Page 5 of Violent Delights

“You’re supposed to hate me,” he finally whispers, his voice low, rough around the edges, like gravel grinding against stone. He’s only a few years older than me, but he makes me feel as if we’re equals.

He reaches a hand to my cheek, the touch so tender, it’s as if he believes I’m fragile. My breath catches in my throat. I know the words are true—he is from the family that has been at war with mine for so long. But surely that can end. All wars can end, if only the people who are in charge will agree senseless killing is pure stupidity. But I doubt my father, or his, would ever see it our way.

“I know,” I tell him finally. Hate and love are two strong emotions, on either end of the spectrum, but there’s a fine line between them. One that can be severed so easily. “I have tried to hate you since the moment I first saw you.”

It’s true. Yet the feeling that has taken root inside me, something dangerous and forbidden, can’t be ignored.

That’s when Domenico leans in and presses his lips to mine. It’s a gentle, innocent kiss, but it means more to me than I can ever imagine.

I should push him away. I should let the anger and the loyalty to my family control me. But instead, all I can do is look upat him. My voice trembles with a mixture of fear and desire. “Domenico, we can’t do this.”

“I can’t stop myself from wanting to be with you,” he tells me. The honesty shines in his dark eyes. His hair falls over one eye, and he looks so much like a fallen angel—handsome but also so deadly. He can so easily hurt me right now, and nobody would be the wiser because my parents aren’t aware of his presence.

“You have to be loyal to your family,” I whisper, trying to fight the heat that’s slowly creeping up to my cheeks. I’m sure I’m blushing as he swipes a stray hair from my face.

“Then why does it feel like I’d kill for you?” he murmurs, his words barely audible in the electric air hovering between them.

Domenico’s eyes flicker, his lips parting slightly as though his confession has struck him in some unexpected way. It’s my turn to run my fingers over his face, feeling the stubble as I reach his perfectly angular jaw.

His big, strong hand cups my face, and he holds me steady. His touch is gentle despite the storm raging in those dark eyes.

“You think I don’t feel it?” he asks, his voice softer now, almost vulnerable. “Every damn day, all I want is to hold you, to make you see that this… this war between us… it doesn’t have to be this way.”

I shake my head, my breath catching in my throat. I want to scream, to push him away, to remind him that they are enemies. But I also have to tell him that I’ve been promised to another man. Thatthis… this could never be.

But in the depths of my heart, I can’t ignore the truth that slammed into me the moment I first laid my eyes on Domenico. It sounds like a childish crush. I don’t believe inlove at first sight.But I can’t deny this pull toward him. How every moment of the day, my thoughts drift to him.

“What if we did fight it?” I ask, my voice barely a breath. “What if we threw it all away and ran? We can pack our bagstonight and leave this place, find a home somewhere far from the obligations of our families.”

Domenico’s gaze softens as he regards me. The reality of our situation lingers between us, heavy in the air. “I’d do anything for you, Lia. But you know this isn’t something we can just run from.”

I close my eyes, allowing the heat of his words to wash over me. Even as the warning bells ring in my mind, I fall into his arms. His chest is chiseled. I can feel the muscles, how the rise and fall causes me to move with him. As if we’re one.

“You don’t understand,” I whisper. “I’m supposed to run, to scream for help when I see you because I know you can kill me, but every time I look at you, it feels like… I’m drowning.” I pull away and allow my gaze to lock on his.

The words hang between us, raw and exposed. Domenico’s expression hardens, and he steps back, his jaw tightening with a mix of what looks like frustration and longing.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said quietly, his eyes dark as they bore into me. It’s as if he’s trying to see my soul. “But every moment I’m near you, it’s like I’m losing myself, and I don’t want to be the enemy.”

My heart breaks at the truth of his words. I feel the weight of it too—the impossible reality of what we are.

And yet, standing there in the quiet darkness of the room, with only the moon as our witness, the truth is undeniable: I didn’t just want him. Ineededhim.

“Even though I know this is wrong and we shouldn’t be here, that our stolen moments together should not happen anymore, I can’t stop them. Because I don’t want to lose you,” I whisper. The words are a confession, a plea for more. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

Domenico reaches for me then, his hand brushing against my cheek with a tenderness that makes my knees go weak.

“I know,” he murmured. “What if… what if this is what true love is? Something you can’t fight no matter how hard you try. I have to leave soon, but tomorrow, meet me on the roof of St. Peter’s, the church in the square. Please?”

For a moment, we stand there, suspended in time, the world outside forgotten. Domenico pulls me into his arms, and I close my eyes, listening to the thrumming of his heart. Mine beats in sync with his. With every thud, it pulls us closer to the forbidden truth that neither of us can escape.

“Okay,” is all I can whisper into the soft material of his shirt.

We are trapped between love and loyalty. The pull between desire and duty is strong, and I doubt either of us knows which side we will choose.

Chapter 4

Domenico

---