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I take her chin in my hand, tilt it up to me so she can see my eyes. Staring deep into her melted chocolate–colored eyes, I give her a resounding, “Over my dead body.”
CHAPTER22
STAR
Iknew the answer, but I had to try again. This life is a fucking nightmare. I can’t stay cooped up like a bird in a cage. Like a prisoner.
As if an afterthought, he adds, “You can’t leave alone. It’s too dangerous.”
Alone?
I lift up on my elbow, wincing when the movement tugs at my wound. “You mean you’ll let me leave with a bodyguard?”
Can’t say I’ve ever heard of such a thing, but if he thinks it’s a possible option, then I guess I can make it work. I’ll have to evade the bodyguard once I’m out of here, but that’s a problem for another day.
He chuckles softly. “Sure, if you want to call me a bodyguard, have at it.”
My brows draw together in confusion. “You? What are you talking about?”
I might be a little tipsy from the liqueur, but I’m by no means drunk, and he’s not making any sense.
He turns fully toward me and clarifies, “If you really can’t see yourself staying and trying to make a life with me here, then I’ll leave.”
My tummy flip-flops like a caught fish thrown on the deck of a ship.
“For you.”
Goose bumps break out over my arms. I wrap them around my middle and plead with him, “Please, don’t do this to me, Lucian. I need to leave. Ineedto. I can’t stay and…and fall for you. You’ll leave me or you’ll die or you’ll—”
Lucian leans closer, hanging on to my next words. The ones I’ve cut off, having already admitted too much.
I press back into the mattress to put distance between us, but he plants a hand on either side of my shoulders and bends forward. “Or what?”
I finish my thought. “Or you’ll hurt me again.”
Slapping a hand down on the mattress, he claims, “I won’t die or leave. I’m not your father and I’m not your brother. I fucking love you, Star. I swear to you, I’ll never hurt you again. Not by accident. Not out of callousness. Not like I’ve done so many times before. Today taught me a lesson I’ll never forget.”
His gaze sears into mine. “Haven’t you learned yours yet? You can’t do without me any more than I can do without you. Believe me, that realization was as much of a shock for me as it will be for you—the moment you have the courage to accept it.”
I want to fight back, accuse him of not having anything to lose, but that’s no longer true, damn him.
“My father and brother loved me,” I retort, grasping for whatever argument I can come up with.
“Not like me they didn’t,” he retorts. “They loved you, but I’minlove with you. Have been for years, and if you were half as brave as your brother you’d admit you’re in love with me, too.”
I wince at the mention of Tatum and everything he gave up for Clara.
Lucian’s hand shoots out and lovingly grasps my throat. He slides his lips against mine, bares his teeth, and warns, “I won’t leave you because you are the single most important person in my life—more important than my clan, my ambitions, my family—ask me to burn it all for you and I will.”
I shake my head, trying to dislodge it. “You don’t know what you’re saying. You wouldn’t—”
“I would,” he grinds out. “I’d leave it all for you because there’s no way I’m leavingyou.”
“No,” I gasp.
“We’re getting married regardless,” he threatens. “That will never change. The only thing that changes is our future afterward. You want to stay, we stay. You want to leave, we leave.”
“But you’ve achieved what you’ve always wanted. You wouldn’t give that up for me. You’reconsilier—”
