Page 90 of Lunar Crest University

“Stopsayingthat!”

“What do you want me to say?” His voice is pleading as he steps toward me again. “Tell me what to say, Finley, and I’ll say it.”

I bury my face in my hands, my shoulders slumping. “There’s nothing you can say. Not right now.”

“Please, don’t be angry with me,” he begs in a whisper, and his hand encircles my wrist before I can protest. I try to pull away, but he’s got a vice grip on me. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I kept this from you. Just,please. Don’t leave.”

Frowning up at him, I shrug as I try to find words.Anywords. Of course, he’s saying all the things I’ve been yearning to hear this entire time, but is any of it real? Can he evenfeel?

“You drove us here,” I breathe. “How can I leave?”

His head lowers until he’s at eye level with me, and he puts my hand against his chest. All this time, I thought that was justfor me, my secret to know how he was really feeling. Did he know all along? Was I that obvious? I freeze under his touch, and my breath halts in my throat as I feel his heart going insane under my palm.

“I don’t mean leave here.” He presses my hand harder against him. “I mean, don’t leaveme.”

My heart swells as my mind screams at it to stop.No. Do not give in to him. He doesn’t get to touch me and think that makes everything better. No matter how much my shattered heart yearns for this. No matter how badly I needed to hear him say it.

“You need to give me time,” I manage to say through tears.

“And you’ll stay?”

“I don’t know, Luca.” Licking my lips, all I taste is salt. “Okay? I don’t know anything right now. My brain is in overdrive, and I just need it all to stop.”

He releases my wrist, and for a moment, I relax, but then, he drops to his knees at my feet. I can’t move. I’m gawking down at him, my mouth opening and closing a few times as I try to make sense of what he’s doing. He puts his hands on my thighs, looking up at me through dark, wet lashes and…

“Please stay,” he breathes. “I’ll give you all the time you need,Princesa. But please, just stay.”

I’m shaking like a leaf as I frown down at him, and maybe it’s because my heart is pumping so hard. He’s looking up at me with those dark teddy bear eyes, and it’s like he knows I have no willpower. He’s kicking me while I’m down. While I’m weak. But he’s doing it in the gentlest way possible. I’ve never seen him like this.

He’s a murderer…but he’s Luca.

He’s a murderer…but he’s the man who saved my life more than once.

Luca grips my calf, squeezing gently, digging his fingers into the muscle. “I’m sorry,amor.”

I bite my lip as more tears fall down my cheeks.

“What can I do?” he asks. “Tell me what to do, Finley.”

My heart and my mind are at war as he slides his hands up to my waist, pressing his face into my stomach. His nose tickles the spot just above the button of my jeans, and I want to scream at the way my thighs clench. It’s humiliating how wet he makes me, how I have literally no control over my own body in his presence.

I want to hate him.

I want to push him away.

“Tell me,” he mumbles into my sweater. “Because I need you. I need you to stay. You can’t leave. I know I’m a bad person, but you can’t leave. I feel good around you. You make mefeelgood.”

As he brings his gaze back up to me, I find myself threading my fingers through his hair before I can think twice about it. The tears spill from my eyes as I look down at him. I’m sad—for myself, for him, for all of it.

“Luca,” I say softly, but it’s more like a plea.

Don’t make me choose. Stop doing this to me.

“Punish me,” he says quickly, like he knows I’m on the brink, right on the edge, teetering there like a fool.

“What?”

“Punish me,” he repeats. “Do whatever you want to me. Just…Princesa, please. Punish me.”

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