I had barely slipped into the bedroom when his voice cut through the air.
"Where were you?"
I flinched at the sound of his voice.
"You’re back early."
"That doesn’t answer my question."
I squeezed on the strap of my handbag.
"I had an errand to run."
"What errand?"
"Um, it’s nothing important."
I swallowed as I watched him clench his fist.
"Mirabel Valente, I’m giving you one chance to tell the truth. You know I know where you were already."
My chin jutted up in defiance imdiately. Why was I cowering at his annoyance when I had taken my ti to learn how to challenge him?
"If you already know where I was, why are you asking silly questions?"
For a brief mont, he seed startled by my response.
"Mira."
There was a warning in his tone. It sent cold shivers down my spine but I chose to pretend to be unaffected.
I tried to walk past him into the bathroom. He pulled back and pinned with his gaze.
"Why are you so unnecessarily stubborn? I’m only trying to protect you."
"As you can see, I’m perfectly fine! I had five guards with . Five!!!"
That was a crazy number of people for even a president at once. It was understandable why Donna went all out with it. But even that wasn’t enough.
"Maybe next ti, I’ll have the whole NYPD follow around." I added sarcastically.
"Don’t test with your smart mouth woman." He growled.
"And if I do? What are you going to do about it?"
I stood on my tippy toes and faced him. Our noses were almost touching. His breath was ragged.
I fought back a grin of fulfillnt. I absolutely loved it when I was able to rile him up like this.
"You..." His fingers gently wrapped around my throat.
I couldn’t stop the smile that crept up my face.
"You make so mad," he rasped.
Then his lips pressed on mine in a harsh kiss.
I pulled away and tried to leave him even when I knew that his kiss was doing unntionable things to my body.
His grip tightened, not painful but unyielding. "You think you can just waltz in here after vanishing for hours and give silence?"
His voice was low, vibrating with a dangerous calm. "I’m not so side piece you can dismiss when it suits you. I’m your husband."
The word burned like acid. "Husband?" I spat. "What kind of husband kidnaps his wife and locks her in a gilded cage? Tell ."
I knew we were going round in circles but I couldn’t let him find out what was really going on.
"You’d rather be in Ricciardi’s?" His words cut sharp. "You’d rather let that vulture touch you? Hurt you?"
I yanked my wrist free, glaring at him. "I don’t belong to you, Jace. You need to stop thinking of in that light."
The silence that followed was so sharp it almost echoed. His jaw ticked, his chest heaving like he was holding himself back from exploding. Then, to my shock, he leaned in—not with rage, but with sothing softer. Sothing dangerous.
"Say it again," he murmured, his breath warm against my skin. "Say you don’t belong to and an it."
I should have shoved him away. I should have scread. Instead, I stood frozen, my heart traitorously slamming against my ribs.
"You’re unbelievable," I whispered.
"And yet," he breathed, his lips hovering dangerously close to mine, "you can’t walk away."
I hated him. God help , I hated how right he was. My body betrayed before my mind could stop it, leaning into the heat of him, craving the one man I swore I would never need again.
His mouth crashed onto mine. It wasn’t gentle this ti. It was fire and fury and desperation tangled together. My fingers curled into his shirt, dragging him closer as if I needed more of his chaos just to breathe. His hands frad my face, possessive and demanding, like he wanted to brand all over again.
A soft moan slipped from my lips before I could choke it back. The sound tore sothing raw out of him, and he deepened the kiss, tongue sliding against mine, claiming in the way only Jace Romano ever could.
I hated how much I lted into it. Hated how familiar it felt, how right.
But just when I felt myself unraveling, I shoved him back, breaking the kiss with a gasp.
"Stop." My voice was ragged. My lips burned from the taste of him. "We can’t... not right now."
He stared at , eyes dark, chest rising and falling like he was barely holding himself together. "We can," he said hoarsely. "We always can."
I shook my head violently. "No. We’re getting too carried away again."
God, I wanted him. I wanted him to fuck like he always did but I was about to betray him and I could not be sleeping with the enemy.
He took a step closer, but I held my ground.
"Mira." His tone softened, almost pleading. "What are you hiding from ?"
My heart stuttered. His eyes bored into mine, searching, peeling back every layer I fought to keep in place. He knew sothing was off. He always did.
"I’m not hiding anything," I lied.
"Bullshit." He snarled the word, temper slipping again. "I see it in your eyes. The secrets. The walls. Do you think I won’t find out? Do you think you can play ?"
The dam inside cracked. Anger flared hot and reckless. "You don’t get to accuse of keeping secrets when your entire life is built on them!"
I had to deflect.
His brows furrowed, taken aback. "What the fuck does that an?"
"It ans," I hissed, "that you don’t get to stand there and act like I’m the one playing gas. You’ve lied. You’ve hidden things from . Things that ruined my life."
He stepped forward, towering, his voice a growl. "I’ve protected you in spite of everything."
"Protected ?" My laugh was sharp, bitter. "You think marrying to pay off my brother’s debt was protection? You think keeping in the dark while your father destroyed my family was protection?"
The words slipped out before I could stop them. My chest heaved as the truth tore itself from my lips.
"Mira,"
"Just stop. I’m tired and I need to freshen up. I’m starving too."
I stord away from him, blinking back the tears that were threatening to spill from my eyes.
I had to do this.
I couldn’t stand being in the sa room with him so I slipped into the room across his.
The guest room or what was my forr room felt like a gilded cage. The new curtains, fresh sheets and a faint vanilla scent lingering in the air, none of it could comfort . Not when my chest was splitting open from the inside.
I sat on the edge of the bed, gripping the silk sheets like they were an anchor. My fight with Jace replayed in my head over and over, the way his voice sharpened when I ignored his questions, the frustration in his eyes when I refused to give him answers. He wanted control. He always wanted control. But this wasn’t about him. It was about my brother.
Roberto.
My throat closed as I pictured his face back at the café. He looked so different. He was healthy, steady and proud of himself. For the first ti in forever, he wasn’t the sa reckless boy I used to shield from the world. He was trying. He was rebuilding. And now Massimo wanted to rip that away just to use as his pawn.
How could I live with myself if sothing happened to him?
Tears blurred my vision, spilling hot down my cheeks before I could stop them. My heart twisted because I knew the ugly truth.
There was no winning here. Saving Roberto might an betraying Jace. And the thought of doing that and siding with Massimo, made my stomach turn. But the thought of losing my brother... that was unbearable.
I curled into myself, pressing my forehead against my knees, my breath coming out in shaky gasps. Jace’s face flickered in my mind—his stormy gray eyes, the way his voice softened when he called mine, the gentleness he didn’t even know he was capable of. Damn him. Damn . Why did my heart still beat for him when he was the very reason my world had crumbled years ago?
If he ever found out about the text, about what I was considering... he’d never forgive . Maybe I wouldn’t forgive myself either.
My phone buzzed against the nightstand. The sound sliced through the silence like a blade.
With trembling fingers, I reached for it. My chest hollowed as soon as I saw his na. Massimo.
I unlocked it, and there it was again. It was the reminder I didn’t need, the one that twisted the knife deeper in my chest.
’Tick-tock, Mira. Don’t waste ti. The velvet suede file, or your brother bleeds. And trust , I never bluff.’
A sob clawed its way out of . It was heavy.
My hand flew to my mouth to muffle the sound, but the tears kept streaming anyway.
I sank back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling through blurred eyes. My chest ached so badly it hurt to breathe. I was being pulled in two directions—by blood and by sothing dangerously close to love.
And either way, I was going to shatter.
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