Page 55 of Crown Of Blood
Then I finally look at her.
Really look.
And the only thing that comes out of me is a whisper, low and rough.
“I almost let him hurt you.”
She shakes her head. “But you didn’t.”
“No.” I swallow hard, my voice a rasp. “I never will.”
Chapter 17
He’s still standing there when Alessandro leaves—
chest rising hard, jaw tight, eyes storming.
The sound of the door slamming feels like it seals us in together, in the middle of something neither of us knows how to survive.
The phone is still in his hand.
My name still burns on his lips from the way he shouted it.
And all I can think about is how close I came to being dragged out of this room.
To the warehouse.
To the place no one comes back from.
He almost let it happen.
Almost.
And yet when I look at him now, there’s something broken in his eyes. Not fury. Not hate.
Something more raw.
Something that looks a hell of a lot like guilt.
He runs a hand over his face, the muscle in his jaw twitching. “I almost let him hurt you,” he says again, quieter this time, like it’s not meant for me at all.
I should tell him that “almost” isn’t good enough.
That I’m still shaking.
That fear tastes like metal in the back of my throat.
But I can’t.
Because the ache in his voice does something to me that no amount of logic can fight.
I’ve spent my whole life chasing the truth, but this—this is something else.
Something I can feel in my bones.
He looks at me like I’m both his sin and his salvation.
And I can’t stand another second of the distance between us.
