“You mean my loyal solider Enzo? Yes, I spoke to him and he gave me the information you didn’t. According to him, the Geneovese offered you a perfectly reasonable way to deescalate the situation, and you turned it down,” Don Carlo muttered, his eyes bulging with rage.

“It wasn’t an option,” I said flatly, my voice ice cold.

“Not an option? Some piece of ass could fix all this, and it’s not an option?”

I clenched my fists, something I knew he hadn’t missed. Then I locked eyes with him.

“She’s mine. Anyone who touches her will die.”

The boss glared at me, but then relented. “You won’t be the first to get yourself killed over pussy, but you won’t take my family with you,” he said.

“What does that mean?” I asked, regaining control.

“It means you can have a few men, but I’m not going to war with the Genevose over this petty shit,” he said.

“Meaning?” I asked again.

“Meaning do whatever the fuck you want, Nico. And you can have Enzo, Sebastian, and one of the younger soldiers. But that’s it. Whatever happens after that falls on you,” he said.

I shrugged.

Of course it would fall on me.

It always had.

This wasn’t any different, and Don Carlo knew that just as well as I did.

I said nothing else, but knew that this situation couldn’t last.

Now I had to decide what I was going to do.

Just like I had to stop being a bitch and go back to my house.

I both wanted to and dreaded it, not knowing if I would be able to control my emotions.

When I got back, the place was dark, quiet, but I still felt her there.

And even more, I felt soothing relief.

Ilikedher being here.

Wanted her to be here.

And it fucking terrified me.

When I went upstairs, she was sitting on the bed, her eyes hooded as she watched me.

I undressed, then went to the bathroom to shower.

When I returned, she was in the same spot.

I walked toward the bed, and she lay down, then reached for the bounds I’d used to tie her to the bed.

A feeling, far too much like shame, washed over me.

I circled the bed, then lay down without tying her up.

To my shock, she lay next to me.