“The deal?”Her laugh slices the air, sharp and bitter.“Youmade that deal, not me.Ididn’t agree to shit.”She shakes her head, another cutting laugh on her lips, frayed at the edges.“What, you thought I’d just show up like some prize at the end of that ‘deal’?Who the fuck do you think I am?I’m not your prize, Stefano.Youaremyprize.You’ve been my prize since I was fif-fucking-teen.Iownyou.I am SORAYA!Youdo notgoddamn summon me.”
Iseeher now.Reallysee her.
Her power.Her presence.Her ego.
Her true aura.
The princess who barged into my kingdom and planted her flag.Built her own fortress inside mine.
And I…fall in love.
All.Over.Again.
Man, I’m going to have so much fucking fun challenging her.Pushing her.Getting under her skin.Anticipation flares, igniting something raw, something reckless, sparking my jaded will back to life.
“Besides, you didn’t seem too broken up about leaving me behind.”She crosses her arms, the movement subtle.Protective, not defensive.“You were living it up.Like a year-long bachelor party.”
Is that really how she saw it?“I think you mean I threw myself into rebuilding what was damaged and did whatever I could to distract myself from theverydemanding urge to break that blood-inked deal and run back to you.”
She looks away, then back.“And what about the Mayor?”
“What about her?”I push back.
“Why isn’t she dead?”
“Because she’s a good person who unknowingly and naively stepped into a bad world.”
“Or because you love fucking her,” she bites.
An unintentional laugh falls out of me.“If you truly believe that, you’d have done more than burn off her tattoo.”
Indignation twists her features as she surges forward and shoves my chest.“You’remine!How dare you put your fucking name on her!”Another shove.“How dare you prance around with her and let her hang all over you!”
“I’m yours,” I agree, voice low.“So why didn’t you come back and put an end to it sooner?”
“Because I wanted you tohurtlike I did,” she admits.“I wanted you to know how it felt to beleft.”
I shake my head.“All that time fuming, and you still haven’t stopped to consider it from my point of view?”I take another step forward.“Soraya, I see your dad at least twice a month now.Your mom—well, she’s still...her.But every once in a while, she’s not.Your baby sister is my mamma’s namesake.”
I close the gap between us.“I explained that I didn’t want a dysfunctional relationship with you, Soraya.And after I left, I realized I didn’t want one with your family either.Not that mine’s perfect.But I handle bad blood differently than you do.You keep it around, live in strife with it, let its thorns choke the life out of your beauty.ButI rip it out before it infects the rest of the garden.
“There’s no way in hell I could’ve seen your brother and not disemboweled him.No way I could’ve looked at your mother and not ripped her fucking throat out.No way I could’ve been around your family, watched them hurt you again and again, and done nothing.In the end, you would’ve hatedme.Because I would’ve found a way to kill themall.”
I pause, let that truth hang.“You said you didn’t want a man who’d burn the world down for you.And I never thought I’d ever be that man.Not in a million years.But I’ve realized...Iamthat man, Soraya.For you.I’ll slay all your demons.”
Her shoulders relax as she exhales an unsteady breath.“Mom was right, then.”
“What?”
She shakes her head.“Never mind.”Her gaze drops, teeth pressing into her bottom lip.“He’s dead, you know.She killed him.”
“Sevyn?”
She nods, slow and pensive.
My dreams never lie.“Why do you seem upset by that.”
“I’m not.I’m the one who told her to do it.”Another small shake of her head.“It’s just… she was so quick to do it to save herself.But forme… she couldn’t.”
