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Dangerously, his face loomed over mine with barely an inch between us. "Says me." He replied in a low, gravelly voice as his jaw tensed and twitched.

Swallowing my nerves, I gripped the armrests of my chair. "Last I checked, you aren't in charge of me. You said I was free to do whatever I want living with you." I shot back with a cocky smirk.

"Juliet." It was a warning with how grave my name came out. "Do not play this game with me. It won't end well for you, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you. So, drop it." His fingers slowly clawed at the edge of my desk and gripped it, making it creak under him.

"Make. Me."

Chapter 15

Luciano

~3 weeks later~

"Juliet."

Slam!

Okay, still pissed at me.

I had to give her credit where it was due; I didn't expect her to hold a grudge for this long.

It had been a little over three weeks since our little tiff argument in her room, where I abruptly walked out on her after she told me to make her because if I hadn't removed myself that very instant, then I would have wrapped my hand around her neck and made her obey. She didn't need that from me, and I didn't need to possibly traumatize her further.

The cold treatment from her shouldn't bother me this much, though. After all, I wanted some distance between us to drown any kind of budding heat between us. The less interaction we had with each other, the better.

If only her determination to shut me out extended to her need for my comfort. Juliet still sought me out during her drops and attacks, which gave me a twisted sense of relief. Despite everything, she still needed me at the end of the day. It was fucked up of me to be so possessive of her when I didn't want her close, but the thought of her being with anyone else or getting her happiness from anyone besides me still made the red beast inside of me spring to life.

Leah's soft voice broke through my thoughts. "Luciano."

"What?" I winced internally when I heard how harshly I snapped at her. "Sorry." I quickly apologized with averted eyes and turned my body towards my good doctor friend.

"What is going on with you and Juliet? You two are acting like bipolar cats and dogs with this stupid silent anger and back-n-forth sweetness." Looking at me pointedly, she crossed her arms and leaned on a leg. "Frankly, it's getting annoying, and it's affecting Juliet from what her therapist has told me."

Just fucking great.

Groaning, I ran a hand down my face as I leaned back against my desk. "What the fuck am I supposed to do, Leah? If I reject her, then that can send her spiraling—"

Leah quickly interrupted me with a questioning raise of her brow and a smirk. "Do you want to reject her? Do you really not want her as much as she wants you?"

Throwing my hands up in defeat, I let my head fall back to take some interest in my ceiling for a moment to collect my thoughts before looking back at my waiting friend. "It doesn't matter if she wants me as badly as I want her. We cannot work." Holding up a hand, I started listing things off. "For one, I am twice her fucking age. Two, she is just misplacing everything and being infatuated with me because I saved her from a shitty situation and gave her a better life. Three, we are from two completely different worlds, and I don't want to ruin her with all the bloodshed that I create."

Sighing heavily, I frowned sadly to myself. "I can't have her. I have already ruined so many lives, but hers is one I refuse to taint." Pushing off my desk, I stuffed my hands into my pants pockets. "She will get over me. She's still so young and still has a world to explore."

Leah's sudden advance and attack caught me off guard. "You. Stupid. Dense. Fucking. Idiot." Each word was punctuated by a whack to my cowering form from her hard bag.

"Would you stop hitting me?" I grunted out between the hits as I kept my arms up to defend myself.

"Are you going to quit being an idiot?" Leah gritted through her teeth, holding her bag in the air with the threat of more to come.

"How am I being a stu—ow! Quit it!" I went back to cowering and covering myself from her onslaught while she spat out more things at me. "I swear, I will throttle you." I threatened half-heartedly after the hits became annoying.

"And I will make sure you never have kids if you do." She threatened back with an angry huff before hitting me one last time and then pulling back. "Seriously, you're hurting her more by not giving both her and you a chance."

Plopping down in the armchair across from my desk, Leah scowled and glared at me scoldingly. "Who gives a flying shit about your stupid age gap? People date others who are older and younger than them by decades all the time in this day and age. I mean, for fuck's sake, look at Aidan. He is literally dating someone his daughter's age!" She pointed out, jabbing a finger at my side. "So, that reason of yours is utterly pointless and moot."

"Second of all, have you ever sat down and talked to her about her feelings for you and tried to work it out based on her answer? Honestly, how else are you supposed to know whether her infatuation with you is because you saved her or if she is actually developing feelings for you because she likes you." Leah pointed out with another angry jab at me, making me wince at the feeling of her sharp nail digging into me.

"Because there is nothing about me to like." I hissed back, waving Leah's hand away from my body. "She's barely been with me a month and a half, and she has not even scratched the surface of me."

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