"Do you love me?" I asked her.
My heart stopped when she wouldn't answer me. Instead, she pulled away from me and sat up, shoving her wet hair out of her face. "Do you not see how fucked up this is?"
"Why?" I asked her. "Because it's not what you see in the movies? Or read about in books? This is life, Veda. It's my life. And I want you in it. Every day. Every fucking hour." I sat up, my ribs screaming at me where Mario had kicked me. "I can't promise you normal. I'll never be able to give you a white picket fence. But whether you like it or not"—I caught her eyes with mine—"you're mine now, Veda. I told you when I gave you that gun and knelt in front of you that killing me was the only way you would ever get rid of me."
Her expression was unreadable. "But I did try to kill you."
She did. But she was emotional then. Not thinking straight. I searched her eyes as she did mine. Always searching. But this time, I let her see. I let her see it all. My love. My fear. My obsession.
Lifting her leg away from my hip, I dug into the front pocket of my wet pants, pulled out my knife and opened it, then handed it to her handle first. "You want to be rid of me, amore? This is your final chance." Taking her hand that held the knife, I aimed the blade at my heart, then took her other hand and pressed that around it too. "Contrary to what they show you in the movies, it's actually kind of difficult to sever someone's jugular in their throat. However, if you push down here"—I tapped my chest right next to the point of my blade—"and put your body weight behind it, that blade will slide right into my heart. Even if you bounce off a rib and miss, it will most likely enter a lung, which will then fill with blood until I drown in it."
She stared down at my face, her hands gripping the knife, my cock still inside of her. Her eyes flicked down to my chest and back to my face.
"If you want your freedom, amore, you have a second chance. Right now. All you have to do is push. Then get up and walk away." I let my arms fall to my sides. If she pushed that blade in, it wouldn't be the knife that killed me. My heart would shatter all on its own.
Long seconds passed with only the sound of the shower to break the silence.
Then Veda tilted her head, and her eyes fell to the front of my shirt. Still holding the knife in one hand, she unbuttoned it as far as she could and spread the material wide until my bare chest was exposed. She took a quick glance at my face before her eyes fell back to my chest.
I knew immediately what she wanted to do. What she needed. And I would give her anything to lessen the hurt inside of her. I would let her peel the skin from my body piece by piece. "Do it," I told her.
She started to shake her head, and then stopped. Her eyes fell to my chest again.
"Do it," I repeated.
With a shaking hand, she put the point of the knife at the bottom of my right collarbone. And that was where she stayed.
Wrapping my hand around hers, I pressed until I felt it puncture my skin, then I guided her hand, dragging it down to the center of my breastbone. Pain lanced through me, and it was fucking glorious. My blood began to race, and my cock swelled inside of her until it was so hard her muscles clenched around me. Water from the shower made the open wound burn and washed away the blood as fast as it flowed. Moving her hand to the other side, I helped her carve another line that joined the first. When we were done, there was a "V" carved into my chest.
The knife clattered to the tile floor, and I caught her face in my hands as she leaned forward to kiss me. I tasted her tears, and swallowed her moans as she began to rock her hips. "Now you are mine, Luca," she whispered against my lips. "Mine..."
"Always, amore. I'm yours, and only yours. Always..."