Page 237 of Roberto

However, I was absolutely terrified he would break my heart again.

And yet…

If I could have him back…

I was almost ready to take that risk.

…almost.

“Stop,” I whispered, pleading.

He didn’t stop.

In fact, he got so close he could have kissed me.

“If you’re going to kill me, then go ahead and do it,” he murmured. “You’d be doing me a favor by putting me out of my misery – because I can’t live without you. Iwon’t.”

I stared at him.

I could feel my lips quivering.

I wanted himsobadly –

And then an unfamiliar voice spoke Cantonese behind me.

“Hey – what’s going on back there?” a man asked in a leering tone.

I whipped around to see three men standing at the head of the alley.

They were all scruffy and dressed shabbily. If I had to guess, I would have said they were junkies or petty thieves – maybe both.

At 2:30 in the morning in this part of town, there were only a few types of people out and about, and these guys weren’t club-goers or customers of De Sade.

As soon as the leader of the pack saw me, he laughed and started approaching.

I knew that look.

I’d seen it in the eyes of dozens of men in De Sade –

And I’d had them all thrown out on their asses.

“Get the fuck out of here!” I yelled at him angrily.

That didn’t deter him at all.

In fact, it only escalated the situation.

He pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and opened it with aclick.

At first I thought,My guys are watching this – they’ll be here any second –

But then I remembered the last order I’d given my head of security:

No matter what you see on the camera feeds, you are NOT to intervene.

I have something planned, and I have it under control.

They probably thoughtthiswas what I had planned – a little outside muscle to intimidate Roberto.

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