Page 54 of Ruthless Royalty

He doesn’t answer right away, just steps into the room, closing the door behind him. The air between us is thick with tension, and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest as he closes the distance between us.

“You know what I want and you’re avoiding me,” he says, his voice low as he reaches out to brush a strand of hair behind my ear. The touch is gentle, almost tender, and it throws me off balance.

“I needed time to think,” I admit, my voice barely above a whisper.

He nods, his eyes searching mine. “And what did you come up with?”

I bite my lip, trying to find the words, but they won’t come. All I can think about is the way he looked at me that night, the way his touch set me on fire, and how fucking lost I felt when it was all over.

“I don’t know,” I finally say, my voice cracking with frustration. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, Gio. Everything’s so fucked up.”

His hand moves to my chin as he forces me to look at him. “You can keep fighting this, but you’ll never be satisfied with anyone else. You’ll always come back to me.”

I swallow hard, my throat tight with the truth of his words. He’s right, and it fucking kills me to admit it, even to myself.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. It’s a pathetic question, and I know it, but I can’t help the desperation that seeps into my tone.

“Because you don’t want me to,” he says simply, as if it’s themost obvious thing in the world. “You might hate it, you might hate me, but you can’t deny that you need this as much as I do.”

“I don’t hate you,” I admit, the words slipping out before I can stop them. “I just hate what you do to me.”

His grip on my chin tightens just a fraction, his eyes searching mine. “What do I do to you, Kitten?” he asks, his voice soft but laced with that edge of danger that always makes my heart race. “Tell me.”

I bite my lip, trying to find the words, trying to make sense of the mess of emotions swirling inside me.

“You make me feel … out of control,” I finally say, my voice shaking. “You make me feel like I’m losing myself, like nothing else matters when you’re around.”

“Good,” he murmurs, his thumb brushing over my lower lip, sending a shiver down my spine. “Because that’s how I feel when I’m with you.”

I close my eyes, trying to block out the intensity of his gaze, but it’s useless. His presence is overwhelming, consuming, and no matter how much I want to resist, I can’t.

“I don’t know how to do this,” I whisper, the admission tearing at me. “I don’t know how to be with someone like you.”

“You don’t have to know,” he says, his tone softer now, almost gentle. “You just have to let go.”

“Let go?” I repeat, my eyes snapping open to meet his again. “Of what?”

“Of everything you think you’re supposed to want,” he says, his voice low and coaxing. “Of everyone telling you who you’re supposed to be. Just be with me, Chiara. Let me show you what it’s like to stop fighting.”

His words are tempting, so fucking tempting. I want to believe that if I just let go, if I just give in, everything will somehow make sense. But there’s still that part of me that’s screaming to hold on, to fight, to not lose myself in him.

“It’snot that simple.”

“Itisthat simple, babygirl. You just have to be honest with yourself. What do you want? Who do you want?”

His words hang in the air, heavy and loaded with meaning. I can feel the weight of them pressing down on me, forcing me to confront the truth that I’ve been trying to avoid.

“I want you,” I finally admit, the words slipping out before I can stop them. “But I’m scared, Gio. I’m fucking terrified.”

He lets out a low chuckle, his hand sliding down to rest on my hip. “Good. You should be. But that doesn’t mean you should run from it.”

I look up at him, my heart pounding in my chest as I search his eyes for any sign of hesitation, but there’s none. He’s all in, and that scares the shit out of me.

But at the same time, it’s exactly what I want—someone who’s not afraid to take risks, to push boundaries, to make me feel alive.

Giovanni’s grip tightens on my hip, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that makes my breath catch.

“You’re the only one who can match me fire for fire, Kitten. There’s no one else I’d rather have at my side than you,” he says. “Trust yourself to make the right decision.”

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