She pulls away from him and her beautiful eyes meet his. They hold his gaze and they search his soul.
“I love you, Ari. You don’t need to search for that truth.”
“Adam,” she whispers his name in one breath. Her small hand reaches for his cheek and he comforts her by leaning into it.
“I don’t know how,” she whispers.
He feels her hand raising the gun. For a second, he thinks she’s trying to release her fingers but she’s only squeezing it tighter, holding onto it harder.
“And I don’t know why you would love someone like me. But I love you, Adam.”
“You don’t need to do this to show me,” he tells her, understanding her intention.
“No, my love. I need to do this…for me,” she replies.
Whether it’s her finger or his that pulls the trigger, he can’t be sure. It doesn’t matter to him anyway. His main concern is that she’s not going to fall apart when she realizes what they’ve done.
He looks at the result at the same time she does. The bullet went through Cristian’s hand and in through his eye. Karma must be a bitch because Cristian didn’t get an instant death. He’s suffering like his bitch of a sister, though not as horribly. He’s on the ground convulsing and seizing with a pool of blood spreading.
Pity.
“Damn!” Nico exclaims. “Almost splattered my favorite Ferragamos, King.”
What the fuck is it with these Mazzillis and their fucking shoes?
Ariana draws nearer into him and his arm holds her tighter. Caging her. Her hand comes up to clasp over her mouth to stifle whatever sound she’s making.
He turns her head into his shoulder again, trying to shield her from what’s to come, and holds her head still before he finishes Cristian off with one single bullet to the head and zero fucks about the bastard.
Ariana’s trembling arms wrap around his waist.
And all is nearly perfect again in his world. She’s his. Next to him.
Forever.
My angel. Mine
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Why hasn’t Stella forgiven him?” she asks her dark king.
Her head is resting on his chest after another of their intense lovemaking. His fingers are twirling around at the strands of her hair, calming her to sleep.
Lovemaking. That’s what it’s become now.
He hasn’t played since she’s returned to the estate in his arms that night two weeks ago. He hasn’t seemed like he’s wanted to either. She hasn’t seen so much as binds in his bedroom since she’s been back. She didn’t mind the play. But this? She loves this just as much too. It’s both soft and hard. Gentle and rough. This is passion.
This is what she’s craved for through her doped-out haze.
“Stella,” Adam starts to say with a sigh before he continues. “She’s complex. The history between Derrick and Stella may look simple but it’s complicated, Ari. They love each other. Deeply. I guess that Stella’s guilt for what she feels is her part in bringing Isabella into our lives is just as much as the pain of seeing her husband with another woman. She’s hurt. She’s deeply hurt, Ari. She’s fought for Derrick. She’s died for him,” he says.
“She feels betrayed even knowing it’s not his fault. We watched the video. Isabella never got to that point with him,” she says out loud.
Adam doesn’t say anything to that.
“It’s not your fault either,” she tells him. Not for the first time. Probably won’t be the last time. “Do you feel guilty that we are happy and together through this?”
“He’s my twin, kitten. I can feel his hurt but his loneliness isn’t a place I can reach right now. He’s shutting me out. We’ve never been like this before.”
The turmoil in his voice is so heavy it makes her heartbreak for him. Should she be jealous that there will always be others that he loves more than her? Never. The fact that he will always have a deeper connection to Derrick and each of his other brothers is what makes her appreciate his love even more because he made room in his heart and his life for her too.
“Maybe I shouldn’t stay here until he’s better,” she suggests. Her heart just aches. Not just for Adam but his whole family. They’re all so close and they’re all affected by this separation.
“No fucking way,” Adam immediately says. “You’re not going anywhere. This is your home now. You’re a part of this family too. We stick together.”
She sighs not knowing what else can be done.
Truth is, she didn’t even have a place to go. She had no money, no fortune, and no family left except for Matteo Romano, and even he hasn’t reached out to her. She didn’t know anything, like usual. She has no clue.
“There’s nothing we can do for them right now,” Adam tells her. “It’s something they have to work out on their own. There’s nothing you need to do either.”
“Stella is good at doing that too, you know. She’s good at reading my thoughts the way you do,” she says with a smile.
“It’s you, Ari. You’re pure and good. You’re unmasked and unshielded so you’re easy to read.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “It’s probably not a good trait to have if I’m to stand by your side.”
“It’s what I love most about you,” Adam says.
He makes her grin unabashedly again. There might never come a time when she’ll get tired of hearing him say the words.
“I don’t have to dissect everything you say and everything you do. I don’t have to wonder if you’re plotting something or if you have ulterior motives.”
“I hope I can live up to your expectations, my love.”
“I don’t expect anything from you,” he replies.
He rolls in between her legs again. His erection rests solidly over her thigh.
“Just love me,” he whispers before he seals her fate with his lips.
“You’re shaking,” Adam says before placing her trembling hand inside of his warm grasp. “I’ll be here with you the whole time no matter what. We’re here to get answers, Ariana. Nothing will happen to you. Matteo owes us an explanation and Don Mazzilli will be here to make sure that nothing happens to us.”
“But…we killed Isabella and Cristian,” she says.
The weight of her words isn’t as heavy as she thought they’d be. It’s the first time she’s said the truth of their deaths out loud.
“He’s…he has to feel some resentment. He has no children of his own. They were going to be the future of the family.”
“That’s not your problem. They got what they deserved.”
Adam’s truth is cold but it’s still true.
The door opens without a knock. That shouldn’t be a surprise because they are sitting in Don Mazzilli’s office but it startles her frayed nerves anyway. Adam gets out of his seat to greet the man she assumes is Don Mazzilli and then Matteo Romano.
“Go ahead. Get comfortable,” Don Mazzilli tells everyone.
From a distance, she can see the resemblance between Stella and the Don. There’s a warmth about him but she knows not to get comfortable. He didn’t get to his seat in the organization without getting his hands dirty and freezing his heart.