Page 74 of Not Mine to Keep

“I get it. You’re trying to push me away. I all but begged you to do that earlier after you gave me the guitar.” Her soft tone stopped me in my tracks, preventing me from slamming the bathroom door shut. “But you are a hero, Alessandro. What you’re doing for me, for Constantine ... We have different definitions of that word. The only villains are the ones you plan to kill.”

I slowly faced her from where I stood inside the doorway of the bathroom. I set my hands to the frame, trying to stop myself from going into the room and fucking her so hard I’d destroy us both, just to prove she was wrong about me.

She slipped the ring back on her finger while approaching me, eyes steady on mine as she took small but confident steps.

“Calliope,” I hissed as she stopped before me, and I couldn’t help but take notice of her nipples piercing the fabric. “Thin ice.” I reminded her about my control and its limits when it came to her. “You told me earlier you want to hate me, or have you forgotten?”

“I said I’d try.” Her palm went over my heart, and on instinct, I flinched. “Feel that?” She arched a brow and peered up at me. “It beats.”

For you.

Fuck, it seems to beat again for you.

Chills like I’d never known scattered across my skin, and I was pretty sure she was aware of her effect on me. This woman, and my reaction to her, scared the ever-loving hell out of me. “Callie,” I forced out this time. “This is just ... desire. That’s all it is. That’s what you’re feeling.” I swallowed, hating myself enough for the both of us. “We need to stay away from each other. I can’t be near you without ...”Wanting you.“And you’re confused. It’s the adrenaline and shock of your situation. You don’t wantthis.” I pushed away from the doorframe and removed her hand from my chest, unable to handle it parked there any longer.

“Based on how wet I am, I’m pretty sure I do.” And there it was. My good girl’s naughty side. But that side would get her in trouble. Especially with me. Her attention wandered to my dress pants, and I knew she was able to see I was as hard as steel. “What if we get it out of our systems? Maybe that’ll help? Maybe that’s what I should have said earlier in your office.”

I closed my eyes, unable to stand looking at her any more without showing my cards. The fact Imayhave had an emotion or two still left in me after the life I’d lived.

“You’d get bored of me after the one time, right? So no concerns we’d do it again after that.”

Bored was the last thing I’d ever be with this woman. “How would that make you feel if I fucked you and moved on?” I did my best to be an asshole, even though I didn’t want to be one right now.

“Sad,” she confessed without making me wait, and I opened my eyes at that bit of truth. “Because you’re not mine to keep, and I’m afraid I’ll want to.” She blinked back tears.

“Maybe you’re right. I’m not a villain, because a villain would take you now and not care,” I ground out. “And I can’t do that.” I leaned in close, but not so close I’d slip and kiss her. “I don’t want to hurt you.” My voice broke that time. “Please, for the love of God, stay away from me for the next three weeks so I don’t do that. So I don’t become the villain of your story.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Alessandro

“What are you listening to?” Hudson was in the doorway of my office at the security firm, staring at me with a puzzled expression.

I turned off the music app on my phone and leaned back in my desk chair. “You’re telling me you’re from Texas and don’t know Chris Stapleton?”

He laughed. “Of course I do. I just didn’t think you would.” He pushed away from the door and came inside. “Your wife’s influence, huh? Thought you were avoiding her, though?”

I’d done my best to steer clear of Calliope after I almost lost my control Thursday night. It was also why I was at the office on a Sunday night—officially June and the month I’d divorce—listening to country music.What’s happening to me?

I was stalling going home, worried about having another late-night encounter with her. The last few mornings, I’d disappeared before the sun rose and hadn’t gotten in until at least zero dark thirty.

Hudson didn’t press me to answer him, and I was grateful for that. He snatched my black bottle of Clase Azul Ultra and filled two tumblers with a single shot.

“Why areyouhere?” I asked, instead of admitting to him my wife was rubbing off on me in ways I wished she wouldn’t, even if I’d barely seen her in person. “Shouldn’t you be running your bar? You do have another job.”

He handed me the glass and took a seat in front of the desk. “Bar’s closed on Sundays, remember?”

“Right.” I looked to the open doorway, half expecting my sister to pop in, too. She’d been a constant pain in my ass since we’d arrived in New York by checking on me, or having Enzo text me, to ensure I hadn’tsnapped, crackled, or popped—her words. I was pretty sure she’d meant them exactly as they sounded. I was a ball of tension without doing the two things I was good at—hunting criminals and having casual sex.

“I’m worried about you.” He crossed his ankle over his knee, setting his glass on his thigh.

“Izzy sent you, didn’t she? She saw on the cameras I’m here late again.” I should’ve known. She was creeping on me, just like I’d beencheckingon my wife over the security system at our house the last few days.

He frowned. “No.”

“Liar.” I sipped the tequila, waiting for him to fess up.

“I had some time to kill, didn’t feel like being home myself, and thought I’d come here and do a little more digging into Gabriel.”

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