Page 71 of Theirs to Ruin

“I have to go,” I finally said.

This day had been hard enough without prolonging the inevitable. All I wanted was to sleep. Kage seemed reluctant to release me, but he did.

“I’ll walk you.”

“No—”

His jaw clenched as he cut me off. “People are threatening you…”

“I can take care of myself.” I spoke firmly and took another few steps back. I wanted to thank him for still believing me. For showing me the note. For sharing his stories about Ava. For letting me hold him, kiss him…but I had to get out of there.

Without saying a word, I turned and rushed out of the room.

My life was a mess. I needed to stay away from Kage.

Too bad all I wanted was to turn around and kiss him again.

Chapter 30

Kage

Ifollowed her to make sure she got back to her dorm.

When she went inside, it took every ounce of control I had to stop myself from going after her. Instead, I went around to the back of her building and waited until the lights came on in her apartment. I could make out her silhouette through the sheer curtains. When she began to undress, I stiffened, unable to look away. Then, just as quickly as her silhouette appeared, it disappeared when the lights went off.

Camille’s new dorm wasn’t as isolated as her old one but it still butted up against a dark forest. I scuffed through the gravel, slick from the recent rain, thinking about how she’d held me in her arms, comforting me in my grief for Ava. I thought about our kiss, which had been raw and passionate but also so much more than that.

Real yet soulful.

Powerful yet healing.

And most of all, redemptive.

Tabula rasa.

A clean slate.

For a few moments, I wasn’t the guy destined to take over the Irish mafia after graduating. The guy who’d lost his only sister. The guy who’d killed, more than once.

The guy who’d never let himself fall in love because loving a girl meant I’d have to put her second to the mob and also meant she’d always have a target on her back.

I was just Kage. The guy who’d never wanted the mafia life he’d been born into and could walk away from it.

Those were dangerous thoughts. Fantasies.

That meant the way I’d felt when Camille kissed me was dangerous.

I couldn’t walk away from the mob. I was going to do my duty, and that meant I could never be Camille’s boyfriend or husband, even if pushing her away felt like pushing away air from my lungs.

Anything more than sex and a little fun could never happen between us.

But that didn’t stop me from wishing it could.

Finally, I turned to leave but froze when I saw movement in the trees.

“Who’s there?” I called sharply.

When no one answered, I pulled my gun from my ankle holster and held it in front of me, the safety off. I stalked toward the woods, pulling my phone out with my other hand, shining the flashlight into the trees. I did a methodical search but couldn’t find anyone.

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