Romeo The Mafia Casanova

Romeo’s [POV]

My cheek burned instantly. I couldn’t remember the last time someone dared to hit me.

“What do you need, Eden?”

“I need you to leave,” she gritted out, standing taller, her expression a mixture of anger and heartache, a reminder that I was the fucking bastard responsible.

I shook off her blow, watching as she continued to put on a show. She stood there unfazed, not backing down. Performing.

For me.

For her.

For both of us.

Even though I knew her hand was throbbing from the assault, I reached for her on pure impulse. As soon as she felt my strong arms wrap around her waist, she flinched against me as if my touch burned her skin.

“I said, you need to go!” she shouted bloody murder, pushing me as hard as she could again. My back hit the column with a hard thud, and she didn’t falter.

She came for me.

At me.

With everything inside of her.

Again and again.

“I hate you!” Another hard shove. “All you do is hurt me!” Two kicks to my shin. “Do you hear me?” She scratched across my arm. “I. Hate. You!” she repeated, her hits assaulting every inch of my body she could access.

I tried to block every advance, instigating her further to push and hit me harder. After all, I deserved it. She took out every ounce of frustration and hatred she had on me. All the years of pent-up anger were shown in one instant.

“Red, calm the fuck down,” I ordered, trying to grip onto her wrists.

She jerked back. “Don’t tell me what to do! I’m so tired of you thinking you can do whatever you want to me!” she yelled, hitting and shoving me more, the closer I tried to come to her. “You just gave me away! Like I meant nothing to you! You never fought for me!”

“What the fuck?”

“When you fight for everything!” Her voice cracked. “But never me. N-never.”

She dug her nails into the sides of my neck and scraped down, making me bleed. She raised her hand to slap me across the face as hard as she could. Then she prepared to slap me again, but she wasn’t strong enough to hold me back any longer.

In two seconds flat, I gripped her throat, shoving her into the nearest wall. Taking hold of both her wrists with my other hand and placing them above her head.

I got right up in her pretty little face, rasping, “What did you expect from me? He’s my brother.”

Her eyes flashed. “Then what are you doing in my room?”

“I wanted to apologize for how I behaved tonight.”

“Oh! For that, you feel sorry. How convenient for you. I’ve had enough.”Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

“No. It’s not enough. Nothing is ever enough between us. You know it as much as I do.”

“Then what, Romeo? What happens next?”

“You marry my brother.” The words burned, sending my soul careening into the depths of Hell.

“Then you can leave now. Do you hear me? Just leave, and I’ll make sure to go on without you. I’ll be happy in your brother’s arms every night while you’re alone, knowing that you have no one to blame but yourself.”

I growled against her lips, and that was all it took for her to lose her shit. She crushed her mouth to mine, biting down on my bottom lip till she tasted blood. I abruptly jerked back, holding her wrists with one hand and yanking her hair by the nape of her neck with the other. She panted, frantically trying to gather her bearings from my tight hold. Both our bodies shook with undeniable desire. Every part of her resolve was hammering all around me.

I could hear it in my ears.

I could feel it in my bones.

Breaching the walls she securely had in place for me. I swear every part of my nervous system was breaking, shutting down, making it hard to see, let alone stand.

She weakly thrashed around some more, ignoring the pain in her head and the ache in her heart. The sorrow in the depths of her soul I’d caused. I held her tighter against my chest, both of us gasping for air.

Which had me breathing out, “I love you, Red. There. I fucking said it. But that doesn’t change the fact you’re marrying my brother.”

She let out a frustrating scream. I didn’t know if it was from what I said or from knowing it was the truth. Or possibly from knowing she wasn’t going anywhere unless I allowed her to. Closing her eyes, she tried to govern her breathing and her thoughts just like I’d taught her years ago.

Her fucking heart.

Would always be mine.

I loosened my grip, slowly brushing my lips against hers. I saw memories passing through her eyes, attacking her mind at rapid speed.

Of us.

As kids.

As teenagers.

Now, as adults.

Both move in the opposite direction when I know she only ever imagined a different ending. But those happily ever afters weren’t for us-they weren’t for a man like me. The darkness had already taken hold long ago, and it would be the cruelest thing I could ever do-to fight for her, steal her away, and slowly kill her light.

“Fuck you, Romeo.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I love you. You know that. You know that… I’m no good for you. It’s why I let you go. My brother will give you everything I can’t. I know you know that too.

She turned her face away from mine, but I gripped her chin, forcing her to peer back up at me. The truth created a near standstill between us. But the truth demanded to be said despite the pain those words inflicted.

“The hardest thing I’ve ever done in all my life is to let you go. Please… forgive me,” I rasped, chest heaving.

We stared at each other for what felt like hours, both of us lost in our darkness.

In our demons.

“I just wanted a minute to look at you, be with you, fucking feel you against me.” Rubbing her bottom lip with my thumb, I reveled in the feel of her velvety skin. Licking away the blood from my lips, silently wished it was her who was doing it for me. Her eyes followed the movement of my tongue, aware of what I was thinking and what I wanted. She could always read me, which is why she hated my lies; it was an insult to everything holy between us.

“I fucking hate you,” she panted, once again slamming her lips into mine.

I growled, parting them. My hands went to the seam of her tight dress, hiking it up to her hips. Slapping her ass, making her whimper before I turned her around and shoved her against the wall instead.