“I didn’t.” She swims back to my side, parking herself in front of me and resting her hand on the poolside, inches from my leg. “You’re still pissed. That’s why you’ve barely talked to me in days.”
I lower my head, though no one’s out here to overhear. “I couldn’t talk without yelling at you, without wanting to fuckin’ strangle you. And now…you’re engaged.” My tone breaks at theend, revealing a deeper emotion. One my entire body itches to admit, but I can’t.Ever.“In a month, you’ll be walking down the aisle tohim.”
I’m leaning closer, lulled by her siren abilities—abilities that called upon my wonder from day one. Moonlight sparkles over her skin, the drops gleaming like stars. They trail the length of her neck, her chest, and I long to dry each one with my tongue.
“It’ll be fine.”
“Fina, he could hurt you.”
She hoists herself onto the edge, balancing on her hands, her hip resting against the cement. She’s close enough, I’m compelled to check the house, ensuring no one’s observing.
“I’ll stop him before it gets to that. You have to have faith in me. Your boss is a woman. Your sister does as much as you do. You don’t worry about them every day, so what makes me any different?”
“I don’t worry about their safety because I don’tcareabout them the same way I do you.”
Everything goes silent. My heart, her breath, the gentle waves, the luring nighttime air; it all dies with my admittance. We’re staring at one another, each waiting for the other to break. To speak. To react.
I’m fucking terrified about what she’ll say, so I force words first, in between paced breaths, each one feeling like more of my lungs will remain behind. “They can handle themselves. They know what they’re doing, while you don’t. If anything were to happen to you…” I duck my head, inching precariously close to her, given our location. “I won’t lose you to him. Iwon’t.”
She tips her head until her lips gently brush against mine. Her eyes flutter shut, water drops transferring from her lashes to her cheeks. “So train me,” she whispers against my lips. “Help me. Ensure I’ll be able to fight.”
That’d be the simple answer, but we’d be starting at ground zero to get her prepared in a short time.
“A month. They trained for years to get where they are. A month isn’t enough time.”
She pulls back a few inches, enough that her eyes open and scan over mine, as though seeking something. I hope she never finds it. Already, she’s unpeeled too much. There’s genuinely nothing more to give her that won’t destroy me in the process.
She breaks me regardless, though not with a look. “I care about you too, Lev. Which is why I need Vitale to go away. A month, and then it’ll be over.”
A month is too soon.
A month is too long.
A month is thirty fucking days of me counting the damn minutes until the ceremony. The day I’m forced to watch him claim her in ways he doesn’t deserve, when my restraint will be ultimately tested.
“Kiss me.”
I glance over her shoulder, noting all the upper lights in the villa are off.
“They can’t see us out here. Zeno would have to press himself into the glass to see the pool, and even then, this end is out of view. The other rooms face the back.” Another brush of her lips. “Tell me you’re not mad, Lev. I don’t want your anger.”
“But you have it.” Before I can stop myself, I grasp the sides of her face, angling her, taking a fraction of my control back. “I’m furious you’re doing this.”
“It’ll be fine,” she repeats. “We don’t have to talk about it until the day of. Actually, I’d prefer if everyone stopped talking about him.”
As if it’ll be that easy, but it’s a deal I happily make. I peek at her hands, more notably the left one with her ringless fourth finger. It better stay that way for a long damn time.
“None of this isfine, Fina. I hate I never found anything on Amara, and look who she turned out to be linked to. If only I searched harder, but I’ve been so distracted…” By her. I’m compromised—a shit guard, not fit to monitor her the way she needs.
She pulls back to grasp my face, thumbs pressing firmly into my cheekbones. “You are not to blame. Even if you figured it out, the damage was done. But please, I don’t want to talk about any of this—her included.”
Serafina kisses me, her hands raising herself higher. I grasp her hips and lift her from the pool, no longer caring about the consequences of our actions, just needing tofeelher after today.
I pull her onto my lap, the water transferring from her to me. There’s no decent explanation to give the others for my soaked clothing, but, lost in Serafina, those concerns seem so minor.
Her arms drape over my shoulders as she presses down onto my lap, a low noise coming from the back of her throat. I part her mouth with a trace of my tongue, and she opens for me, her head tipping back.
Her hands rove over my shoulders, down my arms, towards my waistband. I’m about to tell her no, that I won’t fuck her out here in the open, but then she taps where my phone is.
