Page 136 of Mafia And Maid
Softly, her hand cups my cheek. I lean into the warmth. Eyes closed, I let her ease some of the darkness brewing inside me. Taming the roaring beast that lurks beneath my skin. The light of her cocoons me.
“Camillo, you don’t need to do that.”
“I do. I need you to understand…” I’m fumbling. The words have me tongue tied. “I’m not a good man,” I breathe finally, forehead againsthers. “I don’t deserve you. I won’t ever be worthy of you. But I wantyou—more than I want anything else. But I need you to understand that I’m going to do whatever I need to do to make sure you’re safe.”
She says nothing.
I can hear my pulse racing in my ears. The blood roaring as my chest constricts. It’s an intense confession. The closest I can get to telling her how I feel. I open my eyes, looking down at her. “That means taking care of your fucking husband.”
“Taking care?”
“If we can’t fight him legally, there are other ways.”
“You mean…” Her voice drifts off, silence filling the gap.
“I have a plan.” This is a goddamn bad idea. But she deserves to know.
I’ve had a plan for a while now. One that’s been formulating since she walked back into the estate, face swollen and beaten. A new beast rumbles to life in my body. One built of brimstone and fire. One that craves blood in payment. It’s settled into my mind and only solidified.
With the FBI off our backs now, the Fratellanza are once again untouchable. I can finally hit him where it hurts. I can repay every single mark and bruise that marred her perfect body until even hell won’t know what monstrosity has landed on their doorstep. Until the taste of copper fills the air and the beast I am is satisfied.
He’ll never hurt Ethan or Rosa again.
And that thought beats as hard and solid as my heart.
She wriggles from my grasp. “No.” Her head shakes furiously. And her eyes flash with something I can’t pinpoint.Is she finally seeing me for what I am?
“No?”
“You can’t.” She clears her throat, wrapping her arms around her body.
Her words dig the blade in my chest deeper, twisting and serrating my insides. I blink. Pain spreads through my body as I stare at her. The look of horror on her face is mixed with something else, but I’m not sure what.
My hands fall to my sides. It takes every fiber of my body to remain upright. Knees locked, I stare at her, watching her features contort and brow furrow. She’s pacing now, her arms still tightly wrapped around her middle. “There has to be another way...”
I can’t hear the rest of what she says over the roaring in my head. Over the sound of the fracturing of what little is left of my heart, the jagged pieces crumbling into dust within me.
She’s staring back at me now. Eyes wide and mouth trembling. I can see the disgust woven into the fleck of golden yellow amongst the warm brown hues of her irises.
I disgust her.
The thought repeats over and over again.
“Rosa—” I reach toward her.
But she flinches. And my hand drops back down.
“Camillo, promise me you won’t do it.”
I don’t make promises I can’t keep. I stare at her. She’s only a few feet from me now, but a chasm stands between us that might as well be the Grand Canyon. My throat works around a lump as I try to find the words to make it go away, to drown out the feeling that overwhelms me.
She steps closer. “Please?” Tears rim her eyes. Tears over the monster she realizes I am now. Over the realization of just whose bed she’s been sharing all this time.
Ice fills my veins. She finally sees the nightmare I am. Every bit of the broken, mangled monster that the gossipers have told stories of. Why wouldn’t she? I’ve just offered to kill her husband—to make her mine, utterly and completely.
My chin jerks. A tight nod is all I offer. Because it’s not a promise I’m willing to make.
Despite the coldness that washes over me, I will do whatever I can to get her out from his grasp. Away from his poison. And if that means dirtying my hands, so be it. And even if it means destroying the world for her and myself, I’ll do it.