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“What the hell is all this?”
“Things you aren’t supposed to see but knowing you, you would have found them anyway.”
“Ari,” I stalk up to him. “We need to talk about this. This isn’t about you being in charge. This is about you being my husband. You need to think rationally.”
He grabs my shoulder and looms over me. “Can’t you see that’s all I’m doing? It’s all I do with you.”
“No, you’re protecting me for your own selfish reasons. That’s it. That’s all. You aren’t looking at the big picture.”
‘You are the big picture!” he yells at me. “You are my rationale. You are my reasons. I am doing this for you. Stop being so damn stubborn and let me protect you.”
“No.”
He rubs his temples, then places his hand in a steeple position on his chin. “I love your strength,” he says softly, as if he is taking time to admire his words while he speaks. “Your ability to charge headfirst in a situation has always impressed me. You love to tackle an issue. I respect that but you aren’t alone anymore. You don’t have to fight alone anymore. I’m here to fight your battles.”
“I don’t want you to. I want to fight them by your side. You aren’t alone anymore either.”
“Damn it, Rosie!” His voice is so loud it makes me flinch. “I don’t want you to fight anymore. You’ve done that your entire life. You’ve fought your way to the surface just to catch a fucking breath because you’ve killed yourself for those people you call parents. You’ve fought long enough, and it is my job to let you rest.” He takes my face in his hands and I can’t help but lean into him. He always feels so good, and his touch alone almost makes me give in a listen.
I grab onto his wrist and stare into his eyes, pressing his palm against my cheek a little harder because I don’t want him to go anywhere.
“Please, stay here. Please.” He drops his forehead to mine and the soft breaths escaping warm my lips. The longer I stand so close, the more the magnetism between us builds, the pull becomes stronger and too hard to deny. He wraps an arm around me and jerks me against him, his fingers digging into my lower back.
He kisses me, the kind that’s all consuming and addictive, the kind that has women fall in love in a second and wishing that this kiss would never end.
I’m that woman.
I don’t want his touch to fade or his lips to break from mine.
I used to think fighting him was a matter of survival, a way to make sure my family was safe. I didn’t t really care about what happened to me because I haven’t cared for a very long time. Now I know better. Ari is a lesson; someone I learn from every day.
Fighting him isn’t a matter of survival, but giving into him has taught me to survive.
I want to give. I want to give him everything. Let him burn all the hate that’s filled inside my soul and let it burn every enemy we have.
He would. I believe that. It doesn’t matter how I became his wife. The circumstances do not matter to him. All that matters, what sets fire in his eyes, and the possession he exudes every day when he looks at me tells me everything I need to know.
Ari Milazzo wouldn’t just burn the world down for me, but he’d rebuild it with the ashes of our enemies.
Then, he’d make a throne.
That’s who he is in my life. He isn’t the knight in shining armor but the villain everyone warns their children about.
I was never warned. My parents never cared about me that much. So it would make sense I’m easily swayed by a man like Ari.
He brings the kiss to an end, his hands gripping my ass as a rumble vibrates his chest.
“Thank you,” he whispers, pushing a curl behind my ear.
I lean back, my brows furrowing. “For what?”
“Staying here. I appreciate it. Keeping you safe is all I care about.”
I untangle myself from his hypnotic hold on me. Somehow, I plastered myself against him until there was no space left between us. “You think I kissed you because I was agreeing to your demands? I wasn’t, Ari. I kissed you because…you’re….you. You’re impossible not to kiss.”
He opens his mouth to say something smart, but I hold up my hand to stop him.
“I’m going and the fact you used a kiss to get me to listen to you, you should know, that will never happen.”
