protect you with that my Elizabeth didn’t have?” He gave me another humorless smile. “Elizabeth was different from me. She was good. She was better. Don’t follow her mistakes and stay with a Family man. You’ll lose your life for him.”
His grip on my wrist was tight. His hand was able to circle my entire wrist, leaving me now room to wriggle free. But I didn’t try to wriggle free. Instead, I relaxed my hand and looked up at him with the truest sympathy I felt.
I saw his eyes waver. Those chilly green eyes, ragged with pain and with regret, melted a little as they looked at me.
“She didn’t wonder that,” I whispered.
Tobias’s eyes widened a little at my words then narrowed. “What?”
“She didn’t wonder where you were,” I said. “She worried about you.” I took in a breath, my throat feeling tight. If Elizabeth had loved Tobias the way I loved Marco, and it was clear their love had been deep by the pain in Tobias’s face, I could imagine exactly what she must’ve been feeling in those final, desperate moments.
“She worried that you would blame yourself,” I said, my own voice breaking a little. “She knew she had made her own choices. She knew the risk. I’m positive her last thoughts were prayers that you wouldn’t blame yourself for what happened.”
A wave of emotions rippled across Tobias’s face. Surprise, hurt, anger, denial, scandal, and a tiny flicker of redemption.
I took a step back, making to pull away from the intense moment when Tobias pulled me towards him, crushing me against him.
Rough lips were crushed against mine. I gasped instinctively, unwittingly opening my mouth to him. His tongue entered me, exploring me baldly and bravely and with no hesitations.
I struggled and pulled against him but he wrapped his arms around me, trapping my arms between his chest and mine. He held me to him easily and I felt every inch of his body pulsating and hardening against me. He meant to keep me there and had no intention of letting me go until he was good and ready.
Still, I jerked and pulled. Not wanting to fight me, he pushed his body against mine, shoving me up against a wall while his mouth explored mine with absolutely no shyness. He kissed me with a knowing passion that raised the hairs on my body, making my toes curl.
“You don’t know us,” he whispered harshly against my lips, his breathing ragged from pain and passion. “You don’t know men like us.” I knew he was also referring to Marco. “There is no redemption for us.”
He gathered my arms and pinned them easily above my head, despite my resistance. “Why would you risk your heart for a man that’s just like me?”
I imagined Marco. I remembered the way he had saved me from being assaulted by a table full of Desmond Mafia men. I remembered the way he had teased and taunted me while I had worked. I remembered the pain in his eyes as he revealed the story behind Jamie. And most of all, I remembered the warmth of his love and the heat of his embrace—things I knew I could never live without.
Thinking of Marco, I replied, “Because my heart is mine to give. And I will not let fear stop me from loving who I want to.”
I saw Tobias’s face jerk in surprise at my response. His eyes searched my face, a look of something akin to admiration blooming in those green depths.
“That kind of bravery will always be punished with a man like Marco. With a man with his
His grip on my wrist was tight. His hand was able to circle my entire wrist, leaving me now room to wriggle free. But I didn’t try to wriggle free. Instead, I relaxed my hand and looked up at him with the truest sympathy I felt.
I saw his eyes waver. Those chilly green eyes, ragged with pain and with regret, melted a little as they looked at me.
“She didn’t wonder that,” I whispered.
Tobias’s eyes widened a little at my words then narrowed. “What?”
“She didn’t wonder where you were,” I said. “She worried about you.” I took in a breath, my throat feeling tight. If Elizabeth had loved Tobias the way I loved Marco, and it was clear their love had been deep by the pain in Tobias’s face, I could imagine exactly what she must’ve been feeling in those final, desperate moments.
“She worried that you would blame yourself,” I said, my own voice breaking a little. “She knew she had made her own choices. She knew the risk. I’m positive her last thoughts were prayers that you wouldn’t blame yourself for what happened.”
A wave of emotions rippled across Tobias’s face. Surprise, hurt, anger, denial, scandal, and a tiny flicker of redemption.
I took a step back, making to pull away from the intense moment when Tobias pulled me towards him, crushing me against him.
Rough lips were crushed against mine. I gasped instinctively, unwittingly opening my mouth to him. His tongue entered me, exploring me baldly and bravely and with no hesitations.
I struggled and pulled against him but he wrapped his arms around me, trapping my arms between his chest and mine. He held me to him easily and I felt every inch of his body pulsating and hardening against me. He meant to keep me there and had no intention of letting me go until he was good and ready.
Still, I jerked and pulled. Not wanting to fight me, he pushed his body against mine, shoving me up against a wall while his mouth explored mine with absolutely no shyness. He kissed me with a knowing passion that raised the hairs on my body, making my toes curl.
“You don’t know us,” he whispered harshly against my lips, his breathing ragged from pain and passion. “You don’t know men like us.” I knew he was also referring to Marco. “There is no redemption for us.”
He gathered my arms and pinned them easily above my head, despite my resistance. “Why would you risk your heart for a man that’s just like me?”
I imagined Marco. I remembered the way he had saved me from being assaulted by a table full of Desmond Mafia men. I remembered the way he had teased and taunted me while I had worked. I remembered the pain in his eyes as he revealed the story behind Jamie. And most of all, I remembered the warmth of his love and the heat of his embrace—things I knew I could never live without.
Thinking of Marco, I replied, “Because my heart is mine to give. And I will not let fear stop me from loving who I want to.”
I saw Tobias’s face jerk in surprise at my response. His eyes searched my face, a look of something akin to admiration blooming in those green depths.
“That kind of bravery will always be punished with a man like Marco. With a man with his
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