Page 98 of A Bond Beyond Blood

My girl’s lips twitched on a smile.“And you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart...not because you don’t want him staying here.”

Just the suggestion made my hand tighten on her hip possessively.“No, baby, I don’t want him staying here.For one, he’s your ex and he’s back for a reason.And two, he hasn’t been a vampire long enough to have a handle on his cravings.He’s dangerous and I’m not putting you in danger again.”

Jacqueline’s brow furrowed and I winced as I realized my mistake.

“Again?”

I closed my eyes in a long blink, steeling myself for the hardest thing I would ever say to this girl.“I’m not proud; I need you to know that.I’m not proud of myself at all, Jacqueline.”I opened my eyes and searched hers.Her hand on my shoulder had stilled, and I swear I could already sense her drifting away from me.

I exhaled and just dove in before I could change my mind.“I shouldn’t have been training you.”I paused as I considered how to explain.“The moment you walked into my gym, I should have turned you away.”

“What?Why?”

“Because you can’t fight vampires, sweet girl.”I closed my eyes again, my pulse a wild drumbeat against my ribs.“You never stood a chance, and I should have told you that, been upfront with you.”

“You mean because Elias is a king?”

“No, Jacqueline.Because he’s avampire.I’ve been training you for this unknown vendetta when I knew you would never survive a battle with one of my kind.”I scoffed and gave my head a subtle shake.“Had I known it was Elias?I’d like to think I would have been honest with you, but I’m not even sure of that.I’m not...”I sighed, gripping her hip tighter as if that would keep her from pulling away from me when she had every right to do so.“I’m not a good man, Jacqueline.I took one look at you and couldn’t bring myself to turn you away.You wanted to hire me and I wanted to lose myself in you.Suddenly all I could think of was being with you every second of every day.The way I’d wait for our appointments like a child anticipating Christmas...”I closed my eyes as embarrassment followed that admission.“I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you, sweet girl, never looked forward to being in someone’s presence the way I craved to be in yours.Even at the beginning, when you hated me, I craved you.”

“I never hated you,” she whispered, her voice soft and tight with emotion.

I blinked long and hard, then forged on.She had hated me, but I understood why.It wasn’t just vampires that gave vampires a bad name, it wasmenwho gavemena bad name.Riccisthat gaveRiccisa bad name.

I was all of those things and more—and she hadn’t known me from Adam.

Of course she’d hated me

But she didn’t now, and I desperately held onto that fact and the hope that it carried.

“I should have said no, told you there was no chance in hell you could take one of us on, because you’re strong, Jacqueline, but we will always be stronger.”I paused to let that sink in.“I was selfish.I wanted you too badly to be sensible, and that almost...”My voice caught and I cleared my throat.“That almost cost you your life.”That last sentence came out in a rush, followed by the ache of anguish and regret settling into my chest, a heavy weight that should have been lifted by exposing my truth, but instead just grew heavier, pricklier.

“Look at me,” Jacqueline whispered, and when I opened my eyes again, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine in a slow, tender kiss.When she pulled back, she said, “I forgive you.”

Emotion wrapped a fist around my heart, squeezing tight.Shame and relief...and love so strong I was thankful I didn’t need air in that moment because I couldn’t have pulled in a breath if I’d tried.

Jacqueline traced my lips with her fingertips, the line of my jaw.With feather-soft touch, she traced her way across my cheekbones.“I should have told you the truth about who I wanted to fight.I’m not innocent in this.”

I groaned.“Stop.You’re completely innocent.You didn’t owe me a backstory, but Ididowe you the truth.You paid me to train you and I—”

“Hey,” she said, voice a little louder now.“Youdidtrain me.I got everything I paid for and then some.”She nudged my shoulder until I rolled onto my back, then climbed up and stretched out along the length of me.Cradling my face in her hands, she brushed her lips against mine.“And then some,” she repeated, this time with more emphasis.“I got you, right?”

“You got your ass handed to you, Jacqueline.”I reached down and grabbed two handfuls of it for emphasis—and also because I couldn’t get enough of her.

“And here you are, caring for said ass.”

I chuckled and shook my head.“You forgive me too easily, sweet girl.”

“Vinny, listen to me.If you’d sent me away, I would have found someone else.And, maybe the first few trainers I found after you would turn me away, but eventually I would find one who didn’t.And maybe he’d train me out of the goodness of his heart...”She lifted one shoulder.“Or maybe just for the money, or because he thought it was funny to watch a delusional little human think she could take on a vampire.Whatever the reason, I won’t fault you for what you’ve done.Ican’t.Because it could have beensomuch worse.”

I sighed and closed my eyes.

“Do I wish you would have been honest with me from the beginning?Yes, but I wasn’t exactly honest with you, either.And, if we’d both handled this differently, where would that leave us now?”She nuzzled her head against my chest, tucked up beneath my chin, then sighed as she relaxed on top of me.“We wouldn’t be here; I can tell you that much.”

“A fucking shame that would be,” I said, pressing my nose into her hair and taking a deep breath.“I love you, little Fiorino.I think I loved you the moment you stepped into my gym.”

She hummed appreciatively, trailing her fingertips over the lines of my abdomen, then inching downward.My skin jumped beneath her touch, cock twitching as it swelled with eager anticipation.“I...”She paused, her quick intake of breath the softest of gentle sounds, then she gave herself a firm but barely-perceptible nod.“I love you, too, Vincenzo.”

I swallowed hard, the sound audible in the silence.

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