Page 124 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

“Because you’ll get us both in trouble. You’re testing me, and I don’t like being tested. I told you to stay away for your own good.”

Annoyance surged within me. At least I was trying. And all he was doing was pushing me away.

“I know it would be better for everyone if I stayed away from you. I know that.” I slammed my hand against my chest, sparking intrigue in his eyes at my tone. “You have no idea what I’m risking by even being here with you, Maddox.”

“Then stay away,” he growled, leaning forward and clenching his fists on his knees. “I’m trying to protect you.”

“From what?”

“From me. I’m the only person you need protection from.”

“What are you talking about? That’s insane—”

“I know I hurt you. I know I tried to kill you in the bunker.”

The look of pure devastation on his face felt like a knife to my soul. Had he remembered that? With no context? “No, you don’t—”

“Don’t make excuses for me, Raya,” he growled. He said my name. The swelling in my chest left me breathless. “I know what I did. I don’t deserve to be anywhere near you. I don’t deserve to touch you, look at you, or even breathe the same fucking air as you. I’ll hurt you again. I won’t want to, but I will.”

I stepped closer. “Maddox, you won’t. That was before we’d barely said a word to each other. You changed with me. You were—”

“Stop,” he groaned, shaking his head. “I tried to strangle you. I tried to drown you. I planned to kill your brother.”

“I know,” I choked, stepping closer through the water. “But you didn’t. You stopped every time. You proved that the monster they made you into wasn’t who you truly were.”

“You’re wrong. I can’t be the man you need me to be.”

I stopped in the middle of the pool, meeting his dark gaze, wondering how he could be so comfortable making this decision for us. “So that’s it?”

His shoulders tensed as he drew a deep breath. “It has to be.”

Something inside me cracked. I let out a hollow laugh because tears were no longer an option. “Then maybe this really was fate.”

“What does that mean?”

“That maybe I should stop fighting it.”

“Fighting what?”

“My future.”

He frowned.

“There is one decision I regret making.”

“...What?”

“Agreeing to marry someone else.”

The words tasted like poison. His entire body went rigid. His nostrils flared as he gritted his teeth.

“Who?”

“A Bratva heir.”

He continued to stare at me, his whole body tightening like a coil.

“Before Sean took me, I offered to marry him instead of Arianna.”