Page 22 of Take Me Darkly

“Papa, let me get you a drink. You’ve been talking too much. You need to—” He grips my hand with such force, I’m taken by surprise. I didn’t think he had that much strength left in him.

“Trust your intuition, Serena. X marks the spot—I’m sure of it. But it’s dangerous and you’ll have to be careful. Be smarter than me. Promise to see my work through to the end. You must find Cleopatra and Mark Antony.”

* * *

My chest constricted, a sharp gasp tearing from my throat. Perhaps my father knew more than he’d let on. He did try to warn me. I just hadn’t recognized it for what it was or taken it seriously.

What were you trying to tell me, Papa?

I stood up abruptly, ignoring the fiery protest in my shoulder as I paced across the room. I needed to breathe. I needed clarity in a world that had gone mad.

“Earlier,” I said, turning to face Anton, my voice remarkably steady despite the storm raging inside me. “I asked why you refused FBI involvement. I need an answer.”

He shook his head, his jaw setting into a hard line. “We’ve been over this.”

“No, we haven’t. You deflected. You started to tell me, and then your phone rang. If we’re going to get through this in one piece, I need to know what I’m up against. All of it.”

I watched emotions I couldn’t name flicker across his face.

“It’s not that simple,” he said, moving toward me. His eyes darkened as he placed his hands on my hips, pulling me to him. His actions were predatory in a way that should have frightened me, but instead he made my pulse quicken. “There are things you’re better off not knowing—things that would only put you in more danger if⁠—”

“Stop trying to protect me.” The words burst from me, fueled by raw frustration and desperate need. “It’s time for you to be honest with me, Anton. It’s time for you to trustfall.”

Chapter Seven

Serena

* * *

He went dead still. The silence stretched between us, taut and dangerous. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and dark, sending shivers through me.

“You think you want the truth, princess. But you aren’t ready for the monsters in my closet.”

“Try me.”

He shook his head, his eyes locking onto mine with hypnotic intensity. “Everyone has darkness in their past, princess. Mine is just darker than most.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one I can give you right now.”

I stared at this ruthless, breathtaking man who held my life in his hands. He had shown me tender reverence and dark, commanding passion in equal measure. Despite his infuriating secrets, despite his controlling nature, despite knowing he operated in a world of violence and gray morals... something shattered inside my chest.

Oh, dear God. I’m falling for him.

The realization hit me like a physical blow, stealing the breath from my lungs.

I was falling for Anton Romano—a dangerous, secretive man who made me feel utterly captive and fiercely protected in the very same breath. A man who looked at me as if I were the only precious thing in a ruined world.

And I had no idea if giving him my heart was an act of bravery or sheer madness.

“I need...” My voice cracked, trailing off into the quiet room.

What did I need?

Answers he wouldn’t give?

An escape from feelings I couldn’t control?