Page 183 of SINS & Riley
With that, his face falls.
Oh, God.
What if I just poured my heart out… and he doesn’t love me back?
I swallow down the sob clawing at my throat. “Hey. It’s okay if you don’t?—”
He slips his hand from mine.
Then, gentle fingers catch my chin, tipping it up until my eyes lock with his.
His other hand goes for the mask.
My heart stops. All breathing shuts completely down.
Slowly, he peels it off.
Butterflies riot in my chest—too many, too fast—like if he moves any quicker, I’ll explode into a butterfly piñata.
And then… the mask falls away.
And…
What the actual fuck?
59
RILEY
I blink.
Once.
Twice.
No matter how many times I do it, the same face stares back at me.
Speechless.
I’m rendered speechless. And that’s saying a lot.
Every word in my throat is jammed, jumbled, useless.
My brain misfires all over the fucking place.
I scrape together the remnants, trying to stitch some sense out of this emotional dumpster fire.
This cannot be evil-mastermind Zver and the man buried in a massive D’Angelo mausoleum.
Wait. Is this Dillon?
Don’t be an idiot, Riley. Dillon walked you in here.
Finally, and without my permission, my mouth begins to work.
“Dante?”
He shrugs, and that same smile hits—full lips, curling just so, dimple cutting deep.
