Page 55 of If Tomorrow Never Comes

“Come on, I’ll walk you back to your room.”

He takes off towards the kitchen when I do something impulsive.

Something I’m not proud of.

“Wait. Will you…”

Diego whips his whole body back around, one deviant eyebrow arched.

Those sapphire globes of his shine with mischief, and a bit of pleasant surprise. His tongue darts out to wet his bottom lip as he stalks toward me.

It’s predatory.

Unfaltering.

The real, thrillingly terrifying form of the man the underworld callsThe Bone Breaker.

My chest rises and falls with each resolute step he takes my way.Shit is it too late to chicken out?I’ve officially lost it. I keep letting him get in my head. That guilt courses through my heightened senses, in steady competition with the need to know what it would feel like when his lips touch mine.

Lifting my chin and running his thumb over my trembling lips, he pulls my face closer. I brace for what could be the biggest mistake of my life—at least the most reckless—I’m still so unsure.

Diego chuckles and presses a kiss to the tip of my nose. “Consider this your punishment for not only lying to me, but to yourself. I want to do a hell of a lot more than kiss you, you beautiful girl. Tonight you broke up with your boyfriend. A man you are in love with, no matter how much I wish you weren’t. You need time to process and decide if this is what you really want.”

“Ugh,” I push at his chest, making him take a step back. “Forget it. This was a mistake. I don’t even know what I was thinking or who the hell I am anymore.”

I side-step him and attempt to walk back to my room with my pride—and sanity—still somewhat intact. I barely make it to the entry of the kitchen when he tugs at my wrist slamming me into his firm chest. His hand cups my face as his fingers snake through my hair, gripping it at the nape of my neck.

“I think you knowexactlywho you are.Fuck,Madison—I want you. I have beencravingyou in ways I’ve never felt before. Thereis no question about that. I just don’t want you to regret me.” His thumb runs over my bottom lip. “So ask me again. And the next time you do, no longer will you see this gentle side. I will not hesitate,Mariposita,in showing you just how much pleasure you’ve been missing.”

Unraveling his fingers from my hair, he releases me and stalks off in the direction of his room, leaving me standing there flabbergasted. I clasp my hands together and bring them to my lips in disbelief.

Shit.

God fucking damnit!I claw a hand through my hair, gripping it to the point of pain. Unshed tears collect in the corner of my eyes, blurring the lights ofThe Triquetraahead. Conor shoots me a look I know all too well among my men.

Worry.

“This is just a lovers quarrel, Liam. The lass will be blowing up ya phone in the morning.” His sentiment was meant to be reassuring. But it feels anything but. I should be turning this dinghy around, throwing Madison over my shoulder, and getting her the fuck away from Diego and the looming threat over all of our heads.

Except, this isn’t some fairytale romance novel my woman reads.

This is real life.

I can’t change the man I am nor the life I live.Fuck–it’s a miracle that Madison even wanted anything to do with the likes of me.How did we get here?I’d give anything to be back at that college bar right now. Where the threats were minimal, that of any normal college kid trying to make it through the semester. A time not so long ago that I could keep an eye on her.

Only a few short months and here we are with imminent threats all around us and in an all out war. She’s been run off the road, held at gun and knifepoint, beaten and held captive in a filthy dungeon, and so many more atrocious moments in between. My heart continues to crack wide open with each passing thought.

The way her eyes met mine with fear and relief when I first saw her in that closet on the island.

The bruises covering her body as she undressed for a shower at Declan’s.

The defiance in her eyes as she stood her ground, demanding to help Diego.

Each memory brings new waves of grief and longing. The tears spill over my lashes and down my cheeks as my heart stutters in my chest.

I wish more than anything that I could be a different man for her.

That my life wasn’t this way.

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