Page 31 of Ruthless Mafia Heir

"Of course I do," she shoots back and, to my surprise, grabs my hand. Her touch is unexpected, and it throws me off my game. Suddenly, I’m struggling to think straight, her fingertips burning into my skin.

"You don’t want to know the kind of life I live," I protest. I don’t even know what I’m trying to keep from her, not really. No, after all, I’ve pulled her into my world, I’ve left her no choice but to be part of this, and now, I’m pulling back from her? Even to me, it seems strange. But I know that showing myself to her, letting her see the darkness that pulses underneath the surface of my life, will scare her off. She’s just a normal girl. Her normalcy was what drew me to her in the first place. And I’m not going to let anything ruin it.

"Yes, I do, Blake," she fires back. "That’s why I’m asking. I want to know. I want to know what kind of person you are. I want to know why you took me and locked me up here, I want to know—"

"Because every moment you’re away from me is a moment I can’t protect you," I hiss back at her. The words hang in the air between us, and she stares at me.

"You think I need to be protected? Because I didn’t. My life was totally normal. Until I met you, at least."

I run a hand through my hair. I hate to admit it, but she’s right. Before I came crashing into her world, she was just a normal woman, but I’ve flipped her life on its head.

"Everything started to change when you came into my life," she continues. "I lost my job, I had to start work at the restaurant, and I... I feel like you had a lot more to do with it than you might want to let on, Blake."

I lift my gaze to meet hers. "Is that what you think?"

"Am I wrong?"

I pause. I can tell her the truth, at least some part of it. But I don’t know how she’ll take it, finding out that I’ve been pulling the strings behind the scenes for so long.

"You can tell me," she prompts, gesturing around. "Hell, it’s not as though I can go anywhere."

"I planned... some of it," I confess to her, finally. "Pulled some strings at the places you worked. Made it so you would need to find a new job. And made sure I would be the one in the student support office when you came in to look for help."

"But why?" She doesn’t even seem surprised. I suppose, after everything that’s happened, there’s no reason she would be.

"Because..." I trail off. What kind of answer can I give her? Because I saw her and I wanted her, and I get what I want? Because she stood up to me and made me feel like nobody else has for so many years? Because the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied until she was mine?

"Because I wanted you."

"That’s it?" she exclaims. "That’s what this has all been about? You just... you just wanted me, and you decided to screw up my entire life to get me?”

"You don’t understand—"

"You’re damn right I don’t understand!”

She’s got every right to be mad at me. Hell, she’s got every right to tear chunks out of me right here on the spot. I still can’t entirely believe how far I took things, how far they’ve gone. It's difficult for me to wrap my head around, but I’m used to getting everything I want.

"Tell me why you did all of this," she urges me, squeezing my hand a little tighter. "I want to understand, Blake. I need to."

I hesitate and look up into her eyes again, those sharp green eyes that have entranced me from the first moment I saw them.

"Because I wanted something that could be mine." The words escape my lips before I can stop them. She stares at me, clearly not able to take in what I’m saying.

"What does that mean?"

"My whole life, I’ve picked up where other people have left off," I continue, the words tumbling out of my mouth with a clarity I didn’t know I had. "Whether it was my father, the heads of Silencio, whatever it was. I was the next in a line of people. I never had anything that was just mine. Everyone, everyone I met, they were seeing me through that lens, but you… You were different. You didn’t know anything about me. I was new to you, and you were new to this world, and I..." I trail off again.

She draws her hand back from me slowly, and I wonder if I’ve shared too much. It’s not often that people ask me how I feel. How I feel, usually, is the last thing they care about, the last thing they have to concern themselves with.

"I... I had no idea," she murmurs, shaking her head and reaching for the glass of wine beside her. I can’t help but wonder if she sees me differently now. The version of the man she wanted, I doubt he’s exactly forthcoming with his emotions.

But, as her lips press to the top of the glass, I can see something has shifted in her gaze, something changing in the way she holds herself, as though things are finally starting to make sense to her.

As though, maybe, I’m beginning to make sense to her.

Chapter Nineteen—Sophia

As the sun dips below the walls surrounding the garden, I know I have a choice to make.

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