Page 118 of The Dark Obsession

A corner of her mouth quirks a little at the memory of our first time and I can’t resist pressing another kiss to those pouty lips.

Nero who has stirred awake from the commotion is now nudging both of us with his snout. With a wobbly smile, Malory pulls him to us, including him in our embrace as we all hold each other tightly.

Our family. Our home.

Wrapping Malory’s legs around my waist, I stand with her in my arms, discarding the weapons on the kitchen island along the way as I carry her to the couch.

Thank fuck I didn’t get blood on myself because there’s no way I’d be able to let her go to find a change of clothes.

The dog trails behind us and as much as I hate sharing my baby girl, I'm glad she has another protector in him.

Since I wasn’t fucking here to protect her myself.

Malory nuzzles my chest as I settle in the corner of the couch between the worn-out leather cushion, hugging her closely to my body like she might slip away if I loosen my hold on her.

Seeing my inked arms against her pale skin, I almost recoil at the stark difference.

Someone like me should’ve never gotten to touch her. But once I had my first hit of her soft skin, her intoxicating presence, I’d lay my life down to get another.

After tonight, nothing will tear me away from her. Not even for a blink of an eye.

“I can’t ask you to stop what you’re doing.” She mumbles into my shirt.

“You can ask anything of me, Malory. If you don’t want me going out there, then I’m done.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. You cannot imagine what seeing you like this does to me, baby. I won’t let it happen again.” I lean back to look into her watery eyes because she needs to understand how serious I am about this.

“Rafe can deal with your father’s men on his own.” I’m sure he’ll enjoy that. “And I haven’t taken on any contracts since I started spending my nights watching you, little one. I’ve got more money stashed away than we’ll be able to spend in our lives.”

She blinks through more tears as I wrap a throw blanket around her quivering shoulders.

“It’s just us. Nothing else matters.”

I haven’t been out on a hit since I first laid my eyes on her over two years ago. Not that I needed to.

Besides the earnings I have from contract killing, I’m a co-owner of several of my brother’s upscale clubs in the Camorra’s territory used to launder money from their less legal ventures.

There’s no denying that Malory’s presence in my life has triggered some sort of emotional response I’m not quite sure I know how to handle.

I don’t remember it being this intense when I was a child before succumbing to the emptiness. But those early memories have mostly faded anyway.

All that’s left are the screams of my mother, the unbearable pain and then, there was nothing.

Until I saw her.

Everything else in life still doesn’t mean anything, except when it comes to her.

And I have no other way of purging these brewing feelings than crushing her delicate body to my chest.

“When I was very small, I had this phase that when my mom went out grocery shopping, I thought she wouldn’t return so I sat by the front door, waiting for her.

She was the only person I was allowed to interact with at the time and I feared that she’d abandon me as well.” Malory’s voice is barely a whisper against the sensitive skin on my neck, and I have to lower my head to catch her soft words.

“I don’t know what happened. I panicked when I woke up and you weren’t there. Then I started thinking about everything that could have happened to you and it all spiraled from there.” Her crying intensifies once more as I thread my fingers into the silkywaves of her hair, tenderly stroking the length of it. “I-I thought you wouldn’t come back.”

Closing my eyes, I allow myself to believe for a second that I’m not the only one who feels like I cannot fucking live without her.That she needs me as much as I need her.

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