Page 124 of Deadly Wrath

“Alessio,” I croak, my voice barely coming out as human.

He doesn’t even glance at me; he lifts the brand to his eyes, looking at the glowing letters as if he’s admiring artwork. Meanwhile, I’m over here with my tits out, one bad decision away from getting a permanent scar on my ass.

I can’t make out what it says from this angle, but I don’t need to. My body knows. Every instinct I have is screaming to run, but there’s nowhere to go.

“You don’t want to do this,” I force out, trying for my best rational hostage negotiator tone, but it still comes out breathy and unconvincing because my brain is an idiot, and my body is confused as hell.

My throat tightens. “No, Ale—”

“Olivia,” he cuts me off. His blue eyes stare into mine, and he doesn’t even blink.

The sound that follows is straight out of a horror movie. A disgusting, wet hiss of metal searing directly over his heart, like bacon in a hot frying pan. But it doesn’t smell like bacon. No, the smell of burning flesh slams into me, and my stomach flips so hard I might throw up.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” My scream rips out so hard it hurts my throat. I yank against the cuffs, my wrists scraping against the stainless steel, but I don’t care. “STOP IT!ALESSIO!”

But he doesn’t fucking stop or listen.

He stands there, taking it, his face doesn’t even contort like when you touch something hot, all while I’m losing my goddamn mind.

Finally, he pulls the iron away and tosses it onto a piece of wood lying on the ground. I’m fucking shaking and Alessio’s more worried about hurting his damn floor than the fact he just branded his skin. My chest is rising and falling too fast, my pulse is all over the place, and he’s standing there like he didn’t just burn himself like a lunatic.

Alessio sits on the bed, a key flashes in his hand, and the cuffs drop from my wrists. The second I’m free, I grab onto him, my fingers trembling as they gently skim around the fresh wound, over his singed skin that’s red and raw.

And then I see my name about two inches wide, seared over his ink across his heart, and I swear I stop breathing for a minute.

My heart is still pounding, but everything else…stops.My brain blanks.My throat is raw, my head is spinning, but somehow, I manage to whisper, “What the actualfuck,Alessio? My fucking name?”

His forehead presses against mine, his breath is rough, his hands gripping my waist like he might run if he lets go. “Now everyone will know who my heart belongs to.”

For a second, I stare at him, breathing too hard, my body still a mess from whatever the hell just happened.

My brain is still trying to catch the fuck up. Then a laugh slips out of me, a little unhinged and a little breathless. “You know, normal people justsayshit like that or prove their love with rings or tattoos.They don’tbrandthemselves like fucking cattle.”

His mouth twitches, and I know he'd be smirking if he weren’t dealing with a fresh burn.

“Well, we’re far from normal, so why start now?”

Well fuck. He’s got a point.Nothing about us has been normal. Nothing has been soft or mundane.

He pulls me onto his lap so I’m straddling him. “But I’m yours.”

I bite my lip, still coming down from everything that just happened, but I can’t tear my eyes away from the mark he just burned into his chest.

“Yeah,” I tell him. “You are. But you’re out of your goddamn mind.” My voice is still wrecked from the past ten minutes, but I don’t move away, and I don’t let go.

“I was going to wait,” Alessio starts.

Wait for what? To finish breaking me before he dumps my body in the river? Because honestly, that’s what this started out as.

“I should have said this sooner, but didn’t know how to.” He drags in a slow, uneven breath, his thumbpressing against my jaw like he needs the contact to ground himself. “I felt this way for a while, but the words never came out.”

My brain is buffering because there is no way Alessio is saying this right now.

“Then, I was going to wait until we got married to say it.” He keeps going, like he needs to get it all out before I can react. “You’ve said it twice now. Neither in the right state of mind.” His jaw clenches. “And I didn’t say it back.”

No shit,I want to say.I noticed.

But the words stay stuck in my throat because I can feel his struggle. Alessio Gualtiero, the man who takes what he wants, never hesitates, and kills without blinking, is struggling to say three little words.

---