So I did.
In, then out, then back in, and all the while he rubbed circles on my back. After a few moments, I felt steadier.
“Did that just happen?” I asked, voice a whisper.
I couldn’t believe it.
I’d bargained with the Mafia.
I’dshotsomeone’s dick off.
Calder lifted my chin, catching my gaze. “You were amazing.”
“I was bluffing! Calder. I…” Goose bumps sprouted on my flesh, and I started to shake. Uncontrollably. Calder dragged me back to him, holding me tight.
“I was so scared,” I said into his flesh. “I waslying. I don’t think I could have held up?—”
“Shay.” He pressed his lips against my temple. “It worked.”
It felt like a dream. Did I really just bluff to the Mafia? To a man who could skin me and those I love alive?
And it fuckingworked?
I sat up on my elbows, finding Calder’s gaze.
“You saved me,” he said, voice soft.
Isavedhim?
That couldn’t be right. I was always the one who needed saving.
I shook my head. “But I?—”
Calder slammed his lips against mine, and any thoughts I’d had vanished. His grip snaked through my hair, pulling me closer. His palm spanned the length of my neck and lower skull.
“Youdidwant to live out your book fantasies,” he said against my lips.
“I didn’t mean this!Obviously.” I pulled back, smacking him lightly on his chest.
He grinned.
My touch lingered. His smile faded into something soft, and he placed a knuckle beneath my chin, tilting my gaze back up.
“Never like this,” he said. “Never again.”
A cast-iron weight lifted off my chest. He was free.Iwas free. No Graham. No Mafia.
“Now what?” I asked.
“I understand if you want to…” Calder shifted, as if something was poking his back. “If you want to take time.”
“You want this to be over?” I asked. “Did you change your mind?”
“No.” He blinked like I’d slapped him. “I love you, Shay. It’s just, it would be normal for you to rethink things. After everything.”
We’d never been normal. Our first date started in a graveyard. He stalked me, and then I stalked him. I shot someone’sdickoff.
But maybe we could be normal.
