Because if the roles were reversed, if he were on that bar and I were the one holding the knife, I would give it all up.
My freedom. My name.
Even my life. Even now. Even after what he did.
I would bleed for another kiss.
For a whisper of what I know he feels but will never say.
But he wouldn’t.
Not for me.
Not for a girl who was gifted and cursed in the same breath.
He wouldn’t risk his rank.
Wouldn’t risk Enzo.
Wouldn’t risk Dante.
Wouldn’t risk anything.
Chapter 13
Elijah
Enzo’s going to kill me.
And maybe I deserve it.
How the fuck could I be so weak? I had one job—to protect her. Not to touch her. Not to taste her.
But the second her mouth brushed mine, I stopped being her brother’s best friend and became every goddamn thing I swore I’d never be.
I knew this would happen. I knew if I crossed that line, I’d end up here—drowning in guilt and need, too tangled to tell which one hurts more.
For eight fucking years I’ve kept control. Swallowed every look, every sound she made that scraped down my spine. And now? I’ve shattered it in a single breath.
Enzo will be ordered to kill me for this.
Maybe I could kill Leo first—keep him from bragging about his pathetic little kiss with her.
No. Fuck—I can’t.
I saw it in her eyes. She didn’t want him. She used him to break me—to pull me under until I couldn’t breathe. She knows exactly the kind of effect she has on men, and Leo only reacted the same way I did: want her, touch her—touch what was never his.
I won’t pretend I’m any better. If I die for this, I’ll at least go down with a shred of honour.
Maybe Enzo won’t find out. Maybe I’ll join the list of men stupid—or lucky—enough to survive one night in Aurelia’s orbit.
But what the hell is her problem?
Did she really think I’d resist her once she took her shirt off? Was that her plan—to make me break just so she could watch me burn for it?
She knows I’d kill for her.
So why does she need me to die for her too?
