“We can’t do this,” he says, his voice rough. He’s still close enough that his breath ghosts across my lips. “Elena, you don’t understand what you’re getting into.”
“You’re in the mafia. You deal with dangerous people. Someone might try to hurt me to get to you.” My heart is hammering, but my voice stays steady. “Did I miss anything?”
“It’s not that simple—”
“It’s exactly that simple. You’re dangerous. I’m probably insane for not running screaming. But here’s the thing, Alessandro, I’m a grown woman who can make her own decisions. And I’m deciding I want to keep seeing you.”
He stares at me as if I’ve grown a second head. “You could get hurt.”
“I could get hit by a bus tomorrow. Life doesn’t come with guarantees.”
“This is different.”
“Is it?” I step closer, emboldened by the way his eyes darken when I do. “Because from where I’m standing, you’re offering me honesty. Real honesty. How many relationships start with complete transparency about the ugly parts?”
“Most relationships don’t involve organized crime.”
“True. But most relationships don’t involve three-dozen-rose apologies either, so we’re already off to a unique start.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. Almost a smile. “You’re insane.”
“Probably. But I’m also stubborn as hell, ask anyone who knows me, and when I want something, I don’t give up easily.” Ireach up and touch his face, feeling the scratch of stubble under my palm. “I want this. I want you. Even knowing what I know.”
“Elena—”
“Stop trying to protect me from yourself. Let me make my own choices.” My thumb brushes across his cheekbone. “Unless you don’t want this? Unless I’m reading this all wrong and you’re trying to let me down easy?”
His hands come up to grip my waist, pulling me closer. “You’re not reading it wrong.”
“Then stop arguing with me.”
“I don’t think you understand how difficult that is.” But there’s warmth in his eyes now, something almost like wonder. “You should be afraid of me.”
“Maybe I should be. But I’m not.” And it’s true. Standing here in my apartment with a self-admitted crime boss, I feel safer than I have with any other man. “Here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to keep dating. But on my terms this time.”
“Your terms?”
“My terms. Which means no more fancy restaurants where people try to kill you. No more drivers. No more oversized romantic gestures.” I poke him in the chest. “Next time, we do something normal. Something fun. Something where you can’t brood in an Armani suit.”
“I don’t brood.”
“You absolutely brood. It’s one of your most defining characteristics.”
He almost smiles again. “What did you have in mind?”
“The Christmas market in Pike Place. Tomorrow night. We’ll get hot chocolate, look at overpriced crafts, and you can win me a stuffed animal at one of those rigged carnival games.”
“That sounds...”
“Normal? Boring? Not nearly dramatic enough for a mafia boss?”
“Perfect,” he says quietly. “It sounds perfect.”
The word hangs between us, warm and promising. He’s still holding my waist, his thumbs making small circles that send sparks up my spine.
“You should go,” I whisper, even though leaving is the last thing I want him to do.
“I should.”
