Page 266 of Untamed

His arms stiffen just slightly around me, a pause in the rhythm of his breath like my words hit a fault line inside him. “Don’t say that,” he mutters against my hair, the edge in his voice barely contained. “Don’t fucking say that.”

I turn to face him and tilt my head back just enough to look up at him. “It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

His chest rises once, sharp and deep. That familiar storm gathering in his dark eyes. “No. The truth is, I’m going to end this. I’m going to make sure you’re safe, that none of them ever get near you again.”

“But at what cost, Ares?” I whisper, my hands fisting in the fabric of his shirt. “You talk about protecting me like it’s something you can do without bleeding. Like you won’t break in the process.”

He lowers his forehead to mine, breath shallow, jaw set. “I don’t care what it costs.”

“Well, I do.” My voice trembles, the words tearing from me like confession. “Because I’m the one who has to live with it if you don’t come back.”

Silence folds between us, heavy and raw.

“You think I haven’t pictured it?” I continue, eyes burning. “Them putting a bullet in your head. Capturing and torturing you, because of me. You think I don’t see it every time I close my eyes?”

Ares pulls me tighter against him like he can shield me from my own thoughts. “No one’s taking me from you,” he says low. “I won’t let that happen.”

“But you can’t promise that.” My voice cracks, and I hate how fragile it sounds. “Not in your world.”

His eyes flash, something desperate and furious and heartbreakingly human. “Then come into mine. Stay in it. Choose me, and let me carry this weight.”

I shake my head. “I already did. I always will. That’s why it hurts so much.”

He kisses me then, not out of hunger or heat, but something deeper. Something final. His mouth moves against mine like a vow, like a goodbye he refuses to say out loud.

When we pull apart, my decision is no longer a possibility, it’s inevitable.

Tomorrow, I leave. And he’ll never forgive me when he finds out.

When he pulls back from the kiss, I keep my eyes closed for a beat too long, trying to hold on to the feel of him. To the illusion that we could outrun this.

But when I open them, everything inside me fractures.

I look up at him, tears clinging to my lashes, and force the words past the lump in my throat. “Marry her,” I whisper. “Marry Giana. Become Capo dei Capi and put an end to this.”

Ares freezes. “I’d rather watch you marry someone else,” I breathe, voice splintering, “than have to bury you.”

His face contorts like I’ve just stabbed him. His grip loosens, arms falling away as though the ground just vanished beneath him.

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do.” The lie tastes like blood on my tongue, but I keep going. “If this is the price for your life… then I’ll pay it.”

He stares at me like he can’t believe I’ve just uttered those words and then his stare hardens, the breath leaving his lungs in one sharp exhale. “No,” he answers, shaking his head. “No, you don’t get to say that. You don’t get to offer me up like some sacrifice and pretend it’s love.”

I flinch, but I don’t back down. “It is love, Ares. That’s the problem.”

He paces a step away, raking a hand through his hair, the muscles in his back tightening beneath his shirt. I see the storm building, the fury, the grief, the disbelief.

“I would burn the fucking world for you,” he growls, turning back toward me. “And you want me to hand myself over to it instead? To her? Are you fucking serious, Jordyn?”

“Do I want to? No, I don’t. I want youalive,” I snap, the tears spilling now, hot and angry. “I want you breathing. I want to know you’ll still exist on this earth even if you’re not mine.”

His eyes blaze hotter than I’ve ever seen them. “I won’t exist without you.”

“Neither will I!” I bellow. “You can’t be the only one to sacrifice yourself for us. Don’t make me bury you, Ares.” I whisper, broken. “Please.”

For a moment, all I hear is the sound of my heart shattering. Then Ares steps forward, slow and deliberate, and cups my face in both hands and looks into my eyes.

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