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“I… fuck,” he breathed, releasing me as if I’d burned him.
My brows knitted with frustration. “Why did you follow me out here, Tristan?”
“I told you, I wanted to clear the air.”
“Why?” I implored.
“Because…” He stopped himself, torment swirling in his stormy gaze.
“I need to go.” I spun on my heel and started marching toward the veranda leading back inside.
“I don’t hate you, Alessia. Not by a long shot.”
Something in his voice gave me pause. He sounded… sad.
I glanced back, overwhelmed by his haunted expression. “Tristan?” His name quivered on my tongue.
He moved toward me, every step like a shot to my heart, until he was looming over me. “Do you have any idea how insane you drive me?”
“W-what?” I blinked. And blinked again, trying to swallow and drag air into my lungs.
I drove him insane?
It didn’t make any sense.
He hated me.
He hated—
Realization dawned and I gasped. “No,” I whispered, clutching my throat. Because it was too impossible. Too far out of the realms of possibility to even comprehend.
Tristan didn’t… like me. He couldn’t.
I was Nicco’s sister.
I was family, albeit not by blood.
He worked for the Family. My brother.
Not to mention he was a man—a twenty-four year old man—and I was just a young woman barely out of high school.
His hand wrapped around my shoulder as he stared down at me.
What was happening?
Tristan, the guy I’d lusted after since I was a fifteen-year-old girl, was looking at me with hunger in his eyes.
“T-Tristan,” I choked out. “You’re hurting me.”
That seemed to snap him out of his trance and he released my arm, only to stroke along my shoulder with his thumb.
“This dress is… it’s a test I’m having to fight real damn hard to pass.” His gaze trailed over my skin, leaving a blazing path in its wake. “Dio dammi la forza.”
“I don’t understand.” My throat was dry, parched as I stared up at Tristan. The air shifted and crackled around us, butterflies fluttering in my stomach.
He reached for me, curving his hand along my cheek and sliding his fingers deep into my hair. “I could never hate you, Principessa.”
“But I don’t—”
