Page 1 of Till Death Do Us Part

Prologue

Felice

From the way the light hit her in the club, she seemed to be severed in half by lightning, as if she had a storm in her soul that had manifested in the atmosphere around her. Half of her was in shadow, the other half lit up. The sharp, jagged line split her down the middle. Behind her, circles moved in and around each other, as if some invisible wind pushed them in different directions. The music rumbled the walls and floor like thunder.

She danced alone, eyes closed, face content, her body doing whatever it wanted to. Going with the flow of the song. But that presence around her kept everyone at arm’s length.

The scene was one Plato had described years ago. It was almost out of context, given where we were and the times, but true all the same. We all start out as circles, but we’re severed in half by a thunderbolt, punished by the gods we’re trying to emulate. We scatter, from one end of the earth to another, always searching for the half that makes us whole.

Plato claimed that, if we didn’t force our steps, instead going with the flow, the stars would lead us back to our other half.

Destiny.

Fate.

Whichever word you use to define the hidden power that controls what will happen in the future, it was working in this building between us.

I’d never searched for anything in my life. I’d always just gone with the flow of it. If a red light took a few extra minutes to turn green, I waited patiently. Same with traffic. If something stopped me and made me late, so fucking be it.

A second or two could change the course of destiny.

As I took a drink of my whiskey, I was convinced the jagged half of her was my other half. It was the reason all these boys, besides one, kept their distance. They felt my presence all over her.

Now, don’t get ahead of yourself.

This was more than love at first sight.

This was a completion of something that started long before this moment ever did. It went beyond this time and place. I felt the area where she’d been torn from me heal. An instant connection, even though her name had never crossed my lips and I’d never touched her skin. I’d never given her a thought outside of this second.

I’d never felt the impact of a violent crash before this moment.

A crash that made me whole instead of killing me, even though the fusion was going to be a fucking painful process. And if something belonged to me, especially something as vital as my other half—it was mine.

Every breath.

Every choice.

Every step.

Delivered me to this moment.

To her.

“Roma Corvo,” I whispered into my glass.

She belonged to me.

Felice Maggio.

Not even a thunderbolt, or death, would be able to separate us again.

Chapter1

Roma

Ishould have known better. Drinking on an empty stomach would only make me feel woozy and sick at the same time. Or maybe my sister, Lolita, should have known better and gotten me to eat before we went out to Jupiter, a club she’d been itching to visit. But at least we had made it to an all-night diner, where we were trying to get somewhat straight before we went home.

I mean, I’d had alcohol before. A sip of champagne here. A glass of wine there. But never to that extent. It felt like my head and body were disconnected.

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