Page 113 of Kissing the Villain

“Luca, I need to know something.”

His thumb grazed my cheek. “Anything.”

“Do you think you’ll ever love me?”

He blew out a deep breath, his expression darkening. Luca attempted to roll off me, but I grabbed his bicep.

“Don’t withdraw from me, Luca. Please give me something.”

His eyes snapped shut. “I don’t know how to love you. What does that word even mean?”

“Love isn’t a word,” I insisted. “Love is actions. Intention. When you protected me from your enemies and risked your life for mine, that was love.”

He shook his head. “You are my queen, Drea. I will always put you first. So will the rest of the Knights.”

“It’s been ten years, Luca. You must feel something for me.”

Luca pulled out of me, already withdrawing from me as he moved to the mattress beside me. He propped himself up on his elbow, unable to meet my gaze. “Why are you ruining this?”

“Why does the thought of loving me make you sick?” I forced down the tears stinging my eyes, though my voice still trembled as I spoke. “Is the idea that horrible?”

“No,” he admitted. “But I’ve already told you that word has no meaning. There are no words to describe how I feel about you.”

“What binds us will destroy us,” I whispered.

He nodded. “You may call it love, but I call it something else. The darkness inside us, the demons that want to lay claim to our souls, those are the things that bind us. We all have that in common. You, me, the Knights. Forever and always, bound to one another.”

Even though his words should have comforted me, I felt nothing but anger and frustration. “Are you saying what I think?”

“You know whatLegaremeans in Italian.”

I nodded. “To tie, to bind.”

“What bindsuswill destroyus,” he repeated. “And what will destroyusunitesus.”

“It’s The Devil’s Knights’ motto,” I said in disbelief. “After all these years, I thought it was your way of telling me you loved me.”

“No, baby. It means so much more than love.”

Anger coursing through my veins like hot lava, I slid across the mattress and covered myself with a sheet. “Get out, Luca.”

He groaned as he sat up, reaching out for me. “What’s your problem, Drea? Get over here.”

“I thought those words meant something to us,” I choked out, on the verge of losing my shit. “Not to the Knightsandus.”

“They mean something,” he challenged as he invaded my personal space. “You will be our queen. I’ve been preparing you for years.”

I shook my head, fighting tears. “More like grooming me.”

Luca attempted to touch my arm, and I recoiled from him.

“You should go.”

I wrapped the sheet around my body, feeling too naked in front of him, and rushed into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

Luca banged on the door. “C’mon, Drea.” He jiggled the handle as I backed into the room, bumping into the counter as the first tear fell. “Open this damn door, baby.”

“Go away, Luca!”

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