Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
All this time, he's been telling me that we're going to make it out of this alive. He's said it over and over again, as if he has no doubts. And now, he's just going to turn himself in to Rafe Valentino and let the chips fall where they will.
I know he's doing it to ensure I survive. But I don't want to survive this if he doesn't. He's my safety. He's my peace. Without him, it means nothing. I thought I'd rather die free than live imprisoned in hell. But if the choice is between letting him die or chaining myself in hell to keep him breathing, I'll lock the chains around my throat myself.
He doesn't get to make that choice for me. My whole life, my choice has been taken from me, stripped by a man who was supposed to protect me. I won't allow this one to do the same thing and call it love.
"Don't touch me, Domani," I growl, my voice shaking.
"Finley."
"You don't get to decide for me what I'm willing to risk. You don't get to decide what I'm willing to accept. You don't get to strip my choice away and say it's for my own good. If that's what you call loving me, you can take it straight to hell, Domani," I cry. "I get to decide for me. Me. And I didn't choose to risk your life to save my own."
He stands quietly, listening. "You're right, tesoro. That isn't my choice to make."
"Then stop trying to take it from me. If there's even a slight chance that Rafe Valentino is going to kill you, we aren't going there."
"We have to go, Finley," he says quietly. "If we had another choice, I wouldn't even consider it. You know I wouldn't. But your uncle has Coda. He's going to kill him if I don't turn you over. Rafe is the only one who can help ensure that I get Coda out of there alive and keep you safe, too."
My heart stalls in my chest, puttering out. "He has your friend?"
"Yeah, mio sole. He has him."
Then he's right. This isn't about me or my choices anymore. This is about a man's life. I can't let his friend die to keep myself out of my uncle's hands. I can't live with that on my conscience. And I can't ask Domani to live with it on his either. We have to go see Rafe, even if it means I might lose him.
No. I won't lose him. I refuse to accept that outcome. I don't know if we get to manifest our own destiny, master our own fate, or tell God what we want for our lives. But I've spent ten years under my uncle's thumb, slowly losing myself, slowly fading away. I've been to every level of hell there is and live with those sounds and smells and memories plaguing my mind. I'm owed one answered prayer. I'm not greedy. I'm not asking for anything more than that. Just one is all I want. And it's this: for the two of us to survive and thrive and find our happily-ever-after together.
If God can't give me that, then I'll take it for myself. Because I'm not just letting life happen to me anymore. I'm not locked in that house. I'm not a victim. I'm not helpless. And I'll fight whoever I have to fight to keep this man breathing.
We're going to survive. I won't accept anything less.
"Domani?"
"Yeah, tesoro?"
"I love you."
He stares at me, not moving, not blinking. Not even moving. For a long, silent moment, he just stares. And then he's charging toward me like a wild beast. He plows into me, knocking me backward onto the bed, his hand behind my head to keep it from bouncing.
"You mean it," he says, coming down on top of me, pinning me beneath him. "You believe we're going to survive."
"No. I know we are."
The sheer joy in his kiss is infectious. This man. God, this beautiful, beautiful man.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," I whisper as he pulls into the driveway of the Valentino mansion.
"Don't be sorry, mio sole." He lifts my fingers to his lips. "Never stop defending yourself and what you deserve that fiercely. If I'm doing something that hurts you, you tell me just like that. You never stop telling me like that. You've been silenced too long. Never hold any part of yourself back to spare me. Understand?"
"Yes."
He parks in front of the mansion. I peer up at it, my stomach churning. It's drastically different from Cillian's rundown mansion. The grounds are immaculate. The house is overwhelmingly large and ostentatious. Ivy clings to the white walls, making it seem more like a castle than a home. But I don't think it was built in love.
"I don't like this place, Domani."