Page 20 of Theirs to Rule

When he finally went down, limp and bleeding on the pavement, I stood over him, breathing hard, my hands slick with blood—his and mine.

* * *

By the time I got back to the chateau, my adrenaline had burned out, leaving me with the familiar ache of emptiness. I climbed the stairs to Camille’s room, my steps heavy, my chest tight. Her scent hit me the second I walked in—soft and warm, like sunshine trapped in a bottle.

I sat on the edge of her bed, letting the memory of her wash over me. She’d been fire and steel in Italy, the girl who never backed down, even when she should have. She’d fought for me, believed in me, and I’d thrown it all away. Because that’s what I did. I ruined good things.

I pulled the baggie of pills from my pocket, pouring a few into my palm. My sister’s face flashed through my mind—innocent, sweet, stolen too soon. I’d failed her just like I’d failed Camille. If my sister had lived, I’d have wanted her to have someone better than me. Someone like Dante, maybe even Kage, on his good days.

Not someone broken.

The pills stared back at me, promising peace, but I couldn’t take them all. Not yet. Not while Camille was still out there, walking around with pieces of my heart in her hands.

Instead, I swallowed one. Just one, to take the edge off.

As the tension ebbed, my resolve solidified. I would find the bastards who’d poisoned my family, who’d turned my life into this endless pit of anger and regret. And when I was done? Maybe then I’d take the rest of the pills.

But not tonight.

Tonight, I’d let myself imagine what it would feel like to see Camille again. To touch her one last time. To tell her that, no matter what happened, she’d always be the last thing on my mind.

Chapter 10

Camille

Icame to consciousness slowly, blinking as light filtered through my lids. My body ached, but it wasn’t painful. It was that sweet ache that came from having multiple orgasms given to me by a man who’d do anything in his power toeasemy pain.

Dante Morillo.

Bad ass biker and gold-hearted school counselor.

The man who’d momentarily yet still miraculously eased my heartbreak that Kage was engaged. Even now, with the knowledge of Kage’s betrayal threatening to overpower me again, Dante’s arms around me made me feel safe.

I shifted slightly, feeling the press of Dante's chest against my back. He stirred, his breath warm against my neck.

"Morning," he murmured, his voice rough with sleep.

I turned to face him. "Hey," I replied, my voice barely a whisper.

"You okay?"

The concern in his eyes made my heart twist. "Yeah, just... thinking about everything," I admitted. Then I winced. “I’m sorry if I worried you. If I pressured you to?—”

“To what?” he growled. “Touch you? Believe me, Peaches, I wanted to do more than finger you to orgasm. You didn’t pressure me to do shit.” Despite his rough words, he kissed my forehead, a gesture so tender it threatened to unravel me. "I’m yours, Camille.”

I closed my eyes. The wall I’d been building around my heart the past few days almost caved in and I didn’t rush to rebuild it.

Just because Kage had betrayed me didn’t mean Dante would. Ihadto believe that. Otherwise, I’d isolate myself completely, and Dante hadn’t done anything to make me doubt him.

“Kiss me?”

His fiery gaze homed in on my mouth as if he was starving for a taste. “And then what? Do you need me to make you forget about Kage again?”

He didn’t say it with a hint of bitterness or snark. It was an honest question, and he was willing and able to do exactly what he said, but this wasn’t about wiping away my hurt about Kage anymore. My heart was broken, yes, but I also felt Dante embedded into every shattered piece. It confirmed what I’d suspected all along—that even as Kage had made me fall in love with him, I’d been on the verge of falling in love with Dante, too.

My heart, it seemed, was a greedy bitch. It had held on to my love for Ty even after he’d betrayed me two years ago. It had gorged itself on everything that Kage had offered me. And it had quietly soaked in all that was Dante.

He was in my heart, and now I wanted the rest of him.

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