Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 72973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
I hope you find a woman worthy of being by your side and that she’ll make you happier than I can.
When he lifts his head, I keep my eyes shut as the words spill from me, “It’s too hard. I’m ending things now before one of us gets hurt.”
“The fuck you are,” he growls.
Opening my eyes, I look deep into his. It takes more strength than I have to ask, “You’re not firing me, right?”
His eyebrows draw together, and he looks so angry I almost take a step backward but fight to stand my ground.
“I’m not firing you.”
“Thank you.”
I walk to the door and yank it open.
His tone is filled with determination as he snaps, “I’m not letting you end things between us.”
When I step into the hallway, I hear him come after me, and a moment later, his fingers wrap around my arm, and I’m spun around to face him.
“Admit it. You want me as much as I want you. It doesn’t fucking matter where we come from or who we are. All that matters is how we feel about each other.”
I shake my head and lie through my teeth, “No. All I want is for things to go back to how they were before we met.”
I can see my words are hurting Dario, and it makes it impossible for me to hold the tears in.
As they roll over my cheeks, I whisper, “You’re an amazing man, Dario. I’ll always treasure our time together.”
“Stop!” he snaps, then he yanks me against his chest.
Before I can push away from him, his arms lock around me, keeping me imprisoned in his hold.
His irises turn black, and with a dangerous expression tightening his features, he says, “You are mine. I will never let you go.”
I try to push against his chest, which only makes him tighten his hold on me. When it borders on painful, I whisper, “You’re hurting me.”
Instantly, Dario lets go of me, and as worry blends with the anger on his face, I say, “I’m okay. You just held me too tight.”
He shoves his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, Tesoro.”
I give him a pleading look. “I need to get back to work.”
He nods, then says, “When I’m done with the rehearsals, I’ll come to find you so we can talk without people accidentally hearing us.”
Nodding, I walk back toward my cart, and grabbing the mop, I fight the urge to glance over my shoulder.
All I want to do is run into Dario’s arms, but instead, I focus on cleaning the floor.
Chapter 19
Dario
I can’t focus on the rehearsal, and halfway through, I hold a hand in the air and say, “Everyone go home. Come in an hour earlier tomorrow.”
Mrs. Stafford gets up from where she’s sitting and heads in my direction.
When she stops near me, I mutter, “Go home. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“I just want to apologize again. I should’ve handled the situation better. It won’t happen again.”
I take my phone out to show her she’s dismissed and press dial on Eden’s number.
It rings longer than usual before she answers, “Hi.”
“Come to the auditorium.”
“Okay.”
While I wait, I think about how many times I saw Eden cleaning, and not once did I recognize her. Upset with myself, I stare at the empty stage.
Now, it makes sense how she managed to evade me after dancing.
When she comes into the auditorium via the side door, I stand up and move out of the aisle. Taking the steps down, I meet her in front of the stage.
I reach for the cap and take it off her head. Wrapping my fingers around the back of her neck, I lean down and press a tender kiss to her mouth.
Pulling back, I lock eyes with her. “None of the we-come-from-different-worlds-shit matters to me. I want you exactly as you are, Eden.”
The fight has left her eyes, and when a tear sneaks down her cheek, I brush it away with my thumb.
“I just don’t want to embarrass you,” she admits.
“You can never do that.”
“People will talk,” she whispers.
“I don’t care what other people think. I only care about us,” I assure her.
She stares at me for a moment before wrapping her arms around my waist and burying her face against my chest.
“I’m sorry about tonight,” she says, her voice hoarse with tears. “I didn’t want you to find out like this.”
“It’s okay. I understand why you were hesitant to tell me.”
It’s the same reason I haven’t told her about the Cosa Nostra. I’d be a hypocrite if I held it against her.
I can only hope she’ll show me the same understanding when I tell her I’m a mafia boss.
I rub my hand up and down her back a few times before I take hold of her jaw and nudge her face up so she’ll look at me.