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Her words start to fall in place. By the time they make sense, she’s leaving. Panic claws through my chest. If she leaves, she takes a piece of me with her. A piece I didn’t know I had until her.
I reach out, my hand encircling her arm, a mixture of anger and something close to desperation seeping into my grasp. “I never said I didn’t want you or the babies.”
She scoffs, and I’m wondering where this part of her has been hiding. She’s strong. Bold. Brave. “The minute you found out about them, you had Liam preparing to send me away.”
My brain is still slow on the uptake. After a moment, I say, “You’re the one who didn’t want me to know about them. You said you didn’t want this life. You wanted to be free.”
"Because you didn't give me a chance!" Her hands clench at her sides. "I was leaving the compound for you?—"
"Leaving? Or running?"
She exhales sharply. “Once again, I’m telling you that I was on the way here to tell you I wanted to stay and let you know about the pregnancy, but my father kidnapped me and handed me over to Romeo.”
The image of Romeo, with his dick hanging out, dead at Elena’s feet flashes in my mind. The terror of that moment. The recognition that she had become as essential to me as air.
“When you found out, though, you were angry, telling me to leave. What was I supposed to think?”
The silence between us stretches. This time, words are tumbling through my head but they’re not her words. They’rewords that express my feelings. Words that I’m a coward to release.
“Why?” I ask.
Her brow furrows. “Why, what?”
“Why did you decide to stay?” Now I’m thinking she sees me as her protector. Her decision to stay is only because I can keep her and the children safe.
She looks away. “Because I’m an idiot.”
I close my eyes, my heart cracking.
“Can I go now?”
When I look at her, something has gone dead in her eyes. I did that. That’s the reason I need to let her go. I'mIl Soldato Della Morte. I bring death and destruction. Keeping Elena would only diminish her, a woman filled with life.
“No.”
“First, you didn’t want to see me, and now you won’t let me go?”
My gaze locks onto Elena. “I’ve already promised you could go. But you’ve told me you wanted to stay. Has that changed?”
“You forget, Niko, that I have no power here. Whether I stay or go is in your hands.”
My chest constricts. I’m losing her. “Don’t you get it,cara mia? You have all the power. From the moment I saw you on the stage at my club, I’ve been under your spell.”
Her eyes soften slightly as she studies me.
I realize that I need to find my balls and tell her what I want. It’s the only way she’ll stay.
I reach out my hand to cup her cheek. “I love you,cara mia, my Elena.”
She stares up at me, and I feel like my world has stopped, waiting to see whether it will turn again or not.
“I love you too, Niko.”
And just like that, the world spins and my heart beats. I tug her to me and cover her mouth with mine in the sweetest kiss. She’s life and love, and I drink her in. Her fingers clutch my shirt as her mouth joins with mine. I realize that there haven’t been many kisses between us. Just the one time? What the fuck has been wrong with me? All I can think about is kissing her from now until the end of time.
Except… even as her fingers tangle in my hair, pulling me closer, the soldier within stirs to life. The threat is still out there. Giovanni made a bold move tonight. One that nearly destroyed me and my family. I can’t let him get that close again, especially to Elena and our children. He must pay for the turmoil he’s sown.
I pull away, looking into her lovely face. “I have to finish this tonight so we can move forward. So you and the babies can be safe.”
