“You think I would have let anyone live who even tried to kiss you?” He lowered his head, his nose grazing over mine before moving down to my jaw. Breathing in deeply, he skimmed his lips down my neck before stopping to lick at the pulse frantically beating at the base of my throat. “I’m not a good man. They turned me into just as big of a monster as they were. You need to understand that your family will kill me before they let me have you the way I want—fucking need—to be with you.”
“No,” I moaned, shaking my head in denial. “You are good, Gian. You just don’t see it.”
“Because I’ve watched over you? Protected you?” His breath was hot on my neck, his teeth sinking into my flesh and making me whimper at the pleasure-filled pain. “I will protect you until the last breath leaves my body, Monroe. But only you.”
“Is that supposed to scare me?” I pulled back so I could glare up at him. “You think I care that you’ve done bad things? I’m not blind to the darker side of life. My father is the Angel’s Halo enforcer. He’s done bad things, too. Killed people. Broken at least a hundred laws. And yet, I still love him.”
“Your dad is a saint compared to me, Monroe.”
“I don’t care!” I yelled in his face. “I love you, dummy. There’s not a damn thing you can do to change how I feel about you. So just stop trying before you piss me off.”
“I’m in charge of all of Santino’s businesses. Including his sex trafficking enterprise.”
“Oh, shut up,” I snapped at him. “I don’t believe for a second that you let that continue. Lie to me, tell me I’m not right. I dare you.”
His jaw clenched, but he didn’t respond.
“And I really don’t care about the rest of the Santino empire. Do what you want, but don’t try to use the fact that you’re some crime boss to push me away. If you don’t want to be with me, just say so. Don’t be a fucking pussy about it.”
Chapter 6
Gian
I’d been called plenty of names throughout my life, but a “fucking pussy” was never something anyone ever had the balls to say to my face. Monroe had no fear, however, as she glared up at me, those gray eyes of hers daring me to man up and give us what we both wanted.
Seeing the sparks flashing in her gaze, I found a grin teasing at my lips for the first time in perhaps my entire life. My face felt stiff as my mouth tipped upward, the muscles unused to moving like that. “I’ve killed men for less, sweet Monroe.”
That sassy tilt of her chin made my cock throb against her abdomen. “You would never hurt me like that.”
“I just spanked your beautiful ass,” I reminded her.
A blush instantly filled her cheeks. “Yeah, you did. But I knew you wouldn’t actually hurt me, G. And just FYI, I loved it.”
“Noted.” Lifting her, I carried her back to the bed. Dropping her in the middle of the mattress, I followed her down even as I was pulling my shirt over my head.
She wanted this, she was going to get it. Because I couldn’t not give her what she asked for. Monroe Masterson was my only weakness, and the precious little vixen knew it. Maybe I should have been worried she knew the power she held over me, but I couldn’t bring myself to give a single fuck.
Her hands were like silk on my skin as she rubbed her fingers down my chest. Nothing had ever felt as good, as right, as having this girl’s hands on me. In all the years I’d watched over her, I’d thought she was too soft, too sweet for the world I lived in. But she was showing me she was so much more than I’d imagined.
She was strong and full of fire, fearless. And it only made me want her more. Maybe she could handle my world without coming to hate me. She hadn’t even blinked when I’d told her who my father was. Maybe it really didn’t matter to her. Maybe…
Maybe we really could have a life together without me fucking everything up.
My lips sealed over hers, and she opened for me. Her sweetness was like a drug that went straight to my head. I felt dizzy yet more alive than I could ever remember. I got lost in our kiss, tasting and exploring her mouth until she whimpered and squirmed against me for more.
“Please,” she panted, pulling her mouth from mine.
“Please what, precious?” I murmured against her neck. “Tell me what you want, Monroe.”
“You. All of you,” she whined prettily.
“You have me,” I vowed. “There isn’t a single part of me that doesn’t belong to you.”
“Promise?” she whispered, her eyes looking up at me with so much trust and love that I knew I didn’t deserve, but fuck, I would cherish it.
“I promise.” I undressed her, exposing her skin inch by inch, becoming lost in her. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever set eyes on, and she was all mine. There was no way I could ever let her go now.
Cupping the back of my head, she pulled me down for another kiss. The first brush of her lips over mine was like a hot brand to my soul, marking me as hers.