eyes flashing at me in anger. The air in the place shifted at her arrival. My men went on the alert, but the only thing on my mind was to bend her over the table and fuck her in front of them. Show them who she belonged to. Yes, I was an animal. I got that. Even now, I wanted to come all over again, but this time, I wanted to leave streaks of come on her delectable peach-shaped ass. Mark her and lather her in my scent until she smelled more like me than her beguiling fragrance.
My heart stuttered as she crossed the threshold, my eyes glued to her. And once I caught her gaze, I latched on. Like a taut rope, I pulled her toward me, one step at a time with excruciating slowness, while greedily drinking her in.
I heard the wobble in her voice when she asked to speak to me. My heart clogged my throat, thinking something had happened to her. If I thought that was bad, once we were alone, everything got exponentially worse. I couldn’t keep my hands off her. The first chance I got, I attacked her mouth, hungry and consuming. Instinct took over and I lost it. Nothing mattered but claiming her.
The moment I finished fucking her, I knew I was never letting her go. My one chance at staying away, at doing what was best for her, had gone to hell. Dragging her into my embrace, I laid us down on the rug. Cradling her head in the crook of my arm, I stared deep into those big, beautiful, wide-set eyes I’d missed more than anything.
“Talk, firefly,” I ordered gruffly. My chest was tight, and I had trouble pulling in the necessary amount of air as I waited for her reaction.
“I was with you because I didn’t want to regret anything. But when ‘maybe’ turned to ‘no,’ I had to leave. It wasn’t because of pride, although maybe it should’ve been. It was survival. Simply because I happened to walk into the café, you’ve decided we’re back together again?” A puff of surprise left her lips. “That’s not how it works, Alex. I’m not a volleyball you can punch back and forth over a net.”
Dragging her closer, I took her mouth. Ravenous, I gorged on her lips, pressing my advantage and forcing her submission. Finally, when she went limp in my arms, although it’d never be enough, I was able to pull back and break our kiss.
“I want to be with you. I’ve always wanted that, but I was trying to do right by you. I’m plotting a way to break my engagement, but even though every day without you is hell, I figured you were better off without me.”
She curled into me. I released a little breath of relief that she didn’t pull away.
Her forehead was set in a little frown as she turned to face me and said, “I don’t understand.”
I swiped a hand over my face. “Baby, I’m a fucking criminal. I may be a high-end criminal, but a criminal all the same. I hope to be a free man soon, but I’ll never be free of my clan and what I do for them. So I convinced myself you were better off without me. Look, you don’t even want my guards on you—”
“That’s because we’re no longer together,” she cut in, her tone exasperated. “It’s about maintaining boundaries. About staying sane after we broke up. I don’t have an issue with you protecting me if I’m yours.”
“I was only making sure you were safe,” I argued.
“No, you weren’t. Once you dumped me and had a fancy new fiancée, I wasn’t worth anything to your enemies. I’m not like Tasa, who has worth on her own. My worth was only linked to being with you. If people thought you didn’t care about me anymore, then they couldn’t hurt you by harming me. You had me followed for you,” she accused, poking her forefinger into my chest.
“Yes, dammit,” I growled, my patience snapping. “I was going fucking insane. I couldn’t stand not knowing what you were doing, who you were seeing,” I seethed. Okay, so apparently, I had a jealous streak. It’s not like I didn’t know I was a fucking savage when it came to her. Just the way I fucked her showed I barely had any self-control when it came to her.
“Exactly,” she drawled with a smug smile, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that was distracting as hell. “Finally, we’re getting somewhere. As for deciding whether we should be together or not, that wasn’t your decision to make alone, buddy.”
“Bunica said something to that effect,” I muttered.
“What?” she asked cheekily, cupping her ear. “I didn’t hear that. Can you repeat it louder this time?”
“I said, Bunica said something like that,” I returned.
“Oh, you mean the old, wise woman who’s your grandmother? Haven’t you already gotten yourself in trouble for making decisions on behalf of Tasa? When are you going to learn?” she pondered with a shake of her head.
“Okay, you’ve made your point.” Did she and Bunica share a brain? I gave her my signature smirk, relieved that instead of smacking me like I deserved, she was teasing me. God, I fucking loved her. “I’m a work in progress, alright.”
Her eyes turned serious, her lips pulling down at the corners. “So you would’ve kept us apart if I hadn’t stopped by?” A little shudder shook through her shoulders, and I pulled her into my embrace.
I shook my head vehemently. “Oh, babe, I doubt I could’ve lasted much longer. It was a continual fight, and I could feel myself slipping by the day. I’m a selfish bastard at heart, but I want you to at least give me credit for attempting to do what’s best for you.”
“Humph. I would if you weren’t so misguided,” she huffed, cuddling into me. She was so open and giving, innocently nestling into my arms. Did she realize what a gift she gave me? She’d effectively forgiven me. I didn’t deserve it, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t going to take it as a win and run with it.
After a few moments of silence, she inquired softly, “You told your grandmother about us?”
“She guessed. She’s too clever by half and then she cursed me for being a fool. Told me I was trying to follow in my father’s footsteps, who it turns out was a hot fucking mess. I have two half siblings from his secret family, for Christ’s sake,” I confided in her.
Her eyes widened, lifting her head off my biceps, which she was using as a pillow. “What?”
“Yeah, turns out my perfect father had a very dirty secret. A second family. I have another brother, Sebastian, and a little sister, God help me, named Emma.”
“You’re not going to push her into marriage are you?” she asked, concern lining her face.
