She wrapped her hands around my wrists, but didn’t try to pull me away. “I can’t ask you to do this.”
“You didn’t ask. If this is the only way to be with you, then this is what I’ll do.” I stared down into her eyes. Those beautiful eyes that swallowed my soul until it was a part of her. “Marry me.”
The way she looked at me made me wonder if what I heard in my head and what I’d said were two different things.
“What?”
“Marry me, Sera.”
A nervous laugh burst from her. “I can’t marry you.”
“Why not?”
“Because…” she trailed off.
“That’s not a good enough reason.”
She gave me a look like I’d lost my mind and took a few steps back until she was out of my reach and I was forced to let her go. Then she walked around me to stand by the windows.
I followed her, but gave her her space and allowed her to think it through for a few minutes. When she faced me again, I knew by the look on her face she was going to refuse me again. “Enzo, we barely know each other.”
“You know me, Sera.”
She was surprised by my answer, but only for a moment. “You’re right. I do know you. You’re a mafia man. And you always will be. You’ll never be able to escape it. And neither will I if I stay with you. It won’t matter where we go, or how fast we run.”
“That’s not all I am,” I told her. “I’m also just a man. A man who doesn’t want to lose you.”
She opened her mouth. Closed it. “Enzo, this is crazy.”
“Why?” And in that moment, it didn’t seem crazy at all. It was the most natural thing in the world, and I couldn’t for the life of me remember why I’d been fighting so hard against it. Sera wasn’t Alessandra. She’d grown up in this world. She knew who I was. She would be a good wife. It would work. We would make it work. “You said you wanted to be with me.”
“I do.”
I reached for her hand. “Then do me thehonorof being my wife, Sera. Stay with me.”
At first, I thought she was finally going to relent. Her eyes softened, and a smile played around the corners of her mouth. Reaching up with her free hand, she touched my face. Just a brush of her fingertips before I leaned down and took her lips with mine.
Her bottom lip trembled beneath mine as she pulled away just far enough that I could see her eyes. See that she meant what she said.
“I’m sorry, Enzo. I can’t.”
CHAPTER18
Serafina
Watching him, I saw the exact moment when he understood that I wasn’t going to change my mind. And that he couldn’t make me.
And yet, he would try.
His upper lip lifted in a snarl. “Get on your knees.”
I kept my eyes on his. He had such beautiful dark eyes. You could see everything in those eyes. Every thought. Every feeling. All the way down to the deepest recesses of his fucked up soul if you looked hard enough. And right now, beneath all this bravado and intensity, he was terrified. I shook my head. “No.”
He pressed the muzzle of the gun against my temple. “Get on yourfuckingknees, Sera.”
When I didn’t immediately obey him, he pressed it harder into my skull, making me wince. I wondered how far I could push him before he’d snap. “You won’t do it.”
A terrifying smile played around the corners of his mouth as he cocked his head to the side, but he said nothing. However, he didn’t need to. I could see everything he was thinking in his eyes. And maybe this was not the night to press my luck. It seemed I’d pushed him enough.
