Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
I resist the urge to touch them. He doesn’t need to watch me walk out the door.
My bag is already packed and sitting by the bedroom door. Last night, after making love, I packed while he slept, moving quietly in the shadows of our bedroom to gather my belongings.
Now, it’s time to go.
I dress quickly and brush my teeth quietly in the bathroom, pausing to take in a deep breath.
This is the right thing to do.
Leaving the bathroom, I avoid looking at the bed, knowing it will only make it harder to see him one last time.
But his voice stops me. “Bella.”
Reluctantly, I turn around. He’s standing by the bed, every glorious inch of him gleaming with perfection in the early morning light. He’s pulled on his dress pants and belt, but he’s shirtless.
My nerves rattle inside me.
“Where are you going?” His voice is low but filled with something dark.
“I’m leaving.” My gaze meets his, and I pray my words don’t fail me now. “I never wanted this life, Nico. But I wanted you, so I tried. But it doesn’t work.”
“It does work,” he says with that same dark edge to his words.
“No.” I shake my head. “We’re like fire and ice. Made to destroy each other.”
Nico’s expression darkens.
“You’re wrong, Bella. We’re both fire. And fire on fire builds an inferno and that is what we are. An unstoppable inferno.” His jaw tightens. “You’re not leaving me.”
I stand my ground. “You don’t get to ask me to stay.”
“I’m not asking,” he growls. “I’m telling you.”
Something in me snaps.
He doesn’t get to control me anymore.
Not after yesterday.
I storm over to him and shove him in the chest. “I almost died because of you.”
I throw my fists into his bare chest, but it’s like hitting a brick wall.
He grabs my wrists and yanks me to him. “And I would die a thousand times for you.”
I struggle in his arms. “You want this life. I don’t.”
“I have no choice.”
“But I do, and I’m making it.”
Darkness sweeps through his expression like a storm cloud. “So that’s it. You think you can just leave me?”
“You might not have a choice to leave this life, but I do,” I yell, pushing against him. “Now, let me go.”
“Not until you’ve calmed down and are ready to talk.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want this life, and yesterday, Luca Bamcorda obliterated any capability I had to compromise.”
“I told you nothing like that will ever happen again.”
“But you can’t guarantee it. For every enemy you destroy, another one appears.”
His tone drips with venom. “And I will destroy them too while protecting my wife.”
“But I don’t want to be your wife!” I yell.
Stunned by my outburst, his grip on me loosens, and I make a break for it.
But he catches me, and I thrash wildly in his arms until he throws me on the bed. Before I can move, he crawls over me like a panther stalking its prey before it strikes.
Black eyes burn down at me. “You are my wife, and until I say otherwise, that fact isn’t going to change.”
Imprisoned by his powerful body and big arms, I know there is no way out for me but with words.
I look up at him. He is beautiful. Even in this dark moment quilted in pain and fear, he is the most beautiful man I have ever seen.
“Please let me go?” My voice is small. “Please don’t do this to me anymore. I'm no Mafia queen.”
Something ripples in his dark expression. Something unguarded and gentle. "You're my queen."
A tear slides down my cheek and slips onto the pillow behind me. “No, Nico. I’m not.”
With a growl, Nico recoils and leaves the bed and moves to stand at the window, his broad back to me.
The silence is loud until he speaks.
“I’m in love with you.” His voice is strong, but pain curls around the edges of each word. “Does that mean anything?”
I sit up and scoot to the end of the bed. Tears stream down my cheeks. He loves me. But it’s not enough.
My throat closes around the lump in my throat, and when I don’t respond, his defenses go up as if they were physical things.
Hurt and anger hang heavily in the room.
Finally, he says, "If you're going to leave, then go.”
My heart breaks open in my chest. He’s giving me what I want. He’s letting me go.
Why does it hurt so much?
Leaving the bed, I pick up my bag but falter at the door because walking away from him will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
He doesn’t bother to turn around. And I don’t say goodbye.
I leave the access card and my wedding rings on the kitchen counter before I step into the elevator and let the doors close behind me. On our marriage.
Despite my pedigree, I’m not cut out for this life.