Page 196 of Salvatore

“Why can’t I just disappear?” I ask. “That was the original plan, right? That I’d start fresh. Alone.”

“But you’re no longer alone, Ivy. You carry my child.”

The words settle between us, thick with tension.

He won’t back down, and I can’t either.

This isn’t going to work. And I’d wanted it to. I’d become hopeful. Fanciful. Like a goddamn fool.

“Listen to me.” He lowers his gaze to our hands on his chest and tightens his hold. “You have a choice. You always will.” He raises hard eyes to mine. “But my need to keep you safe trumps it. You can’t deny me this.”

I can.

Ishould.

Yet his concern unravels me, pulling at the frayed edges of my conviction.

He knows how to keep me safe. And, maybe more terrifying than that, he wants to.

In that lies the real problem—the hardship of having to dismiss all I’ve learned about men and somehow try to believe my perception of Salvatore isn’t just a whimsical part of my imagination. That he actually wants me in ways that terrify me more than his violence ever could.

And the worst of it? Some reckless, desperate part of me is already convinced, my optimism having clawed its way out of the childhood grave where I swore I buried it.

I swallow, fighting the ache. Fighting the pull of him. Fighting the traitorous part of me.

But I’m so damn tired of fighting.

“Okay,” I whisper the surrender, the vulnerability of it leaving me raw.

He takes it with a raise of his chin. “And youwillbe my wife.”

I deadpan for a split second before my gaze narrows to seething slits, because that’s the logical reaction—anger, not the treacherous warmth unfurling in my belly.

“Don’t give me those crazy eyes that only make you look fit for a straightjacket.” He tightens his hold. “All it does is make me hard, and we have no time to fuck.”

I blink, each swipe of lashes an affront. “You’re acting like a caveman and you think I’d want to sleep with you?”

He leans closer, slow and predatory. “Iknowyou do.” His grip shifts, sliding up and cupping the side of my throat. “And while I’m tempted to prove my point, I won’t when your safety is at risk.”

I stand taller, tensing against the storm waging inside me—rage, resentment, and the goddamn pull of lust that settles between my thighs. “If safety is the priority, returning to Baltimore seems counterintuitive.”

“Not when Lorenzo has agreed to see us.” He backs away, taking his possessive grip with him. “So have something to eat while I pack your things. I want us in the air within the hour.”

42

SALVATORE

I spendthe first thirty minutes of the helicopter flight barking orders into my phone at men who underestimate the importance of the woman I’m determined to keep safe.

When I ask for an airport escort, they dare to question the necessity.

When I demand more guards at my townhouse, they assure me the current detail is sufficient.

They don’t get it.

Nothing’s sufficient.Everything’snecessary.

I won’t let anyone else get to her.

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