Page 28 of Love Me (Touch of Death 3)
“Sasha.”
His eyes flash open. “So please, don’t do this.” He steps away from me, and my hand limply falls from his face. “And if I’m the only reason you’re going along with Nero’s plan, then stop because it won’t bring me back to you. The closer you walk to death, the further away I will be.” He tears his gaze away and stares out the window as though looking for answers in the darkness that lingers beyond the glass.
My heart splutters in my chest, awkwardly. He won’t love me if he thinks he’ll lose me. In any other world, in any other situation, there would be a certain beauty in that.
“When my mother was killed, my father said to me, it was better to have loved her and lost her than not at all.”
Those hypnotic eyes meet mine. “Your mother was killed by a rival family, Adelina. She didn’t choose to take herself from his arms.”
I step forward once more, as though by touching Sasha, I could convince him. “I am doing this for us, so we have no more enemies.”
A sad smile touches his lips. “There will always be enemies. That is the way of things.”
“I’m vulnerable as long as I am without power.”
His eyes flick over my face. “No, you’re just hungry for power, and you tell yourself it will save you. If anything, it will only put a target on your back.”
“What would you have me do? Run? With Sergio dead, another will step up in his place. And another and another.” It’s a lie, with Sergio dead, Enrique will crawl out of the woodwork, and I really can’t outrun him.
He’s already proved once that he will hunt me to the ends of the earth. With his ring on my finger, I can only imagine the lengths he would go to. But if I stay this course, and sway Sasha to my side once more, he can kill my asshole husband. I need Enrique to show his face because he can’t be killed if no one knows he’s alive. I can’t tell him that Enrique never suffered more than a scratch from me because he’ll ask why I lied to begin with. I can only hope it all plays out the way I want. I’m relying on the reactions of men that I think I know but who are both unpredictable.
“And with each kill, that target on your back only gets bigger.”
“Exactly. I can’t walk away. I have to finish this.”
“So we’re here again? Succeed or die, is that it?”
A dull throb has taken up residence behind my eyes, and I rub my temples. “I don’t know. Even if I wanted to walk away, Nero wouldn’t let me. I made a deal with him.”
He’s silent for a moment, his lips pressing into a flat line. He knows I’m right. Sasha might be like family to him, but Nero Verdi will let no one stand in the way of retribution and power. “Then, you need to succeed.”
“Is that to say you don’t want me to die?”
He gets closer to me, his expression completely unforgiving. “You don’t want to be a pawn, Adelina, and yet you make yourself one. Time and time again. You are disposable to Nero. The only one who can ensure your survival is you.”
“And you,” I add.
He inhales a deep breath, his shoulders rising and falling. “I will help you, but not like before. I will protect you, and if necessary, I will kill for you. I will not love you.”
I duck my chin and offer a small nod, trying to hide the stabbing pain that has taken up residence in my chest. I hate the sinking feeling that threatens to pull me under.
“Love gets people killed.” Never have truer words been spoken.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
It’s not what I hoped for, but there is a slither of hope there. He’ll help me do this, and when it’s all said and done, I’ll have his trust. I’m a patient woman.
“You will survive this, Adelina, but you need to think like Nero. Think like a boss.”
Think like Nero. He has a point.
“Okay. How?”
He shrugs. “I’m a soldier, not a leader. That bit, you’ll have to figure out.” He’s right. Of course, he’s right.
“I need to speak to Gabi.”
He nods and turns back to his guns. I grab his arm without thinking. He stills but doesn’t react.
“Thank you.” My lips brush over his cheek. It’s an innocent kiss, but it feels intimate.
Eventually, he takes a couple of steps back. There’s a second of awkwardness before I hurry from the room.
Turns out, my sister is out handling some business with Lorenzo, so I head out to the garden. It’s late, and as I move away from the house, I’m engulfed in darkness. Kicking off my shoes, I walk barefoot over the soft grass, just like my mother used to. She would say that there was nothing better than the feel of nature beneath her feet, that it made her feel grounded.
