Page 70 of Shadows of Obsession

She’s right. I know Damien did what I would have done. He couldn't leave Luna, not when she was the one who offered the deal. You can't offer favors without asking something in return. But the fact that she had to do this in the first place is what angers me.

"He could have killed Aidan," I tell her through my teeth.

"He killed Igor for what he did to my back," she tells me in a low tone that I feel like a caress.

I wish he hadn't killed Igor, so I could have the pleasure of dealing with him myself. I would have created my own masterpiece on his entire body. I can't resurrect the dead, but I can take care of the living who hurt her. And I will.

It's a vow I make to her without words. This feeling when I look at her face and see each freckle, each reflection in her green eyes behind her glasses, each curve of her lips that I want to memorize…I know what it is.

I can't help thinking she's too good for my world, too good for me, a man who can go to a party in the evening and then shoot someone between the eyes a few hours later. It's a world with much blood, and I feel how my heart makes that strange squeeze it always does when she's around, but it's this world that allows me to protect her.

"I want to be able to kill every enemy of yours. Every person who looked at you wrong and harassed you. Everyone who abandoned you when you needed someone beside you," I tellher, looking into her warm eyes, eyes the color of a forest bathed in sunlight on a summer day.

She presses closer and kisses me slowly. The softness of her lips and the taste of coffee on her tongue fill my senses as I close my eyes. It's easy to get lost in her. In the quiet and calm in my head when she's next to me. In the small sounds she makes when my tongue touches hers or when I bite her lower lip in an attempt to mark her as mine.

"Promise me you'll be careful not to get hurt," she murmurs against my lips.

Victoria's and Anuska's concern have always affected me, but knowing that this woman, whom I've wanted from the first moment I laid eyes on her, worries about me puts the stupidest smile on my face.

Luna frowns and pokes my chest with her index finger threateningly.

"I'm serious, Roman. I prefer to live with the idea that Aidan walks this earth but that you'll come home every evening," she tells me, and I hear the vulnerability in her voice.

I don't tell her there's no world where she'll breathe the same air as her ex, but something else makes my eyebrows rise and my smile grow.

"Home? Only if you'll wait for me there, love."

I see her blush at the fact that my house is home for her now, and I can't help but kiss her.

I'd like to take her home and stay like this with her all day, but she and I both have things to finish at work. And after today's discussion with Niko and Damien, one thing is clear to me.

Something bad is coming.

Chapter 25

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Luna

The next few days pass without incident and, ironically, with a slightly alarming normality. In the morning we all have breakfast, then I sit down to work and Roman leaves for the office or other business I prefer not to know about.

The nights are another story. There are many touches, many kisses and...nothing else. I've appreciated that he hasn't pushed for more, but there are moments when I feel like I'll explode if he doesn't touch me.

How can I telepathically tell him I don't want to wait anymore, without seeming desperate?

We've discussed what his organization does these days, but I'm still processing the details and trying not to panic. I’ve accepted his activities much more easily than I’d thought I would. But there’s still no news on the Irish mafia boss or Aidan.

There's uncertainty in the air, given the semi-siege state we're in, but we can't risk it. I know from personal experience how easy it is to make a wrong step that costs you, but if it's been annoying for us, for Victoria it's horrible. This morning, she almost started crying when Roman forbade her from going to a friend's birthday party.

I feel guilty.

Before he leaves, I see Roman looking at his phone and frowning.

"Damn it," he mutters.

"Did something happen?" I ask because normally his expression is unreadable.

"I forgot about Senator Keith's party," he says, and when he sees my confused look, he comes toward me.

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