Page 44 of Inevitably Yves

“We’ll keep our eyes open.”

“Good. And Paolo? I heard he was still there.”

Tiago chuckles. “Oh, he’s here. He’s enjoying everything we have to offer. Do you want me to interrupt him?”

“Let him have his fun. It may be the last for a while, but do tell him before he leaves.”

“On it.”

After Yves ends the call, he plops down in the armchair by one of his windows. “Tell me something to take my mind off all of this. Where have you been all this time, Dami?”

Exhaling, I walk over and sink to the floor, sitting by his feet and leaning against his legs. I gaze up at him, admiring the way the moonlight shines on his features through the windows.

“Spain mostly. Dubai for a time.” I shake my head. “Australia, Germany, Italy. I tried to return to France, but I couldn’t relax there.”

“Never America?”

“Brief visits, but again, I was never soothed. I guess I was in the wrong area.”

He smiles softly, carding his fingers through my hair. “It makes me wonder how he accomplished it. Keeping us apart for so long.”

“Who only knows.” I drag my hand along his smooth leg. “I want to tell you about my life since we’ve been apart.”

“But? I sense your hesitation.”

I huff a dark laugh, nodding. “It’s not at all like yours. I’ve done nothing noble. You’ve built an empire and I’ve…” I pause. “Squandered time.”

“Don’t compare yourself. Our motivations were different. I had a gaping hole I tried to fill. I never set out to create anything.”

“We had the same gaping wound, but we approached it differently.”

“You know I’ll never judge you harshly, Dami.”

“I know. I just want to be worthy of you. I want you to be proud of the man I am.”

“You already have what you want then. Nothing you could tell me would change that.” He leans close, putting his palm to my chest. “I know you, Damiano. In here. The rest of it is just circumstances. If you think I’ve always been honorable, you’re very wrong.”

“What have you done? Tell me one thing.”

“Fine. Before Syn, I drained five men and one woman completely. I had no control over the rage my loss of you caused. No productive way to handle the trauma he left me with. I only wanted death.”

His words stir something hot in my belly. “You’re telling the truth?”

“Why would I lie? I tried to fuck it all away and that didn’t work, so I tried to murder my way through it. That didn’t work either. I convinced myself that fate, or the gods, or whatever deity deemed me unworthy of you could sit back and watch me self-destruct.”

“What changed?”

His expression turns somber for a moment before he blinks it away. “Loneliness. I realized I was chasing something that could never be caught. I met this nest of vampires in Ireland where I was trying to find myself again. They told me of the fated mates lore, and immediately, my heart wanted it more than revenge, more than death, more than life. I went in search of mine, seducing men I convinced myself could be for me.”

“You were in love with Syn?”

He clicks his teeth. “No, but gods, how I wanted to be. When it was clear he wasn’t my mate, I moved on. Repeat five times.”

“Do you want to tell me about Marcello yet?”

His energy cools significantly as soon as I say the name. “No. I will though.”

“Okay, tell me one thing though. Who do you hate more? Marcello or Hadrian?”

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