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He didn’t answer.

“Say it,” I urged him.

His eyes lifted. “No.”

“Pussy.”

His jaw clenched. “Careful.”

“Or what?” I taunted, and Dee shoved himself even deeper between my knees.

My back hit the cabinet behind the examination table with a dull knock, his hand snatching up my waist before my ribs could take the impact.

“You want to know why I’ve been staying away?” he said. I swallowed hard and nodded. “Because every time I’m around you, you push.”

“Maybe you need pushing.”

“And maybe you don’t understand what happens when I stop pushing back.”

My grip tightened in his shirt. “Sounds an awful lot like a threat, DeeDee,” I told him.

“It is.”

“Promise?”

His forehead nearly touched mine, and a part of me wished we could stay like this forever. But then Dee moved in, and he kissed me. It wasn’t sweet. There was too much anger left for sweet. Too much history. Too much resentment.

His mouth nudged mine carefully at first, because of the split in my lip. Until I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him closer, and whatever restraint he’d been hanging on to snapped. He kissed me like he was pissed about wanting to, and I kissed him back like I’d been waiting years for him to admit he did.

His hand slid to my hip. Mine twisted into his shirt. I tasted blood. Neither of us seemed to care, though.

Dee finally tore his mouth away. “That was a mistake.”

I stared at him, my swollen lip curving into another smile. “Do it again.”

His expression darkened. I ignored it and tugged him closer.

“Come on, D’Angelo,” I said. “Make another one.”

CHAPTER 28

Dee stared at me. His chest rose once. Slowly. Then again. “You really don’t know when to stop, do you?”

“Nope.”

“You’re hurt.”

“You keep mentioning that.”

“You should be lying down.”

“I’m practically pinned up against a medical table, Florence.”

Dee’s jaw ticked at the mention of his mother’s name. That little twitch was fun to watch. The warning sign I’d spent years learning how to provoke.

“You’re punishing me, aren’t you? That’s what all this was about, wasn’t it?” He gestured to my face and the fresh droplet of blood I could feel trickling down my jaw.

“Don’t flatter yourself, honey.”