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Stay. Don’t leave. Don’t forget this.

Our lips part as we gasp for breath after almost two full minutes of being locked together. My lungs burn. Her pupils are blown wide.

She cocks her head. “Are we gonna do this or just stare at each other all night?”

And that’s it. Chaos takes over. I rip her panties down her legs, and she kicks them off her ankles into a dark corner of the bed. She opens her arms wide to receive me as we remove my briefs together. Never mind the fact that they don’t go past my knees.

The first plunge into her wetness has me gritting my teeth.

Tight. Hot. Perfect. She bucks upward, smiling brightly as she accepts all of me…every inch.

My control shatters.

We find a wild, urgent, and all-consuming rhythm. She arches into me, and I lose myself in her heat, in her moans, in the way she grapples me like I’m the only solid thing left in her world. Her nails rake down my back. I grip her hips, driving her harder against me. She wraps her legs around my waist, digging her heels into my lower back.

“Enzo.” My name breaks on her lips.

I bury my face in her neck, tasting salty sweetness. “Mine,” I growl against her throat, not because I own her, but because for once in my life, I want someone to choose me back.

Her body arches beneath me, trembling. I follow moments later, groaning her name like a prayer, a curse, a promise.

We collapse into each other’s arms, our chests heaving, our bodies slick with sweat.

The dead quiet returns. We’re tangled up, the seconds passing in rhythm with our heartbeats and heavy breaths. She snuggles in to rest her head on my shoulder. Outside, the city keeps moving. The plots, the danger, the demands… In here, though, everything’s on pause. No future, no past, just this stolen pocket of peace I already know I’ll probably pay for in blood.

My fingers trace circles on her back, causing her to shiver. “You’re cold.”

“No. Just alive.”

A pause.

“Whatever happens, remember this was real.” Her words settle like stones in my gut.

Ice crawls up my spine. “That’s new. What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing.” Her chuckle comes out hollow. Rehearsed. “Just wanted you to know how real this has been for me, Enzo.”

My chest tightens, alarm bells screaming in my head while she silently confirms my suspicions from dinner. As everything—the careful meal, the hollow smiles, the way she keeps touching me like she’s committing me to memory—clicks into place, my arms stiffen around her. “It’s been real for me, too, Sophia.”

“Good.” She snuggles in deeper, but her body is tense.

My mind flashes warnings. She’s hiding a secret that feels like goodbye. There’s no doubt about that. And leaving it to chance feels scarier by the minute.

Lifting her chin with my finger, I lean closer until she has no choice but to meet my gaze. Her green eyes shimmer like glass, wet with tears she’s fighting to contain.

“Sophia, what are you not telling me?”

“Nothing.”

Fear for her coils in my chest. “Don’t lie. Not to me. Not after everything.”

“I’m not. Not this time.” She brushes her thumb across my jaw. “I’m glad to be here with you, Enzo.”

“Me too.”

She laughs and presses her forehead to mine. “You’re so agreeable tonight, Signor Ricci.”

I lift an eyebrow. “You don’t want me to be?”