“What?” I whispered, but my stomach was already knotting itself. My instincts knew exactly where this was going, yet my mind refused to acknowledge it.
“I never thought I’d have to break up with someone I’m hopelessly and madly in love with.”
I stood up, diving for him, but he pulled back, his outstretched arm telling me not to touch him. “Finn. We’re not breaking up! You aren’t listening. I’m doing this for us so we can always be together.”
“No.” He shook his head, tears in his eyes that I knew he’d never let fall. “You’re doing this for yourself. There is no us in this decision.”
“That’s not true! I’m fighting for us, Finn. The only way I know how.”
He nodded, placing his hands on his hips. “I know you believe that, but this isn’t the way.”
“What other way is there? Tell me,” I shouted, losing my damn mind. “I love you, Finn. I love you so fucking much, but I’m terrified. Every morning, I wake up believing this will be the day I die. I can’t live like that.”
“And I can’t live like this,” he said, staring into my eyes. “I love you too, but the ugly truth is that being in love doesn’t always mean you’re happy. I’m not happy, and I won’t be if you marry Elle and keep me as your bit on the side. Do you know how that feels?”
“Finn, please.”
He stepped closer and grabbed my face. “Choose me.”
I closed my eyes, pressing my trembling lips to his as my hands slid through his hair. “I do choose you, Finn. Why can’t you see I’m doing this for us?”
He exhaled against my lips, then let me go. “You’re doing this because you’re scared. But I don’t live in fear, Enzo. I can’t. This is over.”
My eyes widened as he slammed the card key onto the kitchen island, grabbed his jacket, and marched towards the door. My body sprang into action. He couldn’t leave me. I wouldn’t lethim. He was angry. He just needed to calm down and think straight. And I knew exactly how to remind him why he would never leave.
I grabbed him, swinging him around so his back slammed into the wall. My lips crashed into his, my hands clawing through his hair as my body caged him in. For a second, he kissed me back with the same fire and aggression, our tongues locked in a battle of wills, and I thought we were safe. This was us, blending back in sync. But then he shoved me off so hard I stumbled back, falling into the table. We panted, our gazes locked.
“No more,” he breathed with a gentle shake of his head. And then he was gone.
I stared at the door, unable to believe he’d really refused me. He’d actually left. My knees buckled, and I fell to the floor, my hand still gripping the table for support. Shock gave way to denial. He’d come back. He just needed time. A few hours. Maybe a few days. Weeks, even. He’d come back. Denial hardened into determination. I’d prove to him that this would work. I’d get him back.
I continued to message and call him every day for weeks. All went unanswered. Every night I sat in that apartment, waiting for hours, but he never showed. Finn Rossetti was stubborn, but so was I.
I thought I knew what was best for us, but it turned out I was a clueless, deluded fool.
I was fighting for the wrong thing. I was fighting to survive.
When I should have been fighting for happiness.
Chapter seventeen
Present Day
Ipressed my nose against my daughter’s head and breathed in her scent as she flicked through her fairy book, animatedly chatting to me about all the pictures. This would be the first time I’d leave the country without her. Sometimes I wondered why I did this to myself, why I’d given myself a little person who needed me more than the world, when my line of work was so dangerous. Every day I lived with a target on my back. She was the daughter of the consigliere of Southern Italy, which made her a target for our enemies too. The guilt of knowing that was almost unbearable, but the love I felt for her outweighed it. She was my world, and I couldn’t imagine life without her. It would be empty, so I’d do everything I could to make her little world as safe as possible.
“Neri,” I whispered, interrupting her rant about fairy powers. “Papihas to go away for a few days for work. Okay?”
“On a plane?” she asked, twisting around in my lap with a twinkle in her eyes.
“Si,on a plane.”
“Can I come?”
“Not this time,Stellina. You need to stay here and keep the twins out of trouble.”
She pouted and folded her arms dramatically. “Not fair. I want to go on the plane.”
“How about this? When I’m back, you and I will take a trip together to somewhere special. Where would you like to go?”
