Page 88 of Until You Break

She hums, her arms tightening around me as she pulls me closer. “What’s the truth?”

I grin, my lips brushing against hers as I murmur, “The truth is, you were mine the moment you looked at me like I was the only thing in this world that could break you. And now? Now you’re addicted to it.”

Her fingers grip my shoulders, her nails digging into my skin as she whispers, “And what about you, Dominic? Are you mine?”

The question punches through me, but I don’t hesitate. I can’t. “I’ve always been yours,” I admit, my voice low, gravelly. “From the second I laid eyes on you, I knew I’d either ruin you or die trying. Turns out, I ruined myself in the process.”

Her lips part like she’s about to say something, but I silence her with a kiss, slow and deep, stealing the breath from her lungs until we’re both trembling. Her fingers curl into my hair, her grip tight as she deepens the kiss, and for a moment, it feels like the world outside doesn’t exist.

It’s just us—chaos and blood and heat, tangled together in a way that’s as destructive as it is perfect.

When I pull back, her eyes are glazed, her body soft beneath mine, and I know I have her exactly where I want her.

Because love like ours doesn’t heal. It destroys.

And I’ll destroy anyone who tries to take her from me.

Chapter fifty-three

The Escape

Aria

I sit in the dark, clutching Dominic’s hoodie around me like it’s the only thing tethering me to reality. The fabric still smells faintly of him—oil and metal, like his garage, like the life he told me about.

It makes me sick now.

My fingers curl into the worn fabric, shoulders trembling, but it’s not from fear or grief anymore. It’s rage. Betrayal. I should have seen it, should have known. The pain in my chest feels too real, like something I can’t ever replace is shattering inside me.

The man I thought I trusted… the man I thought I loved… is a liar.

Somewhere down the hall, a muffled shout cuts through the silence, then another. A burst of gunfire echoes, and my pulse kicks into overdrive.

The lock clicks.

The door swings open, and there he is. Blood-soaked, panting, gripping a set of keys in one hand and a knife in the other.

“Hey, Little Sinner,” he rasps, a lopsided grin stretching across his blood-smeared face. “Miss me?”

I don’t answer. My heart is pounding too hard, my mind spinning too fast. He steps closer, unlocking my cell with shaking hands, and shoves a knife into my grip.

“Stay close,” he orders. “And if anyone gets in your way, you know what to do.”

He pulls me out of the cell, dragging me into chaos. The air reeks of blood and gunpowder. Bodies are strewn across the corridor like discarded mannequins, and Dominic moves with the precision of a predator, his knife glinting as he cuts down anyone in his path. His brutality is mesmerizing, horrifying, and when a guard charges at us, I freeze.

Adrenaline takes over. Without thinking, I rush forward, driving my knife into the guard’s side. He gasps, his grip loosening, and I yank the blade free, stabbing again and again until he slumps to the floor.

Blood splatters my face, warm and sticky, and for a moment, I just stand there, staring at the body. My heart races, but it’s not fear anymore—it’s exhilaration.

“That’s my fucking girl,” Dominic says, a hint of pride in his voice as he pulls me close and kisses me so hard I’m not sure whose blood I’m tasting.

Something dark stirs in me at his words, something I don’t recognize. He pulls back and I glance down at the bloodied knife in my hand, then back at him.

“Let’s go,” he says, his tone soft but insistent, and I follow, the rush of what I’ve just done still thrumming in my veins.

We break into a run, Dominic pulling me through the labyrinth of corridors until we burst into the open air. The night is dark, the forest looming around us like a wall. I barely have time to process the freedom before Dominic stumbles, clutching his side where blood seeps through his shirt.

“Dominic—”

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