Page 183 of Bleed with Me

“Yes,” I whispered. “But I don’t understand why you don’t lie about it?” I pressed my palm against my chest, rubbing it slowly, because the pain that slashed through my heart was barely manageable. “You could have just said that Malin did it.”

“I would never lie to you about something so important.” He removed my hand from my chest, his thumb brushing my knuckles tenderly. “You know why he had to die. You understand the rules better than anyone.”

“I do.” I smiled sadly. “But I don’t want to hear it ever again.” Dorian’s brows furrowed in confusion. “I don’t want to be reminded that you murdered the man who made me who I am.”

“How can you just look past it?” he asked, disbelief lacing his words.

“I accepted it the moment it happened,” I admitted, almost ashamed of my feelings. “I still love him. He’s still my hero. But he crossed the line.”

Dorian looked more and more confused with every word I said, so I knew I’d have to give him everything.

“The attack on Amelia Santangelo was the last straw,” I said, looking away from him. “We argued for hours, and then I left, furious because the only explanation I ever got from him was that no one would defy him. He demanded blind obedience and forced it on everyone.”

I sighed, and my chin quivered when the memories of the day I found Matilda in the hospital, bloody, bruised, and barely functioning flooded my brain.

“Amelia was like my mother. Matilda and Diana were like my sisters. And…” I inhaled sharply. “Because of Giovanni, I lost them.”

“Fuck,” Dorian muttered, pulling me into his arms. “I didn’t know that.”

“How could you?” I pressed my cheek against his chest. “You lived your perfect life while mine collapsed.”

His body went completely still. It dragged my thoughts away from that dreadful day, but then he placed a kiss on the top of my head. I briefly closed my eyes, memories crashing into me with the full force of another inevitable moment.

“I was in a car accident that night,” I whispered, barely audible, unable to stop the tears from falling. His arms embraced me tighter. “The one that fucked up my hand.”

“I’m so sorry, baby,” he breathed, brushing my hair.

“Don’t be.” I pulled away a little and pecked his jaw. The gentle stubble tingled my skin. “I don’t need your pity. I just wanted you to know why I made my peace with it.” I sat straighter, my hand resting against his chest. “But promise me never to mention it, okay? It’s a closed chapter. I won’t allow Giovanni’s ghost to stand between us.”

“As you wish,” Dorian said, cupping my face, his thumbs wiping the wetness from under my eyes. “I won’t ever say his name if that’s what you want.”

I nodded, a small smile appearing on my lips, yet his severe expression and pain shining in his eyes sent unpleasant shivers down my spine.

“What’s wrong?” I took hold of his wrists and removed his hands from my face.

“There’s another ghost…” He trailed off, gulping thickly. My fingers closed around his large hand, squeezing supportively.

“I’m right here, Dorian. Whenever you’re ready.”

Without another word, he closed the distance between us and connected our lips in a loving kiss. My arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him as close as possible. My body woke up to life, like every time he kissed me, but there was something else between us now. I couldn’t quite name it, but his touches felt different.

Slowly, too slowly for my liking, he moved from my mouth through my jaw to my neck, peppering it with soft kisses. My heart thundered against my ribcage, my fingers entangling into his hair as he pulled quiet moans from me.

“You’re so fucking perfect, Nina,” he whispered against my pulse point, his hot breath fanning over my sensitive skin. “I don’t deserve you.”

I clutched his shoulders and straddled him, because for a brief moment, I thought he might run away from me.

“You do,” I claimed with absolute certainty, cupping his cheeks.

“I don’t want my past to be the thing that destroys this…” A shaky exhale left him. “Whatever it is we have.”

“It won’t.”

“You can’t promise that.” He looked away from me, but I forced our gazes back together.

“I can promise I’ll still be here when you’re done telling me.”

We didn’t say anything for a while. His eyes searched mine as though he was looking for the slightest trace of anything that would tell him to stop before it was too late. But he found nothing, and the tension finally cracked. When we kissed again, there was no urgency behind it, only the quiet reassurance that we were still together.