Page 108 of Forgive Me, Father

“Can I ask you something?”I murmured.

“Always,” Alfonso replied without hesitation.

“I need to know something,” I said, the words heavier than they seemed.

“Uh-oh,” he teased, his voice low and rough, and a quiet giggle slipped past my lips.He always had that effect on me.

“It’s not like that,” I said quickly.“We both know the passion between us isn’t always good.”

He grunted in mock offense.“Take that back.The passion iseverything.”

I reached up and gently grabbed his chin, turning his face to mine.“I’m not talking aboutthispassion, what we have right now.I mean the fire inside us.The intensity.It comes with hard heads and sharp tongues.I’m scared I’ll mess up, Alfonso.”

“You won’t,” he said, brushing the thought away.

“But if I do?How do I make it right?”

His brow pulled together.“I don’t follow.”

I pushed myself up on my arms to face him better.“Remember, at the start, how we always clashed?I would call you out in front of people without thinking, and you told me later how much it embarrassed you.”

He gave a single nod, eyes fixed on mine.

“What if that happens again?What if I get so angry I forget?What if I humiliate you beyond repair?”I paused.“Is there a way to fix that?”

His brows tightened, then relaxed.“You don’t want to mess up,” he said softly.

“No.But I could.I’m not perfect.”

He reached out and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.“You are.But even if you weren’t, you won’t ruin us.”

“But if I do?”I pressed, needing something solid.

A slow, dangerous smile curved his lips.“It’s easily rectified.”

“How?”

“By submitting, Camilla.”

My forehead creased.“What do you mean?”

“If you ever embarrass me in a way that cuts too deep, the only way to fix it is to surrender.Fully.”

I blinked.“What kind of surrender?”

His gaze darkened, voice dropping to a near-whisper.“Every kind.Like flipping the power switch on a machine.No words.No fight.Drop to your knees if I say the word and sit your ass down.Let me take over.It will give me back the power in an instant and it will fix whatever you think you broke.”

My heart kicked faster in my chest.“Mind sharing the word, so I know?”

His eyes glinted.“Oh,you’ll know.”

He didn’t offer more than that.

But he did seal the moment with a kiss, slow, deep, and full of something that felt like both a warning and a promise.

* * *

The next day marked the long trek back home.Alfonso didn’t stop by to check on his Nonna before we left, said it was tradition.“She always told me not to be a nuisance.Leave while it’s still good,” he’d answered with a small, reverent smile.

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