Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 163(@300wpm)
“No.” It’s honest, raw, and I feel so immature. There’s nothing I want him to know about me that makes me feel like I’m not good enough. But with Domenico, there’s something different. He doesn’t look at me like the rest of the boys do. He’s different. And I don’t know how to handle that.
“Then I won’t leave, but I can’t get you out of my mind, Lia.” He takes a step toward me, and the moment he does, his body is flush with mine. His hand reaches for my face, and he cups it gently.
All my life I’ve been led to believe this man and his family were dangerous. I have no doubt they are, but my father ensured I knew I had to hate them. And for a long time, I did. Only because it was something I was taught. Which makes me wonder how many wars started because children were forced to believe the things their parents did.
“You can’t be here,” I tell him then, shaking the cloud of want and desire from my mind. I move inside, leaving him on the balcony. I know he’ll follow. I stop in the warmth of my bedroom and turn to face him.
Domenico stands there, framed in the doorway, his sharp eyes glinting with an unreadable expression. He is no longer just the enemy that my family hate, no longer just the man I should want dead. He is the man who makes my heart beat too fast, the one who stirs something within me that I can’t control.
He takes a step closer, his presence overwhelming my senses. Every inch of him is a reminder of what they couldn’t have. We are meant to be enemies. The family feud is centuries old, and if my father did find him in my bedroom, all hell would break loose.
I take a long, deep breath and attempt to steady my voice when I speak. “What are you doing here? I thought you were only going to come tonight. It’s not dark out yet.”
He watches me for a long moment before he closes the distance between us. It’s a slow, deliberate step, but when he reaches her, he pauses.
He’s standing so close that I can feel the heat of his body radiating toward mine.
“You’re supposed to hate me,” he finally whispers, his voice low, rough around the edges, like gravel grinding against stone. He’s only a few years older than me, but he makes me feel as if we’re equals.
He reaches a hand to my cheek, the touch so tender, it’s as if he believes I’m fragile. My breath catches in my throat. I know the words are true—he is from the family that has been at war with mine for so long. But surely that can end. All wars can end, if only the people who are in charge will agree senseless killing is pure stupidity. But I doubt my father, or his, would ever see it our way.
“I know,” I tell him finally. Hate and love are two strong emotions, on either end of the spectrum, but there’s a fine line between them. One that can be severed so easily. “I have tried to hate you since the moment I first saw you.”
It’s true. Yet the feeling that has taken root inside me, something dangerous and forbidden, can’t be ignored.
That’s when Domenico leans in and presses his lips to mine. It’s a gentle, innocent kiss, but it means more to me than I can ever imagine.
I should push him away. I should let the anger and the loyalty to my family control me. But instead, all I can do is look up at him. My voice trembles with a mixture of fear and desire. “Domenico, we can’t do this.”
“I can’t stop myself from wanting to be with you,” he tells me. The honesty shines in his dark eyes. His hair falls over one eye, and he looks so much like a fallen angel—handsome but also so deadly. He can so easily hurt me right now, and nobody would be the wiser because my parents aren’t aware of his presence.
“You have to be loyal to your family,” I whisper, trying to fight the heat that’s slowly creeping up to my cheeks. I’m sure I’m blushing as he swipes a stray hair from my face.
“Then why does it feel like I’d kill for you?” he murmurs, his words barely audible in the electric air hovering between them.
Domenico’s eyes flicker, his lips parting slightly as though his confession has struck him in some unexpected way. It’s my turn to run my fingers over his face, feeling the stubble as I reach his perfectly angular jaw.
His big, strong hand cups my face, and he holds me steady. His touch is gentle despite the storm raging in those dark eyes.