Page 139 of Arianna

Taking her hand, the one that is not hiding the box, I tell her.

“If I could kill the fucker, I would. I promise I would have brought you his heart and given it to you on a silver platter, but it is not his time yet, and I am not the one who needs to do it. I know this now.” Tapping the lid on the navy jewelry that holds her abusive piece of shit of a father’s finger in it, I say. “This will have to do for now.” I wanted to rip her father’s heart out of his chest and drop it at her feet. A gesture that lets her know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. But I opted for a finger instead, leaving the heart of that bastard to his heartless middle child.

I wait for her response, but she gives me nothing. Instead, she does something better. Arianna looks down at the dry blood still visible on my shirt and then meets my gaze with a small smile that leaves me breathless.

She didn’t run because of the clear sign of her father’s blood on my shirt.

She doesn’t squirm at the nasty-looking finger.

No.

She gave me a knowing smile, and I know at that moment that this girl. This perfect creature, was made for me.

A second later, she is grabbing my face with both hands and kisses me, igniting the fire that lives inside of me whenever she touches me. Rising from the floor, I lift her from the sofa and into my arms without breaking the kiss. With that kiss, I tell her everything my mouth will not.

Then, I take her to my bed and fuck her throughout the late hours of the night, showing her how fucking obsessed I am. How badly I want and need her. Until there is no doubt in her mind that she is mine and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for her.

Absolutely fucking anything.

ARIANNA

Mean Girl

“Oh, I am still a bitch.

I’m just a happy bitch now.” - A

It is an odd feeling waking up in the arms of a man you once swore to hate and know you’d never felt more at home.

In his arms and his world.

It is both surreal and terrifying.

Sebastian terrifies me, not in the way most would think, but in a way that has me coming for more of him.

The big bastard is now a part of me.

That is the scariest part.

Now lying here in this bed, skin to skin, I have never felt safer while I listen to the steady thrum of his heart beating against my ear.

Strong and lethal.

Just like the man.

The early morning light blooms at the base of the window in brilliant gold, making him look ethereal. Godly and otherworldly. The black satin sheets are down to his waist, and every inch of him is bare except for his dark gray underwear.

I can see him better than I did last night and the first time we were together back in Paris. The night he showed me new things I have never experienced before. The night he made not only my body but my soul come apart for him.

Come alive.

Flashes of last night hit me as I feel the way his pulse speeds at my touch. Sebastian, to me, has always been the perfect vision of poise and control, but last night he didn't seem human. He reminded me so much of a demon straight out of hell who came for me in the middle of the night, but not once did I feel unsafe.

On the contrary, I felt like he was made for me.

His perfect three-piece suit was disheveled and had blood stains on it. He looked angry, proud, and pleased.

His eyes were darker than usual.